ATI Texas Adventure

Our most recent family adventure was our annual pilgrimage to the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) Conference for home education inspiration and encouragement. We headed south to Big Sandy, Texas for a dose of “yes, you can do it, stay the course, your family is so worth it, etc.” What a fabulous time we all had! Each day was filled with challenges, joy, laughter, motivation and encouragement from the Lord. We have been attending the ATI Conferences for the last 10 years. This being the fourth year to attend at the Big Sandy ALERT Campus. WOW! Where has the time gone?! The theme this year was “Anointed for Greater Works ~ A Time To Do Great Works!” Excellent speakers and great training opportunities for all the family.

Tamy and eight children jumped into the van early on Monday to follow the Burnett family to conference. Brent came down late on Tuesday night after dealing with a variety of ranch trials and challenges. We were blessed to find rooms in the dorms at the last minute. Praise the Lord! If not, camping was going to be the plan…now that would have truly added to the adventure! We have shared a dorm suite with Burnett family each year while at Big Sandy and now have quite the system going to make things run smoothly. The Burnett family puts up with a lot when it comes to our family and we are so grateful. Arriving to conference a day early really worked for us this year. We got to join the Burnett’s and a few other delightful families for a Chinese food buffet dinner…a Burnett family tradition. We also reduced our family’s stress level by not having to rush down at the last minute.

There is always something for everyone to do while at conference. Brent & I were challenged, inspired and motivated by all the great teaching. Parker attended the Children’s Institute Program and really enjoyed it this year. He sang his little heart out, laughed himself silly, learned a lot about the goodness of God and made new friends. Becker attended the ALERT Cadet program for the second time. He enjoyed sharing adventures with his buddy, Benjamin Burnett, as they repelled, hiked and learned more about faithfulness of God. Susanna should have been in Pre-EXCEL again but was unable to attend with us this year. Both a good and a sad thing. She has enjoyed conference in the past but was very happy and content to stay right where the Lord has her to be at this time. Lillie spent her days with Sophie Covey watching the triplets in the morning and attending choir practice and the Student Sessions in the afternoons. There were big changes for Hattie and Dennah as moved from attendee’s to leadership this year.

Ten years ago, Hattie attended her first Pre-EXCEL class in San Jose, CA with her friend, Lydia Covey. Both girls, were very excited and seemed so big at the time. They were eight years old. This year, Hattie taught her first Pre-EXCEL class. Her mama cried. The young lady who taught Hattie’s first class seemed so mature, godly and radiated Christ’s love. Hattie adored her. Now Hattie is that person. She is mature, loves the Lord and radiates His love. The sweet, young girls (age 8-11) on Hattie’s team adored her. Ten years ago, this mama never could have imagined that this season would have arrived so quickly.

Nine years ago, Dennah attended her first Children’s Institute (CI) when she was only four years old with her older sisters, along with Christopher and Tyler Eschenbach. The Eschenbach “boys” are now HUGE, manly and way too old to attend CI. Dennah is now quite the young lady, loves to serve and has a heart for the Lord. On an appeal (Dennah is only 13 and the requirement is to be 14), Dennah served as a CI Assistant Leader this year. Her mama cried. After so many years of our children participating in the wonderful ATI programs, our children are now able to return the joy by serving in leadership. I am humbled, grateful and very proud of our children’s joyful hearts and willingness to serve. God is good.

All the busyness of conference is usually adventure enough but this year, God saw fit to make it even more of an adventure. On the last day, our schedule was interrupted by a tornado! Yes, along with tons of rain and high winds, a tornado sent everyone hurrying to a variety of storm shelters. Fortunately, the tornado did not destroy any of the ALERT Campus and there were no injuries. Wahoo!! Each member of our family has their own story to tell about where they sat out the storm. I found myself in a woman’s bathroom with Clay, Emma & Camie, along with many other women, as we spent time in fellowship, sang songs of praise to the Lord and took photos to remind us of this unusual conference occurrence. For those of us who live in tornado states, this wasn’t a big deal. For those who live in non-tornado states, this was more of an adventure than they had bargained for. I don’t think our children will ever forget the time a tornado came to conference!

A good time was had by all and we praise God for His provision and the opportunity to attend. We were blessed to spend time with special friends, many we don’t often get to see. Our hearts have been once again renewed for the Lord and the vision for our family all the more clear. Lord willing, we are already looking forward to attending the ATI Conference in 2009.