Nebraska Christian Home Educators Association Conference

We flew from Cincinnati to Lincoln, Nebraska on Thursday, April, 26th so Mike could speak at the Nebraska Christian Home Educators Conference. We set up our resources and went to a very fine Nebraska beef restaurant for dinner with several of the state convention committee members. On Friday morning the convention started. Nick Lenzen is the president of the group and his wife Kathleen is the conference chairwoman. Anyone who has run a conference with several hundred in attendance knows how much work it involves with all the planning and set up and then all the contingencies that happen once it starts. The thing that is so special about this couple though, is that they graduated their children years ago but are still volunteering countless  hours so that those who are going through the journey of home education now will continue to have a wonderful conference each year. God bless you Kathleen and Nick.

Here is another couple who got my respect right away. They have graduated their 9 children through homeschooling but still take the time to help run the conference. They were sitting next to us in the lobby where we had our resources. I asked when they started homeschooling and was shocked to hear 1981. That was 3 years before it was legal in the state of Nebraska! Lorraine told me that she is a rule followerer (I identify with that position) and yet when she was praying about their first child’s schooling, she realized that she needed to follow God’s rules rather than the state’s rules. It was through trailblazers like Dave and Lorraine that parents got the freedom to teach their children at home without the fear of being arrested. Let’s all pray that that freedom will continue to be there for everyone in the USA for many years to come.

We were treated like royalty – we even had a driver! Jolene Catlett is another one of those homeschool moms who continues to serve well after her own have finished and have actually started families of their own. All four of her children are homeschooling their children now too. Jolene and her husband live in North Platte so they had to drive 3 hours to come serve at the convention. Thank you Jolene for all of your help.