I Got To Meet Michelle Duggar!

Our family attended the Midwest Regional Homeschool Convention
this past weekend in Cincinnati, OH.
While I thoroughly enjoyed many seminar sessions, each of them challenging & encouraging, my favorite part of the whole convention was getting to meet
Michelle Duggar!
We are so encouraged by their family, their testimony & wonderful Christian witness ...
& have watched their program on television since the first special aired.

Michelle & I

She was as gracious & sweet as I knew she would be.
I shared with her what an encouragement they were to our family & thanked her for being such a positive light shining brightly for Christ!



The next day, I sat in a seminar in which Michelle shared tips for homeschooling moms.
I was moved by her honesty & transparency, especially when she told about her 'crying in the laundry room' moment.
It was particularly sweet when she sang the chorus, "The Joy of the Lord," just as she had that day in her laundry room.
It was truly a testimony of how God meets us right where we are, working things out for us as only He can.


Later that evening, the Duggar's were the grand finale for the whole convention.
The whole family {minus Josie} was in attendance, sharing in music & song.
Afterward, Jim Bob & Michelle shared their testimony.
Many things they talked about touched my heart & ministered to my spirit.
They encouraged to always trust God, no matter what the circumstance.
He is working behind the scenes in ways we can never imagine ... working all things for our good!

{I have a couple of great videos of their singing, but I'm having some technical difficulties getting them from my Windows phone to my laptop...sigh...}


We also had the opportunity to hear Doug Phillips several times throughout the weekend.
He's one of our all-time favorite speakers {we have more material from Vision Forum
than you can shake a stick at!}
He always challenges us, especially in the way of family, to stand stronger than ever before.


Our son, Garrett, had one goal ... to meet Mr. Phillips, thank him for the impact his ministry has had on our family & take a picture with him.
Here is it!

Our sons with Doug Phillips

Ken Ham was uninvited to this event {he took a public stand against the unbiblical teachings of another speaker}, so we were wearing our "I Stand With Ken Ham" buttons that we were given.
Mr. Phillips asked my sons if he could take their picture to send to Ken Ham.
Later in the weekend, he video-recorded them talking about why they were wearing the buttons.
This was all quite exciting, to say the least.


And as if this isn't enough, Tim Hawkins was also on the line-up at the convention!
He had us all in stitches, of course!
Also attending the conference were several families that we are close friends with ... so what was even better, our kiddos stood in line to get seats so we could all sit & laugh together!

Who says homeschoolers don't have any fun?!

We didn't get to meet Tim Hawkins this time around, but we did meet him in a restaurant in our hometown.

We had gone to his concert & afterward stopped to get a bite to eat ... & in he walked into Steak 'n Shake.

Our son, Gunnar, a major fan, was beyond excited!



Feb. 2010



What a wonderful time we had & are so thankful for the opportunity to have attended this conference, along with 4500+ homeschooling families {over 18,000 in attendance}!

We came home refreshed, uplifted & ever grateful for the opportunity we have to invest into the lives of our sons.