Changes are afoot....

Anyone reading this is probably beginning to understand why He felt the need this summer to work on how talkative i can be.......look what a little rest and free time does for my output here ;-)

There's a new family (husband M, wife l, 17yo daughter s, 14yo son, and two younger children, 5 and 7, iirc......) in our fellowship. They starting attending in the spring, having been looking for several months after leaving a previous church. Both of them had been unhappy with the church they had been attending for years, but neither had confided in the other, as each thought the other was more than happy with everything. After a long heart-to-heart at the beginning of the year, they realized that neither could stand what they were seeing in that church, partly based on changes there and partly based on how they'd changed. They were not finding any depth to the teaching, and both felt the various leaders were glossing over what the New Testament clearly teaches.

Last fall, their oldest child (a girl, whom i'll call s) started at a new school, as the previous school she'd been going to had some problems. At the new school, s got involved in a Bible study group that led her to a position even more conservative than where her parents were heading - but at the same time didn't provide any of the tools for actually living a life compatible with those beliefs.

So, anyhow, last spring, they started attending our fellowship and have gotten to the point where they agree in prionciple with where most of the families are, even moving here a couple months ago. But their former life in mainstream evangelicism hasn't prepared them for the lifestyle they wish to lead.

So why am i typing all of this out? Well, when my Lord arrived home this afternoon, He told me He had invited them for supper this evening and that He has agreed to have me help s and her mother. s is in her last year of high school, and one reason she has accepted the changes so wholeheartedly is that she has always felt called to be a wife and mother. One reason she'd struggled at the previous schools is that she had no desire to fit into the pressure of a rigorous college prep program, which was the expectation in the prosperous suburb they lived in before.

So they are homeschooling their children for the first time this year, and l is feeling overwhelmed, as even basic housekeeping skils aren't something she has ever spent time on until the last couple months.

So how will this all work? Well, based on what they saw with how we did things with the recently married k, s is coming to live with us this week for several months. Her mother l will spent parts of two days a week with us, to learn how to keep a house and to have help with the whole homeschooling gig.

i'm sure working with s is going to be much harder than k (homeschooled and in a fellowship like ours for years) was. s is struggling with not wearing pants anymore and some other things like that - she wants to change to what she sees as what she should be but the actual practice is hard for her. So i'll be teaching her housekeeping and wifely skills as well as the homeschooling subjects. She says she's never made a real meal in her life.........so this is going to be a task.

After supper, He, M, and s's intended had chat about their goals for s for the year. i was even allowed to sit in on the parts that i needed to hear ;-) So between now and Thursday, when s will move in, i need to set up a curriculum and send it to them for approval. So i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed as well, as grade 5 subjects are the highest i've prepared for (k came with everything in place already) ..........I've just sent Him a list of what she should bring, for Him to approve before sending it to M and l. Over he next couple days, i need to generate a list of rules, plan lessons for her high school subjects, and figure out how to teach someone who doens't know how to boil water how to cook for a husband who likes a good meal.

And i'm a bit nervous about teaching l as well, as she is older than i am. He has reminded me that she is younger in the Lord but that isn't as reassuring as i'd like it to be. And, worrywart that i can be, i hope things aren't moving too fast for them. i so understand wanting to get ahead and push ahead to the end stage of where one sees oneself headed........having been there, done that!

So, if anyone is still with me, i'm open to any help i can get:

Getting ready for teaching s:
a. if You are a Man: what do you think a female should be taught before she gets married?
b. if you are female: what should you have learned before getting married?

And getting ready for workign with l:
As you changed from an egalitarian relationship to a relationship including Male dominance and female submission, what was hard for you? What didn't you know that would have made life easier if you had known it?