It's Almost Time for PROM

Only two weeks until the first Carolina Capital Homeschool Prom!  We have a little over a hundred registrations turned in, with a few stragglers still making their way to us in the mail.

The weather has been gorgeous this past 2 weeks. We have a couple of rainy days coming up, but then it gets sunny again, and I pray that it stays that way through at least May 7th, because our event is outdoors!   The Sutherland Estate and Gardens is a gorgeous old Southern estate, and although we'll be partying under a big tent, rain might dampen the evening.

This event is for homeschooled students and alumni, ages 14 -21, and their guests.  It includes a catered buffet dinner,  photographer taking formal and candid shots throughout the night, a DJ playing great music, dancing, door prizes - all hopefully creating a magical night of happy memories for our kids. The past few months have been a flurry of activity as the 6 girls and  4 moms on the Prom Committee have interviewed caterers, hired the DJ, met with the venue event coordinator, picked out table linens,  planned decorations, shopped for dresses, recruited chaperones, solicited door prizes, and worked with the photographer ( my oldest daughter ) to come up with a plan.  The bulk of the registrations came in just at the last minute - of course - and I was a weeeeeeeee bit stressed about possibly not meeting our minimum number needed to pay the bills. Hubby was also a bit stressed over this. But it looks like we are going to make it, if barely.

Since this is the first time we've been involved in an event like this, it has been interesting to hear the discussion amongst homeschoolers.  We as a community are rather split over the whole Prom idea.  Some people have been very grateful and excited about their teens having a chance to participate in a fancy, dressy, formal event like this during their high school years!  Others have been disdainful, scoffing at the idea of trying to be like the "schools", as if planning a Prom is somehow traitorous to the ideals of homeschooling.  Some have worried about too much freedom and wordliness; others have fretted over too much supervision and control.  So the old saying holds true... you can't please all the people all the time. We don't expect every homeschooler to participate... it is an opportunity that you can take or leave.
But at least 100 teens are ready to test the waters and we are humbly praying that the night will be a blessing! 

In addition to the revelry and hoopla, we are also using this event to raise awareness about a cause close to the hearts of several of the families on our committee, and that is orphan care ministry. We are hoping  to send any money  brought in above our expenses to the Kolfe Orphanage for Boys in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We may not have much to send, but we are going to make sure everyone there goes away having heard about the boys at Kolfe, and others like them all over the world - and maybe feeling like they can be a part of helping in the future. We will be showing a video, hearing from the young lady who started Etaala International , and maybe even connecting with the boys via Skype.

If it comes to your mind, we'd greatly appreciate your prayers for this event. :-)