A Story of a Mom Inspired to Change Her Family's Life

By Desi Harley

When I began homeschooling as a single mother, my family was very much against me.

They did not understand why I would be compelled to withdraw my daughter from public school and give up my lucrative career to homeschool.

They questioned whether I was qualified. I remember my dad asking my daughter often whether she had made A’s on her report card after the first semester. The argument that ensued when she explained she does not get grades was monumental.

Granted, at that time, my second grader—whom I was told by the public school would never read on her reading level—was reading in just one school year on a fourth-grade level! I guess you could say the public school was right.

My parents could not grasp that their granddaughter’s performance and success could be gauged by something other than grades. Then, in the fourth grade, their granddaughter memorized 172 timeline cards, talked intelligently about the law of thermodynamics, and could spell a college student under the table.

When I completed my seventh year homeschooling my daughter, my mother was co-homeschooling my oldest niece and prepared to teach another niece the following year.

My mother agreed to attend the HEAV convention with me in June of that year, and after only one session with Yvonne Bunn, she was SO excited to start another year homeschooling. She stayed through the convention all three days and attended every session she could squeeze in.

The following year, my sister, mother, and sister-in-law came as a part of my volunteer team to bring encouragement and fellowship to the single parents who have stepped out on a lot of faith to homeschool their children.

If you happened to see me at the convention, I’ll be the one smiling from ear to ear because I know the Lord has blessed my family exceedingly abundantly.