On a warm and sunny Saturday at the end of May, fifty to sixty women converged in the small town of Cheddar, Somerset, from all over the South West and beyond. They came not to sample the world famous cheese, or marvel at the spectacular Gorge and caves, but for our inaugural ‘Rooted to Flourish’ Women’s Home Educating conference . Whilst long bubbling in my heart, the conference actually came together within a fairly short period of time due to the fantastic work of the RtF team.
We worshipped, prayed, listened to Bible teaching and joined in seminars, as well as having plenty of time to chat, explore the exhibitors and consume never ending supplies of tea and cake.
The theme of the conference was taken from Isaiah 58:12. This is a verse which I felt God draw my attention to around twenty years ago. Although I didn’t see its particular relevance to myself and our specific circumstances at the time, I held it in my heart and kept praying into it. As our family has grown and the nation changed significantly, it has become clear how pertinent this Scripture is for all of us seeking to bring up our children in God’s ways, founded on His Word.
Each of us who attended the conference will have gleaned different threads of encouragement, wisdom and practical advice as God spoke into our hearts and situations. I was impacted by the worship, the sense of God’s presence as we all poured out our hearts to Him and He graciously met us by His Spirit. I was reminded to look up to Jesus when caught up in the challenges of the day and of the long term ministry we have; we many not see see evidence of exuberant flourishing in our children on a daily basis, but their roots are going deep. We need to discern and understand the times in which we are living and be assured that God is protecting and guiding us, and that as the pressure increases God is at work refining us and enabling us to shine brightly by the indwelling power of his Holy Spirit.
A good friend who was at the conference spoke of the value of gathering together, united in our vision of raising our children in the Lord’s ways, to worship and pray; much can be accomplished in the heavenly realms if we do this increasingly in the future.
So what next? God willing, we’d love to hold a second RtF conference in Cheddar next year. However, the vision I have long had on my heart, which I continue to pray into whilst holding it lightly, is that gatherings such as this could be held all around the UK so that many more home educating mums would be able to attend local, low cost conferences. We’ve already had a couple of invitations for potential further conferences which we are praying into with tentative excitement.
The day after the conference I sat in our church garden, amidst the daisies, and tapped out my thanksgiving. It gives a glimpse into the day.
I hope you are encouraged.
May God bless you as you continue establish firm foundations in your children’s lives and bring beauty into the everday,
With love,
Molly x 🌷☕️🌿
Thank you for yesterday. Thank you for taking our loaves and fishes and blowing your Holy Spirit on them. Thank you for each of these precious women, often unrecognised and walking against the tide. Thank you that as they lay their lives before you each day, as they organised home and family, travelled and set aside time yesterday…you met them through your Word and your Spirit and replenished tired and weary souls. Thank you that you gave space for tears where they needed to flow, you brought about connections where another was needed to walk alongside, you brought clarity in the way forward when choosing the best educational paths for individual children, you brought glimmers of hope where the daily struggle seems unending and you stirred the beginnings of new ventures. Thank you that you blessed us with warming sunshine and a beautiful garden in which to sit and relax. Thank you for the powerful and pertinent word given by Richard, for the Spirit anointed worship led by Martin and Andrea, for the hours of preparation poured into each of the seminars, for the behind the scenes work of Mary and Ruth as they blessed us with continuous drinks and cake, and the IT and organisational skills of Katie. Thank you for the creative and informative exhibitors who travelled to be with us and for all the books sold.
Thank you for the blessing of working with such a lovely team of generous, wise and servant hearted friends and the honour of watching You work in women’s’ lives.
To You be the glory
Mothering through the seasons 