Hi, I’m Michelle!
I am a wife, “retired” homeschool mom, follower of Messiah, student of The Word, and all-around giant nerd that loves to read, study, and document all things with a pen and paper. You might be wondering why a pen and paper kind of girl is bothering to share online. To be honest, I am wondering that, too! I prefer my “nerdery” because the learning curve for technology is steep!
I was asked to create a website and share some of my Bible journaling techniques for a seminar. Seems innocent enough. But as I started looking through over twenty years of journals, more ideas came to mind. I am realizing that our legacy is not in our bank accounts or careers. Our legacy begins and ends in The Seed and our relationship with Him. Then, of course, it continues in our seed(s). Our children. Seeds within seeds.
How do I begin to explain what I am doing on the internet? I detest social media and largely think it is the bane of our existence these days. And yet, here I am. A little backstory. I homeschooled all three of my kids from birth through high school. My youngest just graduated in May. My goal from the beginning of our homeschool journey was to work myself out of a job. I slowly taught my kids how to learn, and at the same time, to love learning. In the process, I developed an even greater love of learning, too. By the time they were in junior high school, we were all largely learning independently. Of course, by high school, they were largely on their own when it came to picking their curriculum, even dual enrolling at the local college. I learned as I taught them and navigated all of pitfalls. I often couldn’t find the resources I needed, so I created my own. I created my own mission statement, weekly planner pages, transcript template, yearbook for each kid, you name it. I even created my own custom seal for their diploma! Why am I telling you all of this? So much of the “mystery” of homeschooling is not a mystery at all, it just isn’t readily available. Unless you want to pay for a “big box” homeschool company to make a general transcript and diploma for you, there really isn’t a lot of custom homeschool templates available. But, as I soon realized, it really isn’t that hard to figure out how to do things for yourself. So, as I worked myself out of the role of “homeschool mom” and into the role of “consultant,” I found I had more time to devote to studying my Bible. Again, I couldn’t find a deeper study into the Word. I didn’t want the typical “fill in the blank” model where the author told you where to find “the” answer. I knew I was capable of finding Truth and studying deeper, so I began to journal Scripture. Of course, it’s always a good thing to have accountability and scholarship so I also found a few solid teachers online (see links below) and began to listen intently and take diligent notes.
Bible journaling allows for the time to meditate on the Word and process it.
Fast forward several years, I tested for and became a trainer for The Creation Gospel in August of 2021. I really didn’t think much would come from it, other than a greater understanding of the material. I wanted to test simply because I know myself—I often need the motivation and accountability to finish a task. Hence, the website. But I’m jumping ahead of myself.
In the spring of 2022, I was asked by Kisha Gallagher to help tag-team teach the foundational workbook via zoom. Hello technology, can we be friends?! Then, a dear friend who also happens to be a pastor, asked me if I would like to come to California in October and teach a seminar on Bible journaling at his church. He advised me to create a website with some content to explain and share some of what I often call my “nerdery.” And then, a fellow Creation Gospel trainer in South Africa asked me to “co-pilot” a class with her.
So there you have it. Over the coming weeks and months, I will attempt to transition from my cherished pen, paper, and journals and dip my toe in the world wide web. Be kind, I don’t have a clue when it comes to technology!! I will learn as I go, just like I did when I homeschooled. I will happily share what I learn when it comes to Scripture because I am just a disciple learning as I go and I welcome your input, too! But for those of you on a homeschool journey, I might offer some hard-earned templates and advice for homeschooling as I do have some level of success and confidence in that department! But that’s only if I take the leap and figure out the commerce side to owning a website. It would be nice to offset the expense of keeping this up and running, but we’ll see if anything comes of it first. I welcome comments and feedback.
So now what?
Like growing a garden, a successful harvest depends on many things. Sure, some things are out of our control. However, if we hope to produce good fruit, we know that it will involve work. Hard, monotonous, never-ending, frustrating, back-breaking labor. How’s that for a greeting? “Welcome to my website, let’s talk about never-ending, frustrating work!”
But let’s face it, so much of our identity in Messiah never gets fully imprinted in ourselves and therefore it’s impossible to pass it down to the next generation. We can’t produce what we don’t know. As much as I study, ponder, and pray over things, there is still so much that isn’t imprinted in my heart and mind. I taught my kids for over twenty years, and as I look back on my journals, I can see so many lies I believed. I often let those lies influence me more than the Truth. Often, because I didn’t really know the Truth. We learn progressively, right? So, I hope to share some of the lessons I’ve learned over the years as well as what I am learning now.
I pray I can encourage you to dig into the Word. As we learn together, I hope the seeds will be firmly planted. Whether you are here because you are a fellow homeschooler struggling and overwhelmed or just a Word Nerd looking for deeper Truth. We’ll carefully tend to our journals and follow the seeds as they sprout and begin to take root. The Word truly is “living and active” but only if we interact with it and allow it to cultivate our hearts. This is not a passive activity! If we’re careful, we’ll see just how much fruit one seed can produce. Not to mention the many seeds we’ll be able to save for future seasons and generations to come. I hope you will follow along with me as I attempt to share some of my thoughts, tools, worksheets, templates, and other such “nerdery.”