This weekend we had our fourth Grovestead Gathering here at our farm. And thanks to a team of families helping to run the whole event, I got to sit in on every session and listen to the lectures—a first for me at a Grovestead Gathering!
We had Kevin Swanson and his wife Brenda here from Generations sharing on how to pass on the faith to the next generation. I’ll just list the talk titles here because I think they set the stage: I spoke on Work, Worship and Wisdom. Rory gave a very moving talk on Going the Distance. And Kevin spoke on Discipleship and Decline: Faith at the End of Empire, Have Your Children Been with Jesus? and Recovering the Christian Family in an Age of Brokenness.
Hattie helped him set up his book table and later Brenda mentioned that she thought Hattie could run the whole event and I totally agree. She is very attentive to all that is going on or needs to happen next. I think we’ll let her head up the gathering in 2025.
This is Brenda, Kevin’s wife, in the green shirt with a dear friend and faithful supporter of both Generations and Gather and Grow. The fun of these in-person events is that they tend to feel like a family reunion- friends you see just once a year, but so dear and encouraging. What a gift.
Also, if you haven’t ever taught with anything from Generations, I cannot recommend their homeschool curriculum enough. In the front of the science books it says that if every page of science doesn’t leave you in awe and wonder, praising your Creator, you have not studied science. What I can testify is that now I love science, and many days end with us singing hymns or reciting scripture that reinforce what we just learned. My older kids are doing the history curriculum from Generations which they say is their very favorite subject.
We had 110 kids come! And they had a blast. We had families from a church in Wisconsin that came to oversee them all, and we have heard rave reviews from our kids. Gaga Ball is always a favorite is, leaving the kids with scraped Gaga Knuckles and so caked with dirt that it requires a Gaga Bath.
Our beekeeping friend Andy came and taught the kids about honey bees. He is such a fun teacher and had everyone happily gathering nectar and pollen all around the yard (in the form of bowls filled with skittles! Brilliant!) and eating some and bringing some back to the hive.
And of course my personal favorite: the potluck dinner—with 30 families! Potlucks make me so happy, and this potluck did not disappoint! Special thanks to the family who brought the broccoli salad.
It’s funny to post all of these pictures because I feel like they tell a bit of the story, but the real story was in the words spoken, some very challenging, some really inspiring. The lectures were so rich and led to really heartfelt conversations in between the talks.
They were all recorded and available for purchase on our website.
I’ll leave you with a picture of two Hattie’s. We saw that another Hattie was coming on the sign up sheet and my Hattie was beside herself. She wondered if they’d be friends immediately because they had so much in common already. And I’m happy to report, they were fast friends.
Just like many other fast friends made over the two days together.
2 comments
It is a joy to see what the Lord is doing in your family! I pray for you and pray your tribe increases.