Welcome, Annalise Faith!

Our newest angel is here and yes, she still smells just a little like heaven!

Paul and Kristen Fagala

proudly announce the arrival of
Annalise Faith Fagala

born February 2, 2011

at 4:24 am

7 lbs. 13 ounces
20 inches long

She is joyfully welcomed by her older sisters and brothers:

Amberlyn, Joshua, Ashton, Luke, Chase and Kathryn

Denise and her girls meet Annalise for the first time. I (Kristen) couldn't wait, so when Denise dropped by to pick up my older kids for a 4-H meeting, I bolted out to the car with the baby.

We are amazed and honored with each addition to our family as the Lord shows us more and more about His perfect LOVE. You know, it only seems like yesterday that we were announcing the arrival of Kathryn Elyse here on the blog! Time flies when you are loving little ones, doesn't it? :-)

It's a joy to share our joy with you!

Kristen

http://homeschoolgroupleader.com/

Spring is Coming

The drive leading to our local gym is beautifully manicured. As I was driving my kids to their homeschool PE class, we passed by a double row of crape myrtles. There must be 20-30 crapes in that one median, and I've passed them dozens of times before. Cattle were grazing peacefully in the pasture to the right, but those crape myrtles strangely captured my attention.

For seemingly the first time, I noticed that the crapes had been pruned. In the few seconds it took for me to drive past them, God used those shrubs to pour spiritual truth into my leader heart.

1. The cuts were dramatic. There were no blooms whatsoever. The trunks stood courageously bare against the January sun. In their barrenness, they were still so beautiful.

2. Each shrub had been prepped for the spring. Red mounds of mulch piled around the base of each crape myrtle, polishing its presentation and protecting its roots.

3. The pruning had clearly been done by a skilled gardener. The one who'd made the cuts knew exactly what he was doing and was purposeful in it.

As I drove on up the road leading to the gym, I commented to my daughter what the Lord was showing me.

* Pruning hurts and can leave you feeling exposed and barren.

* The Lord is a skilled gardener. He doesn't make a cut that won't bring growth in the spring.

* He makes the cuts to bring growth.

* And, probably the realization that struck me the most was that it is January. The green buds won't be seen for another couple of months.

This gave me hope. Hope that when the Lord prunes me as a person and as a leader, it is to bring stunning growth and "fruit," and to help me be more like Christ. The pain comes and then the eternally-long wait. The green growth is not seen right away.

The crape myrtle is known to be one of the longest blooming shrubs. Hmmm . . . pruning, the wait, and then growth that lasts a long time. How is my growth; is it enduring?

"Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything."

James 1:2-4, New Living Translation

Learning lessons like this from God's creation helps me as a leader--a leader within my family, at church, and within the homeschool community. Being aware that the pruning has a purpose for my good and shapes me into a kinder, humbler, more effective leader supplants me and encourages me on.

Keep Moving Forward,

Kristen

http://www.homeschoolgroupleader.com/

Need some more motivation during the winter months?

Character Training

In our life and homeschool, I put a high price on character and integrity. Our younger daughter was just making me smile talking about how when she tells the truth she only gets into a little trouble, but when she lies about it, she gets in BIG trouble. There have been many instances over the last week or so that have given us opportunity to teach and discuss the importance of honesty.

The first began as we were setting up a Facebook account for our oldest daughter, Kaitlyn, to communicate with her out-of-town family and a few choice friends. Then the surprise came--she must be 13.

Immediately she said to "just" add a couple of years to her age; that's what "everyone" does. I don't know if she had ever been so strongly tempted to lie. It was so easy. Is it lying when it is only a computer screen? O, she really wanted this! It became a great opportunity to explain how you do not compromise even to get what you really, really want or even when it seems everybody else is doing it. You stick to the truth even when it hurts. (We did learn about Kidswirl a couple days later. She loves it.)

This importance of integrity was additionally reinforced as we talked to my folks that same day. My father came to realize while looking at his long receipt from a home improvement store that they had charged him for only 1 of 4 same items he had bought. He took the receipt with all that he needed back and paid the balance of $38. That could hurt! I treasure that heritage of honesty and saw it register with my girls. "Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding." Proverbs 23:23

Character training can be incorporated into the leadership of your homeschool group and your group meetings as well in a few simple ways.

1. Live a life of character. People will duplicate what they see.


2. Use words of character as you speak to your group, with other leaders or to problematic people. "Thank you for being here faithfully." "I know you desire to be dependable, however, this got missed."


3. Send emails or devotions involving character training. www.GlobalPriority.org has a free "TIP of the week" involving a character trait that is suitable for every type of group. They also have great materials on principle training for leadership teams.


4. Add character quotes to each newsletter you send and put them on your website. A great resource for these quotes and so much more is character-training.com.


5. Give character awards to highlight students in your group who show kindness, intiative, responsibility, creativity, etc. They will then value that character, too.
   

Character really brings us true success. Integrity is a prize worth more than millions of dollars. May your family and your homeschool group be blessed and exhibit this excellence of character.

To your success,

Denise

www.HomeschoolGroupLeader.com

For more on the character of Attentiveness, including 85 pages of Creative Ideas and Solid Truths, get One By One: The Homeschool Group Leader's Guide to Motivating Your Members

Nobody Else Like Nanno

A week ago today, my husband's grandmother passed away. We've been a little quiet here on the blog because, well, life happens. . . and death, too. This past week was time spent well with family and friends who loved this precious lady. And if I may, I'd like to share a little of her legacy borne over nearly a century of living with you here.

Beatrice Hawkins Fagala loved Jesus all her life and left her family a rich heritage of hospitality. We used to gather every Monday night at her house for dinner. When my kids were so little and times were tighter than tight, I always knew we'd eat well that night! :-D She always knew how to spread a feast fit for kings.

She also left us a rich heritage of faithfulness. Born in a covered wagon on the dusty trails of Texas, Nanno was the youngest of five and 10 years younger than her only sister, Ala Mae. Closer than any two people I've ever known, these strikingly beautiful sisters treated one another and others with great kindness and grace. Over the years, Nanno fell in love, married and had two children and, eventually, 6 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

My prayer today is that every person has at least one "Nanno" in their life. My husband's grandmother was as sweet as the tea she was famous for and as delicate as the most beautiful prairie flower. I miss her deeply and am so thankful for the years we had to love one another.

As I reflect on Nanno's life accomplishments, I find myself reflecting on our past year here at Homeschool Group Leader. We have just completed a year's worth of Tuesday Tips and Friday's Answers! I can hardly believe that. We have had a blast doing those posts and we hope you have been blessed by it, too.

Life is full of transitions and for 2010, we are starting something fresh and new here on the blog that promises to be full of wisdom and help that we all need! Be watching for that in January, but for now, we are just going to enjoy sharing with you a fun post here and there through Christmastime.

To good memories and a bright future,

Kristen

P.S. You can find our popular, new e-book on motivating your members at http://www.homeschoolgroupleader.com/

Bring On The Pink! It's A Girl

Congratulations, Kristen!

Beautiful Kathryn Elyse was born Friday night at 10:28 pm. She weighed 7 lbs, 9 oz and was 20 in. long. Her 5 siblings proudly welcomed her into their family.

We are so happy for you, Kristen and Paul! May God bless you and Kathryn with health and every blessing from heaven.

What a wonderful Resurrection weekend--celebrating the wonderful work of the Cross for our precious salvation and celebrating His wonderful workmanship in the birth of precious Kathryn. The Lord does all things well!

Love,

Denise

Thanksgiving Everyday

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving this week. Our family did! We were blessed by having both my parents and my husband's here with us. Mine drove an hour to join us, and my in-laws traveled all the way from Wyoming. This was truly a rare treat.

I just love this time of year and how everything reminds me to focus on giving thanks to the Lord. I love the pumpkin pie, the loving faces of family, the story of Squanto, the mouth-watering smells of dinner cooking, and the memories passed down and retold.

Through it all I was overwhelmed, realizing anew how amazingly good God is to me--such an undeserving soul. I never could finish a mental list I was trying to compile of all the things I'm thankful for. It is truly endless because giving thanks must continue on each and every day.

Sheila Campbell, of Texas Home School Coalition, wrote these encouraging words for homeschool group leaders during this time of year:

Thankful Thoughts on Leadership

Be Thankful for the Position - Remember, whether you applied for leadership or not, position is ultimately ordained by God.

Be Thankful for the Freedom to Lead - Take time to praise God for the country and state in which we live. Praise Him for the time and place in which He has placed you.

Be Thankful for Partners in Leadership - Whether you are supported by a spouse, other members of your leadership team, or other leaders across the state, praise God you are not alone.

Be Thankful for Those Whom you Serve - Thank God for the opportunity and privilege to serve and encourage others.

Be Thankful for Those Who Have Gone Before - Remember those who have gone before you and fought for our freedoms in our country, our state, and the home school movement. Don't forget those who have served in leadership before you in your group and across the state.

Be Thankful for Those Who Follow - Praise God for the younger members of your group and the children whose lives will impact tomorrow!

Counting my blessings everyday,

Denise

www.homeschoolgroupleader.com

Nothing Like the Last Second!

We promised you some information about the exciting Texas Home School Leadership Conference coming up Oct. 24-26 in Waxahachie, TX. With everything going on in our lives the past few weeks, we just remembered that promise. . . today!

To be honest, we've both been thinking about the conference A LOT this week. The registration fee is due on Friday, and we've been brainstorming creative ways to come up with the money fast.

Earlier this week, I (Kristen) got so overwhelmed with the thought of raising $150 (hotel lodging for two nights, all food and gasoline) that I started shutting down in my head. I was giving up before I even started. It's impossible. What resources do you have? You can't do this. EBay items will take too long to see a return. These were some of the discouraging thoughts floating through my head.

Then Denise boldly suggested a "fire sale" of sorts, and we began to scratch out ideas of things we could do to earn money fast. No limits. No fear. By the end of the phone call, I had my assignment--to pull out my beading box and and spend the afternoon crafting earrings from whatever I had in there. I got excited about the opportunity to create something beautiful and set to work. I didn't worry about whether people would even like them or not. Within two hours, I'd created 8 pairs of earrings and had also decided that I was going to also sell pint-sized jars of homemade, organic chicken broth (a favorite staple in my own kitchen).

I created a page of photos and snazzy descriptions and emailed it to the girls from my church Dinner Club and my homeschool group. That's it. Do you know that the Lord has MORE than provided my registration fee--in 48 hours?!? With the sales that came in and a house I'm cleaning, it's done and orders are still pouring in. And that's a wonderful thing, because we also have baby #6 to pay for since I have yet to find an insurance company that will joyfully cover a home birth.

The point is. . .

God provides your very specific need, and nothing is impossible for Him.

Now, about the conference--I CAN'T WAIT!! The speaker lineup is power-packed with tons of experience and wisdom from Norm Wakefield of Spirit of Elijah Ministries and Tim and Lyndsay Lambert. I was going to try to hit some of the highlights for you here on the blog, but it's just too rich--you need to read it for yourself. Retreat Schedule

With all of the workshops, discussion panels and round table discussions planned, leaders will be so blessed. And I believe the fellowship times are going to be the icing on the cake.

So, if there's any way you can get there, get there. And if you see me, be sure to stop me and say "Howdy!"

P.S. THSC offers scholarships and less expensive lodging options for the conference. Check that out here on their Registration page. Of course, you may call them as well with any questions.

Blessings, y'all!
Kristen

www.homeschoolgroupleader.com

Hurricane Ike Didn't Blow Us Away. . .

But he sure did take us off the grid for a while! It's been two weeks today since Ike came to visit. Now we are trying to catch up after the crisis and cleanup.


Here's a picture of my backyard 24 hours after Ike washed ashore. As you can see, we were extremely blessed. We only had damage to our fence on all sides, and the shed lost shingles. Our home was fortunately untouched.

Kristen evacuated with her 5 children and had a difficult drive with sickness and changes in trip plans as her husband held down their fort. They sustained little damage to their property but lost several large trees. She got home yesterday, rested and glad to be home. We are both very thankful to the Lord for his goodness to us.

I was so thankful for the boarded up windows while listening to Ike's winds. When the eye passed overhead, we went outside with flashlights. The eerieness seemed to crawl on your skin. Then the second half of the storm hit with even more force. Afterwards we learned to be resourceful and content without electricity for over 8 days.

The community really came together during the aftermath and helped one another. Everybody, including newly-met neighbors, was so giving in time and hard work and supplies. We received from others and jumped in to help others. Passing out food, water, ice, charcoal, and other supplies to those hit harder than us was gratifying.

All of our Hurricane Ike experiences gave us a new perspective. I was thankful for all the opportunities to learn, build and teach real character like generosity, contentment and hard work mentioned above and as well: faith, security, benevolence, patience, alertness, creativity and gratefulness. Homeschooling never stops, does it?! :)

Our homeschool group has been like a community, too. Everyone has been calling and checking on one another, offering to help, giving support, prayer and encouragement. As the electricity has flowed back into homes we've seen more updates from families on our email network. It is comforting to connect again and hear all the news and needs.

A homeschool group needs that sense of community! It is important in the good times and critical in the difficult ones. I'll leave you with three quick ways to help build those connections:

1. Give time to build relationships and friendships in group activities
2. Have a website or yahoo group for email networking
3. Pass out a printed phone directory of and for the members

Survivor by grace,

Denise

http://www.homeschoolgroupleader.com/

An Update & Tides

Have things been as crazy at your house as it has been at each of ours? These last couple of weeks have flown by and have been crammed with life happenings.

Kristen and I have hardly seen each other, much less worked on our writings. Yesterday, we got to steal an hour together on the phone. That was good. As we talked, we reconfirmed that family always comes first. We don't want to be obsessive with our work here at Homeschool Group Leader--as good as it is and as much as we enjoy it. It's all about balance and keeping priorities in the right order.

Maybe you're wondering what's been going on. . . . Thanks for asking! We've had lots of company and family visiting, each have taken vacations, started our home schooling, had times of sickness or migraines, had church activities, kept up with Hurricane Gustav (was ready to evacuate at a radar's notice) and even watched the RNC. Even now I have Gustav evacuees here staying with me from Baton Rouge. You don't hear it on the news because it's not New Orleans, but they've been without electricity all week. 400 homes have trees on them. Our friends were actually sleeping in their car to have a little air conditioning in the overbearing humidity and heat.

I've noticed over the years that life seems to happen in waves. The tide comes in where everything happens at once. Then the natural ebb and flow brings times of refreshing and calm. During the stressful or busy times as high waves keep crashing around and on us, we can easily feel overwhelmed. It is important to keep your head up (priorities) above the waves to avoid drowning. Don't panic, stay calm, tread water, hold your breath, breathe. All the while remember the best advice a lifeguard can give--look up!

"Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me." Micah 7:7

Resting in His wonderful mercy,

Denise

http://www.homeschoolgroupleader.com/

How It All Got Started. . .

We are idea people and we wanted to do something creative, fun and helpful. And we wanted to stay home to do it.

You wouldn't believe the crazy ideas that crossed our minds! But we also knew that with homeschooling and raising our families, we couldn't do most of them.

Since we are good friends who complement each other well, we knew that we wanted to work and write together. So, in October of 2007, after a lot of prayer and planning and discussing with our husbands, we signed up for an e-course by Stephen Beck on how to write an e-book.

We learned so much, so fast! In just eight short weeks, we learned how to blog, publish articles on the internet, research our niche, conduct teleseminars, add affliates, and design a website from scratch.

Beck's video tutorials also made it possible for us to easily navigate complicated software programs that were needed to launch Homeschool Group Leader and then begin writing and eventually publishing our e-book.

We've conquered fears and we've made mistakes. We've overcome obstacles and we've begun to trust even more the direction God wants us to go. We know that Homeschool Group Leader needs to reflect who we are, what we've learned and what we can learn from other leaders. It has become a ministry.

We wish that we would have had a resource like HGLeader when we began serving as group leaders. During those serving years, we discovered that leaders often feel alone, inadequate and empty. We knew this site needed to connect leaders and let them know they've got support; got resources to help them do their job well; and encourage them that they are totally adequate in Christ.

We have a lot of fun getting together each week to provide you new materials, answer your questions, write articles and learn the internet ropes. The challenges are exciting, and we believe all the work will be worth it when it ministers to your heart.

Many blessings,
Denise and Kristen
www.homeschoolgroupleader.com

The Vision for this Homeschool Group Leader Blog

About Us~

We're two friends who got know each other through our local homeschool group. We then worked side by side as officers of the homeschool group--Kristen served as President and Denise as Field Trip Coordinator. Refined through the fire of leadership, a lifelong friendship was formed.

Together we wish to share hindsight wisdom gained from our experiences and the experiences of other veteran homeschool group leaders. You are invited to laugh and cry with us, witness the times we failed while doing it our way, and the times we succeeded doing it the Lord's way. We've learned so much and hope our input will shorten your learning curve as a homeschool group leader.

This blog will serve as the central place for leaders to come for solutions to leadership questions, to find encouragement and hope, as well as current tips, trends, and rockin' resources.

Denise and Kristen
www.homeschoolgroupleader.com

Welcome to the Homeschool Group Leader Blog!

We're so glad you're here!

Pull up your chair and visit awhile with us. We welcome your comments and questions about homeschool group leadership.

Postings to come soon about many things related to starting or leading a homeschool group. Check back soon!

In the meantime, check out our web site at Homeschool Group Leader.

Blessings,
Denise & Kristen