If you send your kids to public school, or are considering sending your kids to public school, you must, must, must read this book.

Going Public - Your Child Can Thrive in Public School, by David and Kelli Pritchard

My friend Heather told me about the Pritchards after hearing them speak at the All Staff Young Life conference in Florida this past January. They had just written this book and it was due out in March. I waited on pins and needles for the Amazon cardboard box to arrive at my door. And even with my (hopeful) high expectations, this book is a gem and so encouraging for parents choosing public school.

A few interesting things about the Pritchards:
- they have eight children, all of whom attend/attended public schools
- while they live in a premiere school district in Tacoma, the Pritchards have deliberately sought and gotten a waiver to attend a school with lower test scores and a higher percentage of “economically disadvantaged” families
- their oldest daughter Alyse, 24, graduated with honors from USC; second daughter Krista, 22, attends Hawaii; and son Tavita, 20, currently plays quarterback for Stanford University
- David and Kelli are careful not to criticize private schools or home schools in Going Public, but instead offer a much-needed tool for encouraging public school parents
- David is the Young Life area director in the south suburbs of Tacoma, WA and manages Young Life’s largest summer camp
- Going Public is worth reading even if yours is not a public school family - the solid, practical, Biblical parenting advice transcends all school choices.

Some of my favorite quotes from the first chapter, “You can Do It!” include:

Our approach to difficult people and situations is, We can learn something here. (pg 19)

Starting in the very first classroom, our home, we teach our children to be the influencers rather than the influenced. (pg 20)

We consider ourselves to be our children’s number one educators, and we will never give up that responsibility or privilege - even though they spend 30 hours a week in someone else’s classroom. We instruct our kids every day. We look for the teachable moments that intersect with what they are experiencing outside our home. We draw frames around their encounters and activities, showing how they fit within God’s greater perspective. (pg 21)

We believe… that believing parents can raise kids with strong spiritual roots in the midst of a secular culture. (pg 22)

Other chapters:
Ch 2 - Is Public Education an Evil Plot?
Ch 3 - What the Bible says about Education
Ch 4 - The Most Important Thing to Teach Your Public-School Child
Ch 5 - The Second Most Important Thing
Ch 6 - The Third Most Important Thing
Ch 7 - The Magic of Being Nice
Ch 8 - Submitting to Authority
Ch 9 - Teachable Moments
Ch 10 - Up Close and Personal
Ch 11 - Everybody Should “Homeschool”
Ch 12 - Your Very Best Chance
Ch 13 - For Men Only
Ch 14 - The Nearest Mission Field
Ch 15 - The Moon is Round
Afterword - From our Children

A couple of endorsements sum up what I love about Going Public:

While many Christian families fear the negative influence of public schools, the Pritchards remind us that we don’t have to “take God into the public schools,” because He’s already there! Finally, a positive, practical book that encourages people to work together as a family and impact our schools and communities for Jesus.
Kjel and Leslie Kiilsgaard
Public high school teacher and coach
High school counselor

If you want to find out what marriage and parenting is all about, just watch David and Kelli as they interact with each other and with their children. One of the things that strike me the most is the love and respect their children have for them. If the proof is in the pudding, you only have to watch the Pritchard family to see model of a family that loves each other and the God who created them.
Bill Paige
VP and Special Assistant to the President of Young Life

I wrote on the topic of school choices last month, and what I found was that the comments people left were more interesting than my actual post, Bloom Where You’re Planted. This whole school choice can certainly conjure up some friction. As I mentioned before, I see significant beauty in many private schools and home school families. We are taking this one year at a time. But I am so grateful for David and Kelli’s blood, sweat and tears in crafting this outstanding, valuable resource. This is a book that I anticipate rereading and referencing many times.
You can read more about Going Public, as well as the Pritchards’ family and ministry, at David and Kelli’s website and blog. Enjoy!

She writes devotionals every day on her Morning Coffee blog.
Every day.
She simply moves verse by verse through books of the Bible and expounds on them,
adding her thoughts and personal stories.
And she does this in her free time as a pastor’s wife and a homeschooling mother of two.

I first met Renae at the Mt. Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference last year and felt drawn to the fellow Texan with her warm smile and easy laugh. Like with another of my Wednesday Wonders, Jennifer King, it was fun to meet another young mom with an awakened interest in writing (well, I thought we were young until BJ entered the room). Renae is wise and thoughtful, but she’s also funny. An endearing quality that makes me like her even more, because I’ve always wanted to be funny.

One of the things I’m most fascinated about Renae is that her son, Foster James, was adopted six years ago. My nephew, Foster James, was also adopted six years ago. What are the chances of finding two six-year-old boys named Foster James living in different states but whose families actually know each other?!
Renae is married to Mark and they also have a beautiful ten-year-old daughter, Charis.

It takes about 5 minutes of meeting Renae to sense her love for God’s Word. When asked about her favorite passage, she cites Isaiah 55:8-13:

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed.”

“Verses 8 - 11 inspire me as I write. I know that as long as God’s Word keeps being thrown out there, in one way or another, God will use it to accomplish His great purpose. I love
that in Ephesians 6, where it talks about the armor of
God, the only OFFENSIVE weapon is the sword, or God’s
Word. The rest of the armor is defensive. If we have
salvation, faith, righteousness, truth, etc, we will
be protected. But still, we can have on our armor, but
without an offensive weapon to fight with, we might as
well curl up in a fetal position. Satan will still
keep coming at us. He just won’t be able to pierce
very deeply. But with God’s Word, the sword, we can
actually fight Satan off! We can make Him run away,
with our Sword!
Then, v. 12 - 13 give me such a warm peaceful feeling.
Mark and I have been through some really tough times
in ministry. But I am reminded that in the end (and am
claiming it even for now!) that He will make sure I
“go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the
mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and
instead of the briers the myrtle grow. This will be
for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign which
will not be destroyed.”

When asked how she’s been personally rewarded through writing, Renae said,

“I love writing. For me, it has always been a form of
therapy, whether anyone reads it or not. My favorite
thing right now is the weekly newspaper column I am
writing. It is so exciting that God is letting me
address a secular audience with His message. Again -
as long as we keep casting it out there, God will do
the rest.”

Renae’s devotional/Bible study series, Morning Coffee, is slated for publication in Fall, 2009. The first book in the series is Morning Coffee with James. In addition to these devotionals, Renae is published locally and nationally in newspapers and magazines, has written a book chronicling the adoption of her son, and also recently signed a contract to write for a chapter book mystery series for girls, ages 8 - 12. She’s been busy.
Thanks, Renae, for your friendship and for sharing your love for Scripture with us - a great jolt each morning. Your work blesses many… keep writing!

** Look for my Wednesday Wonder posts (most weeks!) - please forgive the cheesy name - as I highlight inspiring friends and people in my life… enjoy! **

I posted this last week on my writer’s group blog, but wanted to share it here as well. Enjoy!

I read The Gardener to my kids recently, an inspiring children’s story about a young girl’s courage and optimism in the face of adversity. Lydia Grace Finch is forced to leave her family’s farm and move to the city with her unsmiling Uncle Jim who owns a bakery. Her parents and grandmother grieve as she boards the train. Arriving in the bleak city, Lydia Grace puts her green thumb to work embellishing the barren apartment and bakery with overflowing window boxes. At the end of the story, Lydia Grace’s secret gift to her Uncle is revealed as he opens the door to his building’s top floor: the once ugly, littered flat roof is transformed into an outrageous, flowering oasis. Lydia Grace’s steady and deliberate tending of the window boxes and the top-story garden not only beautify the barren city building, but also draws customers into the bakery. This young girl’s contagious optimism and hard work touch an entire community.
It’s a difficult book to read aloud without having your voice crack with emotion a time or two.
Kind of like when I think of my college roommate and dear friend, Jessica Brogdon, who left the safety and familiarity of Little Rock, Arkansas and moved to Kigali, Rwanda with her husband and children a couple of years ago. Jessica, an only child, lived about half a mile from her parents. But when the Lord said “go,” Todd and Jessica - and their precious children - went. With courage and optimism Jessica loaded her family’s belongings into a crate to be shipped to Kigali, Rwanda.
They will come home this spring. But in a seemingly unproductive environment, Jessica and her family have left their hand prints along the way. In the Brogdons’ wake, struggling Rwandans - especially women - will have opportunities through an established micro-lending bank to not only survive but thrive. Jobs for locals were created. A Rwandan church has an increased budget because of a couple of Americans helped with fundraising. Precious preschoolers and young children have been taught and hugged and loved through Jessica’s teaching. Young American teachers have found a family away from home. Jessica’s dear friend Chantal not only received a well-paying job for the past couple of years, but her family will be moving into a nice new home rather than facing life on the streets. There’s even a new little Rwandan “Ben” running around, four-year-old Ben Brogdon’s namesake.
The Brogdons have ministered to countless Rwandans around them, soaking in the culture and capturing these people in their hearts. And as they head back home to Little Rock, a small community in Kigali will forever be a little changed.
It’s no wonder Sarah Stewart’s The Gardener was awarded a Caldecott Medal. To read a story of courage and optimism in the face of fear and unfamiliarity can change our lives. It changes our perspective, allows us to reevaluate what we think is daunting and scary in our own lives, and then inspires us to work hard and faithfully until the community around us is made a little more beautiful.
To see transformation as a result of sacrifice pulls at our hearts because it is Truth lived out. Centuries ago, Someone faced an overwhelming situation. He felt incredible fear and dread, but because of great love forged courageously ahead to complete a difficult task and then return to His Father. And in His wake, an entire world with all its generations was touched and made more beautiful.