Posted in Homeschooling
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Whatever happened to Gregg Harris? In January of 1982, with a lot of heart but not a lot of confidence, I began homeschooling Jennifer and Loralei. Someday I’ll have to share the interesting way it came to be. All I’ll say for now is that God works in mysterious ways. Two years later, I found myself at a Gregg Harris Homeschooling Workshop. It changed my life. It taught me more about how to apply Scriptures to everyday life than anything I had ever known before that. It included such fascinating topics as the history of American education, how children learn, how to start homeschooling, how to discipline, how to study and instruct, support systems, family storytelling, tips for teaching subjects, family style evangelism, doing a family business, laws and legal options - just to name a few. How he got all that taught in such a short weekend is amazing. What I appreciated so much about his workshop was the way he used Scriptures to teach each of his principles and lessons. I have the workbook right here beside me and have used it over and over through the years. At the time, Gregg and his wife Sono had one young son, Joshua. Gregg could not teach from years of experience with the topic, but he knew the Scriptures and that’s what mattered the most. Whatever happened to Joshua Harris? When my girls were nearing the teen years, they began to ask me “Mom, how old do we have to be to date?” I cringed at the thought, but admitted that I didn’t really know. I had never given it much thought from a Biblical point of view. I promised I would look into it and let them know. That began an intense time for me. I began to spend every spare minute I could find studying. In the beginning I was sure that I would find good materials at the Christian bookstore. After all, people like Josh McDowell and James Dobson made big money writing Christian self help books. Surely, they had written on this subject. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that Elisabeth Elliot had written Passion and Purity and Quest for Love. Those books would have helped a lot. Discouraged, I sat at my word processor and began with the Bible. Someday I hope to share what amazing (but ignored by the masses) principles that I discovered on the topic. Then the Harris family struck again. Not long after I had completed my dating study and written a Bible study workbook of it, Joshua released his I Kissed Dating Goodbye book. He approached the topic from a different angle than I had, but it was confirmation of all the hours I had put into the study. Once again, a Harris changed my life. Fast forward to the summer of 2008. I have had this pre-occupation with the subject of soberness in our youth. No, not alcohol related – the Biblical soberness as in mature.
The things they are interested in now will not be the same, their moods will change, their desires will change, their hormones will change… Unless they learn to follow Biblical principles I know the change won’t be easy on any of us. I’ve been contemplating the Scriptures on this subject and taking notes. My head has been birthing another blog entry about it. And then… The Harris family strikes again! I couldn’t believe it but there it was… the younger twin boys, Alex and Brett, Now, they haven’t exactly come at this topic of soberness in quite the same way God has been showing me, but they eloquently illustrate through many testimonials what the Bible has to say about stepping up to maturity instead of postponing it as our culture is apt to do. I’ll save more details for another blog entry. So, whatever happened to Gregg Harris? From his blog profile: Gregg Harris is a follower of Jesus Christ who serves as a practical theologian, social philosopher and local church reformer/pastor. He currently serves as a Teaching Elder of Household of Faith Community Church, in Gresham, OR (see www.hofcc.org) and as the Director of Noble Institute for Leadership Development, a not-for-profit educational organization (see www.nobleinstitute.org.) Gregg is internationally known as a pioneer advocate in the Christian home schooling movement; author a bestselling book, The Christian Home School and developer of The Noble Planner Time Management System. He is the husband of Sono Sato Harris, and the father of seven children, among whom are, Joshua Harris, author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Joel Harris, Director of the Northwest Academy of Worship Music, Alex & Brett Harris, founders & co-hosts of TheRebelution.com web site, and three others still in their younger years. And Josh? In the last days of 1974, I was born in Dayton, Ohio, to Gregg and Sono Harris. In the following years my father became an influential speaker and writer in the early home school movement. I followed my dad into public speaking when I was seventeen. In God's kindness, I was enthusiastically received at my dad's conferences, and began conducting my own events for teens. I also started New Attitude Magazine, a quarterly publication for homeschooled teenagers. In 1997, I relocated from Oregon to Gaithersburg, Maryland, to serve as a pastoral intern under C.J. Mahaney, senior pastor of Covenant Life Church. It was at Covenant Life that I met my wonderful wife Shannon. We were married in the fall of 1998. In 2004, I assumed the role of senior pastor at Covenant Life. . |
Maybe I’m distracted because Schylar has turned 13, I don’t know.
have written a book for teenagers and their parents called Do Hard Things A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations.
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Posted by deborah
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