Christian Heritage Conference (part 1)

It’s been nearly a couple of weeks since the Christian Heritage Homeschooling and Family Discipleship Conference (whew! that’s a mouthful!) and I’ve continued to mull over some of the more “life impacting” elements of the conference.   I don’t know when the CH site will be updated, but it will be worth bookmarking and looking through the resources and future events/opportunities.

First, I’m sure glad we decided to attend the conference — and that we went to the many of the keynotes and workshops we did.  And, I’m so thankful for the opportunities we had to visit with old friends and acquaintances we’ve made at the conferences through the years.  I’m also glad we took the opportunity to browse through the large vendor hall and all the different curriculum booths and book tables of individual vendors.  It was nice to see that Above Rubies had a booth there, as well.  I recommended that next year he not come without a large quantity of THM products. ~wink~ He smiled.  I think he was unamused.  Maybe he’ll reconsider when he realizes just how lucrative that decision / venture might be.

I’m continually impressed with Ken Ham’s gracious demeanor and grasp of God’s Word, Creation and Biblical science.  He gave a bit of background to his recent widely televised debate with Bill Nye — and amplified why he said, “There is a Book…”    Later, he made an impressive statement:   “If you want to see where America’s going, look at England.”  Following that statement, he gave numerous statistics regarding the state of the church and families in America.  He continued with more insightful reflections on society — referring to the devil’s first attack: “…hath God said…?”   Ken Ham went on to state that that same attack will be on you, your children, this nation, etc.   So much more — listen to the recording of his keynotes if you’re able.

It was a great blessing to spend time with Jennifer Bliesner.  In different workshops she explained brain development, learning trends, communication and the alarming trend in processing disorders and what electronics are doing to our minds — our endangered minds!  Meaningful relationships are being shut out by so much screen time that we and our children are not relating on a cognitive level… neurons are not firing to the conceptual thinking and are actually causing parts of the brain to not think.  Computers and electronics are doing great damage not only to our brains, but socially as well.  We are encouraged to shut down the computers / electronics, take in good nutrition, get aerobic exercise, express language and have meaningful dialogue and conversations and drink more water.  [I think my mama called in that one 😉 ]
I am remembering a great tip:  When talking with children, assign meaningful language to their emotions, reactions, feelings.     Stop. listen. think. react.  Give them words for impulse control…
And… choose a school subject that requires no electronics and that fosters worthwhile and significant communication that makes children think, reason, respond… using every teachable moment to encourage intellectual and social well being and affirmation.
The take-away?  Do you love me?   Their great need for assurance.  Ah, yes!  Theirs is also my great need, I thought.

There are more great highlights… I’ll share more next time.