When You Meet Your Heroes - Part 2

Back in November 2014, I wrote a blog post about hosting my hero, Sally Clarkson, in my home in Oxford, England, for a lunch date. This is a follow-up post after I attended her Renew My Heart conference in Dallas, Texas, last weekend.

Meeting Sally for the third time in my life

First of all, if you don't know who Sally Clarkson is, I would suggest it's time to get acquainted. She and her husband wrote my all-time-favorite homeschooling book, Educating the Whole-Hearted Child. She also wrote my second-favorite homeschooling book, Seasons of a Mother's Heart.

These were some of her earlier titles, first published around the millennium but now updated and re-issued.

Basically, her books were (and are) a lovely blend of experience, wisdom, and well-told stories, all based on a Godly foundation. She has since moved into a more supportive role for Christian mothers everywhere, releasing titles like Mission of Motherhood, Ministry of Motherhood, and her latest, Different, which is about nurturing that difficult child through the "dark years" and emerging with a beautiful butterfly of a mature young adult.

I've come across Sally in person on two separate occasions: the first was in 2005 when she was visiting a homeschooling friend of mine near Oxford, England, and the second was the lunch date in 2014. Throughout all these years, I have been privileged to share Sally and her work with my sister-in-law Holly, long distance because she has lived in Dallas and, until June last year, I lived in England.

Holly has also drunk deep of Sally's wisdom through publications, but also, she has attended two conferences in the past. Yet, it has always been our dream to go to one together, so this past weekend, we were able to share our love for Sally and her guidance at the Renew My Heart conference.

Holly and I avoid the book stalls

Sally's conferences are amazing. Yes, there are hundreds of people there, but Sally is walking around the book stall, signing people's dog-eared and highlighted copies, swapping stories, and in my case, renewing our old acquaintance. No prima-donna, but accessible and making time for everyone.

"What are you doing here?!" was the first question she asked me. When I said I'd finally made the move I'd been seeking for so many years, she was quick to praise God for His goodness!

The conference itself seems to be one of the last ones she's planning to do, hotel rental being expensive when compared to the new social media outlets available. I found it a wonderful chance to meet new people since it was based around table groups, but there was also plenty of guidance and space to go off by ourselves and listen to God's heart.

My own quiet time could not have been more refreshing. I took off down the footpath around the man-made lake, thinking how great it would be if I could find some trees and, if possible, a fountain of some sort. I didn't really believe that would happen, but next thing I know, I'm at the head of the reservoir where the spillway is chucking down a sheet of flowing water. The sound was powerful enough to drown out the sound of the highway nearby - a reminder that God's Spirit can drown out the noise of life if we put ourselves in the right place.

Refreshing Water and Quiet Thoughts

Two more revelations came out during this time alone. One was that I needed to remember my calling - to home educate my children. If I was putting other things in the way, then I needed to re-calibrate. This led to my re-think of the schedule I've got for teaching English online to other homeschoolers. The fruit of that re-think has been announced for September 2017: no more classes during US morning time (except the day when one of my children already has an online morning class for Ancient History - I had to make at least one concession to my students in Dubai!).

With five minutes left of the quiet time, I lay back and look up into the trees. "God, tell me something. Give me a word. A picture ..." Yeah, yeah. In five minutes. Now .... go!

God rarely works that way, I know, but He was very good to me that day. He did give me a word. When Sally visited back in 2014, I always said I felt like Zacchaeus, hearing that Jesus was going to come to dine at his house that day. This time, God said to me, "Look at the tree ... it's empty. Zacchaeus is no longer having to work at seeing Jesus, but is now one of His intimate friends." The flood of acceptance for myself as a friend of Jesus was immediately clear. I returned to my table group so full of God-inspired refreshing - RENEWAL, just as the conference was aiming to achieve.

If you want to go to one of Sally's conferences, there are still two more planned for the year: South Carolina in March, and Oregon in May. She's also in London on March 18th. At our conference, people had traveled from California, Canada, New York, so if you have the time, you should get to one of these before she doesn't offer them anymore, even if it means a weekend of travel.

You won't regret it. She is a living hero of Christian homeschooling parents everywhere.

When You Meet Your Heroes ...

Today, I met one of my homeschooling heroes: Sally Clarkson

Sally is the author of numerous books, some about homeschooling and some about mothering and child-rearing with spiritual vision.

My favourite of all was Educating the Wholehearted Child, which she co-authored with her husband, Clay, but that's a really hard decision to make because I also love Seasons of a Mother's Heart, Mission of Motherhood, and their devotional guide called Our 24 Family Ways.

Sally's Homeschooling Books, through the Years

She has a new book coming out in January called Own Your Own Way, and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

So, what does one do when one meets a hero? First, you meet them at the train station and make them walk a mile up a steep hill. It's in the bright sunshine on a crisp and glorious autumn day, so that's all right!

Then, you place in her hands a steaming mug of Yorkshire Gold tea, served in a Blenheim Palace mug. Next, you chat about her children's endeavors and admire how far they've come in nine years since you first met her at a conference, and you giggle as your children keep popping into the room with little gifts for her, mostly pieces of paper with hearts drawn in different sizes.

The big moment comes when we give her a present we found at a National Trust property two weeks ago: a CD of Tea-time songs (Sally writes a lot about having a quiet cuppa when things get a bit too much, or when she needs to re-connect with God).

Another family arrives and we have a slap-up meal, courtesy of Ocado's delivery service earlier in the day. Various savoury pies, cheese, crackers, olives, and my homemade hedgerow jam, homemade raspberry preserves, and homemade bread and butter pickles. (Since everything else is pre-prepared, I want to show that I can put SOME effort in the culinary arts).

The teenage girls then take their turns at telling funny stories, sharing their reading experiences, describing trips to places like Exmoor and Stratford, and then Sally inspires us all with stories of her own children's successes via the narrow way, and encourages us to keep growing in God, keeping our eyes on his vision for us, and making sure that academics are of high quality without being of too high a priority.

After all, my 14-year-old has already read the entire book of Paradise Lost, published 9 books on Kindle, and run successful micro-businesses. Soon, it will be time to cut her loose of the drudgery of high school style studies and let her spread her wings in the real world. When I say soon, I don't mean at 18 or 22, but, according to Sally, at 16, when it's time to take on projects that matter, meet people who are experts in their fields, and grasp her own destiny with both hands while her father and I provide the safe foundation from which to jump.

This is what Sally has done, and now sees her children studying at Oxford, breaking into the Hollywood film industry, and composing musical scores to be performed in the Vatican.

And do you know what she puts it all down to? Keeping a tight hold on God's vision for each child, and inspiring them in conversation over the dinner table.

All the more reason to turn off the tv at night, eh?

So, I look forward to reading Sally's latest book in the new year, but more than that, I can't wait to pull up to the "school table" in the morning and inspire, empower, and enkindle my children to become their very best.

Me, with the person I want to be when I grow up!