#this post was in the works for WAYYY TOOO LONG because [1] my schedule got very busy very quickly and [2] my game just up and stopped workin

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(AN: I FINALLY FOUND THE ISSUE! I had a rogue mod that was causing the game to go haywire, so I went through every single mod [which just showed me I have WAYY TOO MANY] and finally got my game up and running again. Here’s the last official day before the behind-the-scene post and intros to the different families we met over the past 5 days!)

It’s the final day of camp! It’s been a great 5 days full of fun and fellowship, but all good things must come to an end eventually. The official program only runs for the morning, so there was only one event in the main hall.

The program started with a performance of ‘I am saved’ by the FCLL choir, made up of various unmarried young men and women who have shown their dedication to the Lord and his message. They sang an extended performance of the song

Branden Collins then led the next part, which was a sit down session with 2 couples to discuss ‘Homeschooling - Why and How?’ CFLL produces a homeschool curriculum that helps parents to train their children for the Lord, having a hand at writing a few workbooks himself, Branden sits down with Colt & Pearl Powell and Barrett & Kyleigh Collins to discuss why and how the 2 couples use(d) the CFLL materials with their children.

Branden started with Colt & Pearl Powell, he started by asking the couple to introduce themselves. 

[Colt] “Well, my name is Colt and this is my wonderful wife Pearl of almost 30 years. I pastor a church in our hometown of Appaloosa Plains and I’ve been on the CFLL Board of Directors for almost 15 years, and have been thoroughly blessed by the Lord in my life.”

[Pearl] “We have 11 wonderful children who have given us 10 grandchildren and counting! Each year brings us new change, but who doesn’t like having new things to thank the Lord for?”

[Branden] “Why did you choose to homeschool your children?” 

[Colt] “We were high school sweethearts, we got married while I was in college and she was in secretary school. We both grew up going to the same church, and so we had the conversation that we’d be open to as many children as the Lord wanted for us, and that we’d school them ourselves. Our parents both told us, and we ourselves experienced the immoral atmosphere of the public school atmosphere and realised we didn’t want our future children to be exposed to that, we wanted to be able to shape our children's minds and mould them into soldiers for Christ.”

[Pearl] “A few months after we married, a traveling minister told us of a conference happening near us that was put on by this wonderful organisation. We had a great time and learnt so much, and learnt we were pregnant with out first soon after, so we started attending as many sessions as we could before baby came. There were this brand new homeschool curriculum that had been released, and after reading through it we were to excited to be able to try out with our children when they were old enough.”

[Branden] “How did you homeschool?”

[Pearl] “As the mama, the home was my domain, so while daddy was the Principal, I was the Vice Principal of what we called ‘Powell Academy’. Since I was having a child every 2 years, we needed a system so make sure I didn’t lose my mind with the children *laughs*. Our first 4 went boy, girl, boy, girl, and I’m thankful that my girls had (and still have) such servants hearts and were always looking for ways to help me. When a new baby would come home they’d constantly beg to take care of them, so when it came time to do school in the morning, after I did their lessons with them, they’d help the younger ones with their letters and numbers. As they got older they were my right and left hands and helped with running the house during the day. I’d wake up with the youngest 2 whilst they worked with the other 7 to get everyone dressed, fed, and school work started. We’d gather round the table and I’d supervise them doing their work, whilst doting on the youngest, with the delivery of our youngest there were complications and he was born a bit early, so as he grew he was my main focus to make sure he got what he needed. I loved using CFLL’s materials for our kids, I didn’t feel the need to supplement with other curriculums, there was everything for every age group that the children grew into. When the kids started to graduate and pursue their future goals is when we really saw the value of our choice in homeschooling them. Both our boys and girls were sure in their identity as soldiers of Christ and set their goals based on that - our boys are great leaders, most with their own families who are benefiting from their leadership skills; our girls were able to learn how to run a household and to set their sights on being a good wife and mother. We also encouraged our children to use their musical talents to serve, with them traveling with others in a music ministry. Now that they’re giving us grandchildren, I’m excited to see my grand babies learn using the same curriculum that we used on their parents, and imagine what great people they’ll be.”

[Branden] “Thank you two for your wonderful testimony on homeschooling your children, you’ve blessed them greatly with your efforts and in turn have been blessed.”

Branden then welcomed Barrett and Kyleigh Collins to the stage 

[Branden] “Hey you two, why don’t you introduce yourselves”

[Barrett] “My names Barrett Collins, and this is my wife Kyleigh Collins, we’ve been married for almost 10 years and have 8 children together. If the last name is ringing a bell, it’s probably because you’ve watched my parents handle a few parts this past week, and if you’re really with the times then you know of my grandfather. This guy right here *points at Branden* is also my uncle *laughs*”

[Branden] “Great introduction, let’s jump right in: Why did you choose to homeschool?”

[Barrett] “I grew up homeschooled, both of my parents were homeschooled and when they got married they made the choice to homeschool us as well. It was great having all of us at home all of the time, and since I’m the oldest it was our mother who did all of our schooling until we were old enough to work on our own. Being homeschooled gave me the freedom to do what I wanted, even though there was required work I had to do, my parents used the CFLL curriculum for all of us and it’s helped all of us branch into the people that we have become or are becoming for my younger siblings still in school. When I met Kyleigh - which was here, many summers ago - one of the things we talked about while courting was what we wanted for our children, and we both agreed that homeschooling them was the only option.”

[Kyleigh] “Like Barrett, I was also homeschooled by my parents but unlike him I was an only child. Being an only child meant that my mother was able to tailor the work to what I wanted to do, and she’d add in things or take out things that she didn’t find necessary. I loved all that time I spent with her, it really cemented our mother-daughter bond and I really learnt so much wisdom and guidance from her in those formative years. When I look back on the relationship I had and still have with my mother, I can’t help but get excited about the relationships that I’m building with my daughters now as they grow.”

[Branden] “How does homeschooling fit into your day?”

[Kyleigh] “Our schedule is that we’ll both wake up, one of us will handle the baby and the other will deal with the toddlers who have most likely woken up early, since I seem to be having a baby every year it’s a great system for us.

[Barrett] “Often times I’ll deal with the baby because I do the night feedings, I’m thankful that our newest baby Olivia doesn’t fuss as much during the night as her siblings did. 

[Kyleigh] “I then handle breakfast whilst the younger ones play and Barrett gets ready for work, the older kids usually wake up by then and are dressed and ready for the day. Barrett leaves for work whilst the kids are eating breakfast and after the kids clear up the table is when we start with their school work. Our oldest 5 are triplets and twins, so we have 3 eight year olds and 2 six year olds, which is slightly easier because they can work together to get their work done rather than having 5 kids in different grades. Once I’ve got the triplets on track with their work, I can sit with the twins and do their work with them as they need more hands on teaching. We all sit at the table doing work for an hour and a half before we break for snacks and the kids can play a bit before we do verse memorization. I like using hand motions to get them to remember the words, and it’s been great to hear them sing and act out the songs that they learnt at the Children’s Academy this past week that they’ll no doubt be singing for a very long time. We also work on our manners during the day, and my older kids love ‘teaching’ the toddlers their manners - they say it makes them feel smarter *laughs*. Three times a week the kids head over to their grandparents house for their music lessons, they’re all learning the violin and piano, so I’m thankful that I married into a very musical family since all the siblings at home can pick a child and focus on them and their lessons. Right now with young kids we don’t spend the whole day doing work, but I’m assured that as they age that we’ll be able to adapt and change as necessary. Probably the kids’ favourite time of day is when Barrett gets home, it’s play time so he gets to blow off steam with the kids before dinnertime.

[Barrett] “I come home and play with the kids, we’ll then eat dinner and do nightly devotions as a family before putting the kids to bed. We go in reverse age order, so the toddlers head to bed first, followed by the twins, then the triplets, we like doing it that way because then we have time to sit down with all the kids and bond with them individually. Sometimes I’ll sit and think of my childhood when my parents would do the same things with us, and I thank the Lord for all the effort that my parents put into raising us as it had led us to this great life that we’re living now.”

[Branden] “Thank you both for your wonderful testimony on how homeschooling helped you, and how you’re working on changing your childrens lives for the better.”

The choir then closed out the programe (and the formal part of the conference) with a 20 minute performnace of a h hymn medly which was arranged by Claire Paulson and her advanced hymn writing class.

It was the perfect end to a great week of faith, fun, and fellowship! 

There were some official portraits done for the Children’s Academy and the Youth Choir!

Back Row (L-R) = Aaron Leonard, Aria Townsend, Tobias Duke, Melissa Sherman, Lester Paulson, Lyric Warner, Leroy Mitchell, Shania Crawford, Johnathan Herrington

Front Row (L-R) = Allan Collins Jr, Chloe Collins, Benjamin Collins, Rose Collins, Noah Leonard, Violet Collins, Luke Leonard

These young children are the building blocks for the next generation! They’re a testament to the benefits of moulding a young persons mind and training up a child in the way they should go! They’ve spent the last few days proving that their parents efforts in raising them have not been wasted, no doubt that as they age out of the children’s academy, they will grow and continue to be young Christian soldiers.

Back Row (L-R) Annette Collins, Jarrod Paulson, Sadie Berges, Willie Murray, Amira Collins, Jimmy Crawford, Celeste Paulson, Charles Collins, Delaney Mitchell, Tucker Crawford.

Front Row (L-R) Parker Collins, Priscilla Collins, Jolene Crawford, Fredrick Herrington, Lorilee Mitchell, Kellie Moyer, Zachary Paulson, Sabrina Paulson

Here are the wonderful youths that make up the choir! When not singing together, they’re all musicians in their own right who have shared beautiful music to the Lord, as you’ve seen over the past week! 

That makes it the end of the official program, the rest of the day was up to the attendants to use as they wished. Some headed to the lake whilst others headed to the volleyball courts for a tournament.

The children enjoyed swimming in the lake together, Macie taught them all how to swim, so it was great for them to be able to use their skills at the lake since none of their houses have pools! (AN: I spent almost an hour looking for lifejacket cc for kids, because in my mind gen 3 isn’t that clueless and know that you need lifejackets for young kids swimming in a large body of water - but that’s something the game lacks, which I might attempt to make some day)

Kyleigh and Casandra got a selfie in while at the lake, it’s been a tiring but rewarding week and they’re happy that they were able to relax by the lake on their last day. They don’t get to go to many pools and beaches due to the immodest outfits of other beach goers, but since everyone at the lake has the same (high) modesty standards, everyone was able to enjoy in peace.

(AN: ignore the horrendous editing, someones swimsuit didn’t have all the LODs and half their body disappeared😂)

There were many sandcastles made along the shores of the lake, the children practiced their diving skills using the diving platform, and loads of family and friends were able to catch up and reminisce on a great week together.

Meanwhile on the volleyball court...

The Red and Orange teams battled it out in a series of 5 matches to see who would be pronounced the winners, in the end the Orange Team won 3/5 matches, winning the tournament.

The Red Team consisted of: Jarrod Paulson, Charles Collins, Lorilee Mitchell, Annette Collins, and Celeste Paulson

The winners, the Orange Team, were: Parker Collins, Zachary Collins, Tucker Crawford, Sabrina Paulson, and Amira Collins (She was a last minute addition and didn’t get an orange shirt 😂)

The evening ended with everyone meeting at the mess hall to eat dinner before getting together for some fellowship before everyone leaves for their homes the next day. After a long, but refreshing week, everyone was sad to leave their friends, but was excited to get back to their respective homes!