Two weeks ago we made the decision to take on a new adventure.  At the time we were unaware of an amazing option we had for this adventure that we have now discovered and are excited to undertake.  Our new adventure was home schooling, our changing adventure is virtual schooling, public school at home through a virtual charter school.  The program is amazing.  If any of you have heard of the K12 curriculum that is what it is based on.  For kids like Bryan this is great, because it lets them work on their level, grow at their pace, and never holds them back because of the rest of the class.

Bryan will still be home but Nevada Virtual Schools provides all the lesson plans and all the supplies.  Whatever he needs to do a unit they will send him.  Like a public school he will be assigned a teacher who will track his progress and put together the lesson plans that best meet his needs.  We will both have contact with that teacher throughout the year  His work will take about 4-5 hours any given day, with approximately 25% of that being online.  For us, this not only allows him to work at his advanced level, but takes the pressure off of me to keep up with him in planning and teaching.  I will still play a very active role in his schooling, but I will be able to use their tools to help me in the process.

So this new adventure we have been undertaking for 2 weeks is now changing, but we believe it is only another step in the right direction for Bryan.  When I told Bryan “you will be able to learn at your pace without waiting for anyone” he reacted with excitement.  Waiting was a consistent problem for him in public school, and even this last two weeks he has had to wait on me since he moved through things faster then I anticipated.  So the prospect of not waiting on anyone to learn and move on must be exciting for him.

The first week of our new adventure is in the books, literally.  We have completed one week of home school, and the student told a neighbor he loved his new teacher.  That would be Mrs. Porter, and no that is not my mother in law.  It took me a couple of days to get use to being called Mrs. Porter because no one calls me that, even the youth at church.  Not only does the student love his new teacher, the teacher loves her new student and is loving this adventure.

I have learned this week that my student can learn one particular subject faster then I had planned on.  This is a great problem to have, but it made Mrs. Porter have to print more worksheets then she thought she would.  I also learned that I can be up and ready to teach at 10:00am every day, which is a great accomplishment for me.  Mrs. Porter discovered that her memory can be a problem, but that the internet will make up for that most of the time.  The student learned that Mrs. Porter likes hands on learning for subjects like science since we did an experiment nearly every day.  In the end, now that the first week is in the books, we have learned that you don’t need a stack of text books to do school.  What you need is a student who excited to learn, and a teacher who is willing to feed that excitement.  If every week goes this well, please Lord, school will be a huge success.

For those of you who follow me on twitter, and are friends with me on face book, you already know this.  Starting on Monday we will be home schooling Bryan.  All of the history behind our decision is not important, the only thing that is significant is that we are convinced that this is the best way to ensure his educational needs are met.  All of the details will be set into place over the next week or two, in the meantime we will work with what we have available to us and figure out a schedule that works.

This is only sort of a new adventure because Bryan was home schooled in kindergarten.  Once that year was over we made the decision that putting him in school would be best.  The primary reason was my health, at that point I was still having 3-6 seizures a day and had not yet had my surgery.  Now, though I am still having an occasional seizure, my life is not nearly as disrupted by it.  Will it be perfect? Will it come easy?  NO.  What we do know is that with one student being taught by one teacher he will be the focus and he will be taught what he needs and based on where he is.  This is a new adventure because teaching addition and subtraction is much different then teaching decimals, fractions, American history and science.  For me this will be an adventure in memory, for Bryan it will sometimes be an adventure in patience.  Regardless of all of that we have a wonderful principle.  Mr. Porter will be the principle at this school, and yes being married to the teacher Mrs. Porter will have it’s advantages and disadvantages, but in the end we know the student will benefit from it.

The paperwork has already been filed, so Monday we will officially de-enroll Bryan from school, he will clean out his desk, and this new adventure will begin.  With the Lord’s wisdom and guidance we take this on.

When we have a passion for something it becomes part of who we are.  Combine having a passion with our spiritual gifts and it becomes essential to our growth and to the building up of the church.  When we can’t fully exercise that passion, it is like taking a part of who we are away.  All have them spiritual gifts, and we should all be using them in the body of Christ.  What is your passion?

Now imagine if the ability to exercise that passion was taken away from you or if circumstances change to make it harder for you to fully exercise that passion.  How would you respond?  Hurt, frustrated, discouraged.  That is how I feel right now.  My passion in the church is youth ministry, teaching youth.  When I was first a believer someone I knew recognized something in me I didn’t yet know was there.  I started working with Jr. Highers with an amazing group of people and fell in love with youth ministry.  I was able to exercise my gifts and loved it.  Through the last 18 years I have, with little exception, worked in youth ministry.  The times I didn’t were frustrating to me because I was not exercising my gifts doing what I had a passion for.  When I am exercising those gifts doing what the Lord has given me a passion for, I experience the most growth in my life, and the most joy in my relationship with the Lord.  When something stands in the way of that it becomes frustrating, then it hurts.  My challenge is to not allow that to effect my relationship with the Lord.  Circumstances constantly change, and the Lord desires for us to exercise our gifts regardless of those circumstances.

So here is my question for you.  What is your passion and how are using your gifts to fulfill that in the body of Christ?  Have you discovered that ministry that has become a part of who you are?  Do you feel as if a part of you is missing when you are not fully exercising your gifts in that ministry?  If you have found that never allow a circumstance to change your passion and take that part of you away.  If you have not found how you can use your gifts and discovered a ministry you have passion for, look for it.  Ask the Lord to lead you to it, for when you find it your joy will overflow and you will be blessed in your relationship with the Lord.  As for me, though I am frustrated and discouraged, I will use my gifts in youth ministry regardless of the changing circumstances, because if I don’t I will letting a part of me get taken away.