Melanie Rose and the Prayer Warrior

Rose.

A flower that grows like any other plant. It starts with putting a seed into soil.

I see a warrior. This warrior heard the cry of the people and ran to her position to enter the battle against the enemy. As the soldier approached the starting line she changed her posture. One knee fell on the ground and her hands were raised in the air. She began to praise the one who already won this battle and has declared victory.

As the stumbling footsteps proceed on the side walk towards a family friends house name Rose, a mother was guiding her daughter to a place to find direction. After three knocks on the door, it slowly opened and Rose welcomed them into her place.

“Down Syndrome. After the test taken a couple days ago, the doctors said my little girl will have Down Syndrome.” as the young mother said with tears rolling down her face. Her mother was holding her tights as she continued, “I was given a choose.” Although her and her husband had made a choose of keeping their baby, it was torn their hearts to even be offered the opportunity to have an abortion.

Crying out for help and direction she asked Rose a question, “What am I supposed to do now?”

This is the moment where the seed was planted…

Rose’s eyes opened up wide because she knew what needed to happen. There was no decision man needed to make other than to offer this to our heavenly Father. The atmosphere changed in the room as Rose starting to pray and proclaim the promise God has given to use through Scripture.

As months remanded of the pregnancy, Rose prayed. She prayed not only for the families’ baby girl that was being born soon, but for peace in mist of confusion, regrets and the desire of perfection surround them.

This was not just a battle Rose was taken by herself she called out to the other Prayer Warriors throughout Chicago Land.

The day came for the mom to be able give birth to her first child. The pain of deliver did not last forever, Melanie Rose was born. As the doctors went evaluate Melanie, they returned to the parents and stated the diagnosed of Melanie having Down Syndrome was incorrect.

This is the beginning of Melanie’s story which creates a picture of how much the community that surrounded her family supported them through the pregnancy in prayer.

Twenty-one years later Melanie Rose is able to share her story about a woman name Rose who helped guide and lead her mother in the right direction. Rose planted a seed before Melanie was a born and is still growing today.

Melanie state, “Rose is such a light in her life and so many people. This has encouraged me to want to be a prayer warrior, also.”

The battle is not over; Rose is still on her knees with hands raised in the air praising God for turning a test into a testimony of a young woman.

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.