Encouragement & Inspiration

Plan your homeschool … if that thought just sent you into a panic, take a deep breath and relax. You don’t need to immediately start hammering out weekly lesson plans quite yet. The best way to start preparing a plan for your homeschool is by taking time to reflect on the past school year. Here’s what you...

Josiah may have been young when he became king of Judah, but he was known for doing what was right in the eyes of God (2 Kings 22:2). Eighteen years into Josiah’s reign, a priest stumbled upon a copy of the Law of Moses, which had been largely forgotten by God’s people. King Josiah was so...

I had the honor of delivering the following graduation speech on June 4, 2016, at the North Carolinians for Home Education commencement service held at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem. One of my daughters, Molly Caroline Carman, participated in the ceremony, becoming the fourth of our seven children to graduate. In this article, I...

I cannot sing well. Some would say I can’t carry a note in a bucket. As a matter of fact, I have three notes in my repertoire, and it probably does sound like I carry those in a pail. . . . addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making...

We can glimpse God’s signature by using science to understand his Creation. It’s spring, and flowers are blooming in a rainbow of colors. What appeared to be cold, dead earth is coming to life, and landscapers are planting seeds and seedlings. Likewise, this is a good time to grab your kids and plant the seeds...

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. (Joel 2:12-13) Joel may be a minor prophet...

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23) According to Galatians 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Many songs and silly sentences have been created through the...

The secret ingredient of C. S. Lewis’ writing is his wordsmithing. He possessed a rare gift of communicating profound realities in simple terms and, to help us all reflect and celebrate Easter, we’ve collected some of his top quotes on the Resurrection. As we remember the sacrifice of our Savior and His triumph over the...

“The trees once went out to anoint a king over them…” (Judges 9:8) The following is my paraphrase of an Old Testament parable that appears in Judges 9:7-15. Scripture is meant to be enlightening and thought-provoking, and this passage is something of a hidden treasure. Perhaps this story will make for some good bedtime reading...

Deb Bell was the first homeschooler I heard use the phrase, independent learner. For me, an exhausted mother of four at the time, that sounded like heaven. The very idea that my kids might possibly at some point in the distant future be able to learn without my direct supervision sounded wonderful. But I could...