Friday evening, we celebrated the graduation of Jesse Maxwell. Jesse is the 7th Maxwell to graduate from our homeschool. Jesse worked hard at his school: he was diligent, he applied himself to his studies, and he excelled quickly.
Our graduation celebration started with dinner, and Jesse chose the menu: ham stew, cornbread, potato casserole, and for dessert: chocolate brownies with fudge sauce, and chocolate custard.
Bethie brought balloons to Uncle Jesse.
After dinner and cleanup, we moved into the living room for Bible time.
Next, everyone had come prepared with a special verse (s) for Jesse. They read him the verse, shared some thoughts, and then prayed for him.
Joseph’s verse was presented in a special design which he had done.
Abby recited a verse she had memorized.
Grandad was able to read his verse, which was precious, with his failing health.
Dad and Mom gave Jesse his diploma.
As part of our celebration, we gave graduation gifts to Jesse. Everyone had put thought and effort into their gifts. Abigail gave Jesse a stuffed penguin.
Christopher being his funny uncle self. I can’t wait to see him with his own children.
The Maxwell alumni.
Jesse and John after the party was over.
Truly, the celebration was a special time of blessing Jesse, celebrating his graduation from school, and recognizing his hard work. Near the end, Jesse gave Mom a card he had written. As Mom got emotional, there weren’t many dry eyes in the room. Mom has invested so much in our education, and it is something we are extremely grateful for. She’s been homeschooling for 27 years, and Mary is her last student!
Congratulations, Jesse!
Love,
Sarah
“Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.”
–Deuteronomy 4:9
How very sweet! We will have our first graduate from our homeschool academy this year as well!
How your family is growing! Ours is too…through birth of little grandchildren, a new marriage, and more recently, with our “almost” adoption of a little boy in foster care. It is amazing how God lead and continues to lead in our lives!
Blessings,
Beth
Congratulations Jesse!!! Prayers for you that whatever career path you feel lead to follow you will find success, always keeping God first in your life. You have Jesus in your heart and you know that he is your shepherd leading along this path. Do you know yet what you want to do, if not forever, at least in the imidiate future?
I always enjoy reading about and seeing pictures of your graduation event. They are so intimate and special for the graduate and it is a great delight to be included even if only through the internet. Jesse certainly looks so happy, and everyone else so happy for him.
Teri, you are such a wonderfully dedicated mom to teaching your children. I believe you do not see your hoeschooling a sacrifice in your life, but a gift that God has given you to be able to stay home and provide and education ffor your eight children. It seems like just yesterday, when i met you al; through your blog, and the five younges were all still in school and now Mary is the only one left. I hope this will be an extra special bonding time for you both as you both work to finish out her schooling. Congratulatons to you too Teri, for an excellent job in bringing Jesse (and the six pervious) to completion. I know that God is smiling down on you (as I am certain he always is:)
Blessing, Mrs. Mari
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Currently Jesse is doing website development. He feels a pull towards missions and we will see how the Lord leads in that.
Steve
I enjoyed this post just as much as the one of the baby shower. It was sweet and great to see you all wanting to bless Jesse, but even more was to see the love in your eyes that you all have for each other. May God guide and bless Jesse in his calling in life, and always keep him close to His heart.
I love the first picture of Abby. It was well set and well taken.
God bless! Rebecca K.
Thank you for sharing this with us!!! I too am a homeschool high school graduate this year and -being the oldest in my family- I have been extremely blessed to see examples of other homeschool graduates… I have especially appreciated the way each of you have honored and recognized your Mom’s investment in your education and life!!! It was Anna’s graduation that I read about a couple of years ago and she inspired me to do this for my mom as I graduate this spring 🙂
Thank you for continuing to inspire other young people like myself to glorify the Lord with our lives and honor our parents 🙂
Congratulations, Jesse!!
Congratulations, Jesse!
I really enjoy seeing how your family celebrates the graduations throughout the years. So special and such a blessing. My oldest (of 7) will be graduating in two years and I’ve been homeschooling from the very start. It seems that each year goes by faster and faster.
God bless you!
Woo hoo!! Congratulations, Jesse. Job well done, and that’s a WHOLE lot more than academics. Onward and upward into whatever doors open to you. Just to think, God already knows and you get the adventure of finding out what. Go for it kid, oops, I mean, young man.
Love you,
Aunt Tami
Congratulations on your graduation, Jesse!
May God bless you with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him!
Blessings and love from New Jersey
The K Family
Congratulations, Jesse! By a career in missions, do you mean as a missionary overseas or something closer to home? Either way, I wish you the best!
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Lord only knows at this point.
Congratulations, Jesse! This such a sweet blessing 🙂 and encouragement to so many home school parents.
Congratulations Jesse! Missionaries are definitely called from God. I have a new friend who was just Nationally appointed to go to what is called the heart of darkness in central America. I prayed as I saw her walk away for the last time for probobly many years. I pray that God will use you to bless those who need to hear the word.
Johnna
Congratulations1
Thanks for sharing your sweet celebration:) Congratulations to Jesse! Loved the pics! Funny little story … I am 4 months pregnant and was craving brownies last night. This morning reading the paper I came across a recipe for chocolate brownies with fudge sauce and now here I am seeing your fabulous picture. We shall be having chocolate brownies with fudge sauce very soon:D and we shall say a prayer for Jesse whilel we do:)
Congratulations, Jesse!! Are you down to one Maxwell student?
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Mary is the last one!
Congratulations, Jesse! And also congratulations to you Teri for doing such a great job in educating your son!
I’m always encouraged and inspired by your family and your desire to walk with God in all you do.
Thank you for sharing and God bless you.
Congratulations to Jesse on his graduation. And I am so thankful to see two healthy mommy tummies still around! Prayers for healthy babies at the right time- His time! Oh, and I finally got my balance ball and loving it. Prayers all around,
Diane
Congratulations Jesse!! I am excited to see what God has planned for you next!! I am several years away from having our first child, a son, graduate from our homeschool, but even though he’s only 9 years old, I can already see the wonderful young man he’s becoming. Not sure that would be so if he were in a public school setting. I’m just very thankful to be homeschooling all three of our children.
Congrats on the graduation! Big moment for sure!
Hello Maxwell Family! Congratulations to Jesse on his graduation!
I don’t think I have ever left a comment, but wanted to take this time to say thank you for your ministry. My two daughters and I recently completed The Sweet Journey and it has indeed helped us all to get closer to the Lord! You are all a blessing. We had the pleasure of attending one of your conferences a few years ago in Charlottesville, VA and enjoyed it very much. And I wanted to add that I love your rug (it looks like it’s in your family room or living room) shown in this post (Jesse’s graduation). We have the exact same one, but in blue! It may sound silly, but it was kind of neat to see the same rug in your house. We all admire you and especially your dedication to the Lord!
Congratulations Jesse!
What a beautiful celebration!
What an accomplishment for Jesse and mom and dad! : ) We have 4 kiddos attending our homeschool right now with the first graduation date set for 2022- thank you for showing us all that it is possible! ; )
What a wonderful day of celebration for your family and Jesse!
Thanks for the great family ministry and blog!
I am several weeks behind on reading a few of these posts, but still wanted to leave a comment. 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS JESSE !!! What a blessing you are to your family, I am sure. May the Lord always guide and bless you, as you work to serve Him. ~ Also, I wanted to add a special CONGRATULATIONS to Teri. 🙂 What a wonderful job you’ve done (and continue to do) in your childrens’ lives. I’m sure it has not been easy, but what a blessing you’ve been able to homeschool them. You are a wonderful inspiration to so many. May God always bless the Maxwell family. Love, Patti M.