As one year comes to a close and a new year dawns, I am struck by just how much God has taught our little family in 2009.

We have learned, through the experience of my husband's time of unemployment, that God seeks an attitude of humble gratitude from us on a daily basis. Realizing that our provision truly comes from Him and Him alone--accepting little, blank envelopes of unexpected blessing, with nobody to thank but God--set us on our heals, and made us realize that we still have so far to go in our recognition of our dependence upon Him.

We lost a long time friend and his teenage son in a plane crash this summer. During the weeks that followed, heaven and eternity seemed to be closer than ever, worship became more honest and meaningful, and our view of God's care for the fatherless and the widow changed forever.

Before I became a mom, I used to think that as God blessed us with children, we would teach them things. I have since learned that the Lord more often than not, uses our children to teach us. There is nothing more refining than being a parent, and nothing makes my shortcomings more glaringly obvious than teaching and training up children.

As parents--and especially as home educators--we need to be constantly learning.

• What plans do you have for reading this year? Do you have a plan for Bible reading? What about other worthy books? In 2010, I plan to read/finish reading:

1. Family Driven Faith by Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr.
2. When You Rise Up: A Covenantal Approach to Homeschooling by R.C. Sproul
3. Passionate Housewives Desperate for God by Jennie Chancey and Stacey McDonald
4. Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by R.C. Sproul
5. Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade
6. Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney

• For auditory learners, what do you plan to listen to? My MP3 player has become my new best friend in 2009. A few resources that I access frequently are:

1. sermonaudio.com -- I download and listen to sermons from pastors all over the country from this website--all for free
2. bluebehemoth.com -- This is Vision Forum's download site for audio and visual media. If you are interested in their materials, this is less expensive than buying the CDs and DVDs from their website. Additionally, they give away two free MP3 downloads daily to everyone who has an account with them. An excellent resource!
3. christianaudio.com -- A great place to find Christian ebooks and other audio materials. They give away a free ebook each month, so be sure to sign up for their newsletter.
4. ncfic.org -- The National Center for Family Integrated Churches has an extensive download library of free audio and visual materials of interest to Christian home educating families.