the Maxwells

Monday night, I had the opportunity to go to a conference at a local church given by the Maxwells. About a year ago a friend of mine gave me the book Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit written by Teri Maxwell who is a homeschooling mother of 8 children. I read it a couple of times because, though it is a rather small book, there was just so much in it that I could apply to my life to help not just in homeschooling but in motherhood in general. She struggled with anger and depression for a long time and the book told how she overcame them and gave tips about how we can be proactive in our lives to prevent anger inducing situations and and how we can dispel our anger and respond in a more meek and quiet way. This book was probably the final deciding factor in our decision to go ahead and homeschool. While I have not conquered my anger, I am learning to gain control over it because of this book and with God's help.

Having been so positively influenced by this book I thought the conference would be just as beneficial. It certainly did give me much to think on and discuss with Luke. The most 'enlightening' part was their talk on keeping your child's heart. The principle is one that I certainly aspire to in raising my children: I want a close relationship with my children. One in which they are open with me about their lives, they like me and respect me and what I have to say about their lives and how I want them to live, and they hold the same values as I do and, above all, share my love for God and have a relationship with Him. But I hope and pray that I can do that while at the same time allowing them to become their own person and have their own experiences and their own very personal relationship with God. The Maxwell's techniques seem to me to me a bit extreme: not allowing friendships outside the familyor participation in youth groups or sports teams and taking them with you wherever you may go even into adult hood when they are ready to marry the one person God has ready for them (which opens up a whole other can or worms). I think that I may get the book in which they go into more detail about this so that Luke and I can look at the principles behind their techniques and determine how we might accomplish the same ideals while maintaining some freedom for the kids. Of course, not sheltering your kids as much as the Maxwells suggest does mean you are risking 'losing' their hearts but I'm thinking that maybe that risk is a necessary one.