The Zimmermans' Visit & Our Trip to Asheville, NC

I know. What an uncreative title. But hey, at least it tells you exactly what this post's about! : )

Meeting Katelyn Grace for the first time

Leslie and Ashley meeting for the first time

Thank you to Esther and Phil (her camera) for most of these wonderful pictures! All the ones that look too good to be taken by my little point-and-shoot camera are from her. : )

The day after the Zimmermans arrived, Leslie and I went with them to American Vision's Worldview Superconference - the same conference that we met Tait at last year! There, we learned about everything from epistemological self-consciousness to the fallacies of the interdimentional hypothesis. ; )

Esther in the backseat

On our way up to Asheville, we took a slight detour on the Blue Ridge Parkway. And yes, I know that the Blue Ridge Mountains (they are not hills!) are slightly smaller than Alaskan mountains. Oh, but they're beautiful!

We were able to make a few scenic stops along the way. Here we are at Looking Glass Falls.


Lunch was at a beautifully picturesque little cafe by the side of the Parkway.


My favorite talk of the conference, by Dr. Voddie Baucham (a phenomenal, passionate speaker!), was called "Whoever Controls the Schools Rules the World." A few of his especially hard-hitting thoughts (according to my rather sporadic notes) were as follows:

He who teaches, disciples. The student will be like his teacher. The pupil is not above his teacher.

As any homeschooler has noticed, they are always getting asked the same three questions:

1. How do you get socialized?
2. Is homeschooling legal?
3. Where do you get your curriculum, and who oversees the job your parents are doing in homeschooling you?

The reason everyone asks the same questions is because they have all been discipled by the same teacher!

Answering objections to home education:

"Parents are not professional teachers."
"Having at least one parent who is a teacher makes no difference whatsoever, statistics show."

"Students miss out on socialization."
"Good!" (We want selective socialization!)

"But they're not being salt and light!"
"Matthew 5 is about being distinct, and set apart - not assimilating! Jesus goes on to say that whoever keeps children from obeying the Law is least in the Kingdom of God."

All of the talks were exceptional, and I am so thankful we were able to attend!

Tait and Me

Esther and Ashley

Mr. & Mrs. Zimmerman

Talking on a quaint little bridge

While everyone attending the conference had a name tag, mine was somewhat unique. The front had the usual setup of the name of the conference, the name of the company, the date of the conference, and the name of the attendee. But, if you turned my name tag over to look at the back, you saw a slightly unusual note in a young man's handwriting:


(To see where "The Pesky Alaskan" came from, you can click here.)


One day, we were able to take a nice little hike up "Rattlesnake Trail" in between sessions. 'Twas lovely, with a beautiful view at the top.

A good time was had by all!

At Cracker Barrel on the way back

Esther, Ashley, and Leslie at Atlanta Bread on the way back

Random interesting fact of the day:

My name is Lauren Ashley.
Ashley's name is Ashley Laura.

Have a wonderful day, all you lovely people, and thanks for reading our blog!
~Lauren