#iscs

Also, if all the kids graduated the Wagners early, which of them actually have an education? Besides the creationism and whatnot, was Sophia as rigorous as she should have been?

Since Catherine's discontent with her family/current lifestyle is more of a story thread than anything else, and due to the fact that I use a very weird mishmash of "real" and "Sims" elements*, I don't have a specific number in mind.

Re: education, Sophia's teaching and the curriculum(s) they use (including the official ISCS one) doesn't make for the best education in the world, but they aren't scraping the bottom of barrel either. Everyone knows the basics. (In fact, Sophia knows more than "the basics"--she has a BA!) Plus SLC's ongoing presence has made it harder for the Wagners to commit serious educational neglect. And the gimmicks they do for filming (field trips, vacations, et cetera) are the cherry on top in terms of extra educational content they wouldn't ordinarily get.

The Wagner kids also have access to books because--while I wouldn't call the ISCS community especially intellectual--reading is seen as a decent, family-friendly pastime. It's certainly preferable to other, more sinful activities. I imagine the books in the Wagner household are a mix of modern and older Christian materials (fiction and nonfiction), history content that conforms to their worldview, and then the classics, because they're "clean" and "support traditional values." For a kid like Catherine, who is a huge bookworm and highly motivated to learn about the world outside the ISCS bubble, access to the classics is an amazing resource for her: they're both genuinely educational and not likely to get her in trouble. Most of the kids have read a few classic novels for a homeschool project or for fun, so they aren't completely screwed, educationally-speaking. Just not quite as driven as Catherine is. (And for that discrepancy, I don't have a particular justification; it just happens in families sometimes, even when children are raised exactly the same. But that's a conversation for another post lol.)

(top photo L-R: Carly Mae Kuang, Penelope Warren, Nathaniel James, Cadence Wagner, Milo Russo, Joseph Parker, Ella James, Stephen Wagner.)

We've started a new program under the ISCS umbrella: Camp FIGHT! It stands for Faithfully Imparting Guidance to His Trainees, and in short, it's all about raising up strong young men for God. In addition to year-round local chapters (think Boy Scouts, but with Christ at the center of everything!), we've also established a four-week military-style summer camp for our cadets, ages 13 to 18. Young men aged 18 to 25 will be welcome to return as counselors and chaperones, and older men will serve as mentors and senior staff.

Some of our colleagues on the ISCS board had concerns about taking on another project right now--Colin and I are so busy with filming, after all--but I pushed it forward. For a long while Colin and I have been concerned about our second son, Samuel. He's always been a little softer than a young man should; he prefers staying inside to playing sports with his brothers, and he just doesn't have that normal, natural strength of character a young man should. We assumed he'd grow out of it, but he's 14 now, participating in our weekly FIGHT meetings in the church basement, and he still hasn't fully given himself over to God.

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I am so glad my children are able to receive the blessing of homeschool! A long time ago I made the mistake of signing our oldest few up for a very liberal co-op. At the time I thought I was so clever, but looking back I realize how shameful it is to send your own children away from the home, just so they can be given all sorts of mixed messages about what God wants for them.

As always, I am in awe of Colin's enterprising spirit! With a family of eight and prices rising every day, a little extra cash is never unwelcome. He's really been pushing himself to meet our needs in that regard. While he's still on the typical business management track during the days, every night for the past month he's been hard at work creating an advice course for Christian family men; specifically, Christian men who want to boost their earnings and career potential. He has so much valuable insight with regards to the corporate world and the real estate world, too, now that we manage three(!) rental units. (Yep, we ended up closing on that renovated old home just a little while ago.) It's pretty scary to owe this much money to the bank, but Colin's assured me it will turn out just fine.

After Colin finishes up with one last bit of fine tuning, he plans to sell this course across the internet and within our church network. I can't pretend to know what in the world he's talking about most of the time, but I'm just grateful that he's providing!

(L-R: Lauren (15) holding Evan (4), Lucy (12), Pastor George (42), Pearl (36) holding Ethan (0), Justin (10) and Ellen (7) Phillips)

Speaking of our church network, I feel so grateful to be part of this beautiful faith community. Our former pastor was a great guy, but unfortunately, his father-in-law got seriously sick, and for the sake of his wife he decided to move his family back to Willow Creek. The new man in charge, Pastor Phillips, is a real mover and shaker. He's been making some noise about getting a group together to promote Christian values and encourage likeminded families in their walks with Christ, but it hasn't gained a lot of traction yet. Whether that works out or not, we couldn't be more grateful to know his family.

Well, we have been busy busy busy here in Wagnerland. Colin and I have been hard at work getting the ISCS up and running, and I'm pleased to report it's been a huge success thus far! It's such a relief to have a steady income again; even if it doesn’t cover anything fancy, at least I know our mortgage will always be paid. Two babies instead of the one we were expecting certainly threw a wrench in the gears—the new baby clothes aren’t in the budget anymore—but it’s fine. Really, it’s fine. All the sacrifice is worth it, knowing that we're making our money by doing truly good works.

We've started off small with our congregation and a few others—expanding Pastor Phillips' Speaker Series, organizing local conferences, publishing homeschool materials and a regular newsletter and things of that ilk—but we're courting some big donors so soon we might be expanding beyond Brindleton Bay!! I can’t stop imagining our family ten years out, influencing the Christian world for good. We might be invited to speak at conferences, meet with other important people in the church, maybe even write a book…

Of course my number one priority will always be our children, ISCS or no. After we recommitted to the Lord it was an easy decision to pull the kids out of the homeschool co-op. We had never been huge fans of the group but in re-evaluating it, we realized just how far out of step it was with our values. We'll be doing all school at home from now on and saving our wallets while we're at it!

And we've had some birthdays as well! Sam is 5, and Stephen is 3. I'm so blessed to have two boys close in age and with such similar temperaments—perhaps a little too gentle, but I’m trying to take it in stride. Part of my job as a mother is to guide my children along the right path. Everyone is born a sinner, after all!