Y From the Heart I Thank my Lord for You…
Many ideas have come to mind regarding what to write in this last “front page” as the leader of DCHEA. I could write about memorable moments, over-coming challenges, or all the God-incidents and things that would make you shake your head in wonder. But the word the Lord is putting on my heart at this time is “thankfulness.”
I am thankful for you! The moms and dads that make up DCHEA. I am thankful for those moms and dads that started DCHEA over twenty years ago, some of which are still in DCHEA and others have graduated their children and have grandchildren by now. The ease with which we homeschool today is due to the perseverance, courage, and the trust that these pioneering families had in the provision of our Lord. Did you know that twenty years ago they couldn’t even buy materials from Christian curriculum vendors? The vendors would only sell to private Christian schools. But these families sought the Lord and they did as they were called. We’re so spoiled.
A couple years ago, I met a woman who had eight children and had homeschooled all of them - in a state where it was illegal to do so the first six years. They were truly underground. They were in an underground Christian homeschool network. We are so fortunate.
Sixteen of our families recently returned home from a wonderful trip to Sacramento. We learned that there are many families that homeschool in Sacramento, yet there is no truly active homeschool support group. They “do their own thing.” I am thankful that God has provided incredible families in our area with which we can come together on a regular basis and be encouraged. Nearly everyone who hears me speak of DCHEA will hear me say how awesome our member moms are.
I am thankful for all the encouragement you have given me over the past three years.
Some of you have heard me say: “Leadership is action, not position.” I would like to lift up some other “leaders” in this “From the Heart…” who have been of tremendous service to DCHEA in the past three years while I’ve been on the board.
Beginning with the board members…Stacey Mills served many years on the board as Treasurer and Hospitality Coordinator and still serves as our Librarian. Gale Futterman did a tremendous job as our Newsletter Editor (when we weren’t emailing yet! Lots of copies and stamps!). Sheila Martin served as Field Trip Coordinator and she will be missed as our Newsletter Editor. We love the colorful emails each month! Leslie Seals served as our Treasurer and sparked the interest in going to Sacramento while on the board. Dani Woolford serves as our Hospitality Coordinator and has such a welcoming heart. Thelma McMahon serves as our Treasurer and will continue that position next year. Lyndi Ruzicka serves as our Field Trip Coordinator, Teen Scene coordinator, and started the educational co-op that we all love, just two years ago. What a blessing co-op has been for so many families.
Thank you, Maria Lowell, Esther Guilin, and Janet Shear for pioneering our yearbook four years ago. You inspired other moms to continue the tradition. Thank you to Leslie Gunterson, Linda Bates, Lezanne Hutcheson, Gale Futterman and Deborah Hayden for moving us into color the last couple years.
Thank you, Cindy Law, for your daily dedication to forwarding hundreds of emails each school year for the DCHEA Email Alert System. Thank you, Irene Yaghoubian, for initiating retirement/nursing home visits and P.E. groups. What a blessing!
Thank you to Debbi Garcia, who coordinated all the Keepers Club activities this year. Thank you, Linda Grindeland and Anita Roberson, for preparing and taking two DCHEA teams to Adventures in Odyssey this year. How wonderful to be represented there!
Thank you, Margaret Hoesterey, for your diligence in making sure we’re ready for the SATs every year! Bless all of the volunteer testers that save our families so much money. Thank you to: Julie Diliberto, Cheryl Beaver, Leslie Gunterson, Cindy Law, Melissa Jackson, Linda Grindeland, and Marion Parker.
Thank you to all the co-op teachers: Lyndi Ruzicka, Gale Futterman, Sherri Gagliardi, Pat Krier, Carolyn Spurling, Phyllis Brewer, Leslie Gunterson, Yvonne Shouse, and Irene Yaghoubian. I’m sure there are moms of whom I’m not aware. They will be recognized. And thank you to all the moms who work in the classrooms throughout the year.
Thank you to Lyndi Ruzicka for coordinating and preparing itineraries for the Sacramento trip and to Susie Bower for copying & putting together the student workbooks.
Thank you to the DCHEA Veteran moms who encouraged and helped me from the moment I came onto the board: Sue Meyers, Kelly Field, Judy Topolinski, Lori Buccino, and Anita Bower.
A huge THANK YOU to Pastor Bob Beaver, Cheryl Beaver, Sue Meyers, Ronda Gunn, and the staff of Family Life Church for allowing us to use their church campus whenever we are in need of a large place to congregate. FLC has been so gracious to DCHEA for many, many years.
After writing this list of “thank-yous” it is easy to see why our group is so wonderful. “One person does not a group make.” We have so many moms who are very involved. And I want to thank our first-year moms on this list for just jumping in where they saw a need and when the Lord led them. That’s not an easy thing to do, but many of you did and it seems like you’ve been part of the group for years!
There is no doubt in my mind that DCHEA is prospering in so many ways, due to the commitment of the member parents. There is more giving than taking. Moms float through their seasons of uninvolvement and involve themselves again. We all have seasons. We all understand that.
I have grown so much these past three years. I have been truly blessed. Thank you for having confidence in me. My words cannot express my heart for all of you at this time. But God’s Word can…
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you…And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filling with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.”
~ Philippians 1:3-7a, 9-11
Lovingly in His service, Traci J