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Mya Bell's Abstract Photos
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Mya Bell is a 17-year-old Mississippi School of The Arts student with a focus in Vocal, Theater and Photography. She is the daughter of Joanne Bell Wright.
To view her website go to MyaBell-2021.weebly.com. Follow her on Instagram @myabell_photography
SHAY GREENWOOD HOMESCHOOL AND HOME BUSINESS MOM
Shay Greenwood is an Entrepreneur, Business & Style Coach, Author, Keynote Speaker, Founder of “The Styled Life” and “The Virtual BFF’s Community for Women!” She is passionate about helping women style-life, which could involve styling your outfit, profession, or home life, into something you love!
Shay attended 8 different elementary schools in California because of the ups and downs coming from a divorced family. Although this could be a negative part of life, Shay is the ultimate optimist! She felt her experiences trained her to connect with people easily and created a love for encouraging and supporting others.
Since she was on the Dance Team and a Cheerleader in high school, she thought she would do this professionally on a football field or basketball court. She never considered that God would give her the opportunity to professionally lead, coach, and cheer online entrepreneurs, using her skills in training rooms for businesses, as well as arenas and auditoriums with audiences!
Graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Shay was able to work for a Management Research Company which allowed her to work as a Management Consultant for clients like Disney World, Toyota, Stryker Medical, and Stedman Graham (yep…Oprah’s boyfriend). In 2017, she was awarded The Encourager of the Year Award from her direct sales company that she has been a part of for 19 years.
Happily married to Roosevelt Greenwood for 23 years, she has 5 children, ages 8-24. She is passionate about helping everyone reach their fullest potential, including her children. Roosevelt and Shay have been homeschool parents for 18 years.
Currently, Shay has an online course called “Facebook Made Easy,” and teaches within the #YourVirtualBff Insiders Group, a membership community that helps women entrepreneurs live out Romans 12:2 “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Woman To Woman With Joanne The Magazine talked with Shay Greenwood about her experience homeschooling 5 children while being a stay-at-home mom and entrepreneur. It is our pleasure to share her journey.
“Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. This is the scripture that helped Shay make the decision to homeschool her children and to become an at-home mom.
“It was difficult for me as a brand new Christian. How do I train them if they are gone all day? That’s really when my heart started changing about what God wanted me to do. Titus 2:5 says women are to be keepers of their homes, and that really impacted me, because I didn’t realize the Bible stated that. On my way home from a Bible study one day, I called Roosevelt and said, “Did you know that women are supposed to be keepers of their home?” He said, “Yes,” and I asked when he was planning to tell me that! “I was raised to have a job, be working in corporate
America, and become the president of the company. That’s where the majority of one’s time is spent.”
“As a young Christian and reading the Bible, God’s Word was teaching me that, yes, I could have a full-time job, but where was my heart for my home? God led me to quit my corporate job and be a stay at home mom. Then He led me to homeschool my kids, although I realize that is not necessarily the route for everybody.”
“A woman working in corporate business or at home needs to make home a place of peace where the kids and husband are welcomed. Even a single mom can be intentional about making sure that her kids are in social contact with others. This reinforces that she is not alone and has competent people that are contributing to the family’s lives. Be intentional and don’t allow life to just happen.”
“Homeschooling is hard. “I remember one day, three of the children were running around in the living room, and I thought to myself, ‘what have I done’? But I knew that God called me to this ministry to my children. I believed He was going to help me, and the more
“I wanted my children to love Jesus, and homeschooling for me was never about academics. It was always about their relationship with the Lord. I was standing on Deuteronomy 6:5-7 where it says: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.’ To me that sounded like homeschool. Further in that chapter it basically says if I do this, then God will take me into splendid cities, which I did not build. He will dig cisterns that I didn’t dig. I stood on those scriptures by faith. Now that I look back, I see those verses became real in every single one of my kids. I didn’t do this. God did.”
After being homeschooled for elementary life, Shay’s two oldest boys, Noah and Jacob, entered middle school at Germantown High School. “They enrolled in public school because private football ended at the age of 12, and both really wanted to play football, which they love.”
“Entering public school for Noah wasn’t a big deal. Jacob struggled with things like getting all his stuff in his backpack when the bell rang and getting out on time on time? It was the culture of school that required him to adjust, because homeschool kids just leave their stuff out on the kitchen table. We started memorizing scripture, and Roosevelt would take them to school, memorizing scripture on the way. One of the scriptures was Joshua 1:9, ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong, be courageous, do not fear, God is with you wherever you go.’ That established the fact that no matter where one is, God is the gateway. The boys had a solid foundation on which to build.”
Shay’s advice for Moms who have tried being a stay at home mom or tried homeschooling and found it didn’t work for them is to “let it go.” “The biggest battle that we have happens between our ears. The doubt grows when we listen to ourselves instead of talking to ourselves. We compare ourselves to culture, the next mom, and the ideal Proverbs 31 woman. Why can’t I be like her? You know, she had handmaidens. I can’t be like her because I don’t have enough people that I’ve hired on my team, so we can’t compare. We have to give ourselves grace. Don’t compare yourself to others, and give yourself grace when things are not going the way you think they should.”
Homeschooling and being a stay at home mom isn’t for everyone. Did God call you to do it? Evaluate how you can make it work. Ask God for wisdom...He says he will give it to us when we ask. He fearfully and wonderfully made you and equipped you to do all that He has called you to do. Keep focused on that and you can’t go wrong for you or your family.
