Tributes to Sono Harris

these are indeed beauitful stories of your mom. I think she fullfilled being a Proverbs 31 woman. I hope to be able to do the same!

I've never met Ms. Sono but I think the greatest evidence of her character may be in her children-- in you and your siblings, how you yearn and long for God in our world must have started with her patient and faithful instruction over the years. Her face seems to exude a kindness, joy and peace that comes from knowing her Maker, even in her dying days.

We will be keeping your family in our thoughts and prayers. Goodnight, for now, Ms. Sono.

My wife and I attended the Church where your dad was a preacher for about two years. We got married after the first year there. The six months or so leading up to our marriage was extremely difficult for my wife. Her family disapproved of our desire to get married and she felt very conflicted. Your mom was perhaps the most helpful person during this time, she was always there to offer counsel, listen and pray with my wife as she sought the Lord. She was so gentle, kind, loving, when my wife was away visiting her family she always found me at church and with such genuine concern asked me how my wife was faring. The impact she had on my wife's life was huge. Sono was so much like Jesus that everyone who spoke to her wanted to be like Jesus too. We are so thankful for her.

Our hearts are broken at the news. One of my favorite memories will always be meeting her at the Do Hard Things conference in Indy- watching Sono as she bustled around setting up and taking down,her enjoyment as we had photos taken as 'twin moms', and her obvious delight in her wonderful children. It was an honor to have spent even that brief time with her and I look forward to seeing her bright smile meeting her again in heaven.
Praying for all your aching hearts.

As a young girl at Good Shepherd Community Church, your mom taught the Alcorn girls and my sister and I a ballet dance that we performed at a Mother/Daughter Tea. I will always remember the gracefulness and beauty that she displayed both in her appearance and in her patience with us girls. I have always thought of your mother as that beautiful, gracious woman with a gorgeous smile and patient eyes.

And, as an adult, I have been so blessed by your mother's teaching and example of a godly wife and mother. Although we live overseas, her impact is far reaching as I have several of her talks on my MP3 player and she comes with me when I walk early in the morning.

What a beautiful legacy she leaves behind. Praying for you all.
Blessings,
Joy (Hlavka) Forney

I knew your mother when I was a little girl. Your parents were attending the bible school in Centerville, Ohio where my father was the president and my mother also taught. I remember being a little in awe of Sono, and utterly fascinated by her grace.

One of my favorite photos of my dad is actually a picture of him and your mother. My folks had taken the bible school students down to Louisiana (I think) for a ministry trip. While they were there they decided to head to the beach.

Now, to say my dad was a big man is like saying the sky is blue or the wind blows. He was a very big man. He was also quite dignified.

So, they're at the beach, and your mom gets the idea to have dad try a few ballet moves. She somehow manages to get him to agree. (Did I mention he was dignified?) Needless to say, they proceeded to pirouette and dance about on the beach with much hilarity. In the midst of the fun, we got a great shot of her showing him how to do a leap with him doing a fair job of keeping up with her. It's just a really great moment. One of the few we have on film that highlights an aspect to his character that not many people even knew he had, and it was your mom that brought it out.

For his memorial service, my sister and I put together a slide show the highlight of which is the moment when that photo comes on the screen accompanied by Tony Bennet singing 'fly me to the moon'.

When she shed this life and embraced eternity I'm sure she was welcomed by a great cloud of witnesses, one of whom I'd like to think asked her to take a twirl on a heavenly beach.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

"May The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace."

Julie Cassidy-Dyar

About 4 or so years ago I found a dusty cassette tape in the bottom of a box of homeschool materials. The tape was of your father talking about many different things related to homeschooling and family life in general. He spoke of things that were new to us, but also things that we agreed with and strongly believed. This of course led me to search the internet to find out more about this man. This is how I learned about your precious mother. Little snippets of her beliefs, convictions and advice could be found on the web. What a delight and encouragement! A friend ordered a two cassette set of encouragement shared by your mother.What a tremendous blessing her words were. We also learned much from the parenting/family recordings made available on the web. Myself and my friends were so pleased when she would share. We live in Canada (Northern British Columbia) and I just wanted you to know that your mother's encouragement and example made a difference here!

Praying for you and your family,

Laurie

Hi Josh~ For the past 7 years, I have been very encouraged by all the homeschooling resources that your family has put out. Last fall, I got to thinking that it would be great to have Sono come speak to the ladies in my homeschool group in Milwaukie, Oregon; and encourage us all in person. I prayed, asking God that if He wanted me to contact her, I would be able to do so without any trouble. One Sunday morning last year, I emailed my friend, Karen E. who attends your folks' church, asking her to pass on verbally to them, that I was praying for your mom and dad because your dad was going through some hard times. To my surprise, Karen sent them my email of encouragement; and your mom emailed me back and told me she appreciated the prayers. I then ventured to ask your mom if she would be able to come speak at my homeschool group. She was willing to do so sometime after Alex's wedding. Well, in February she was still very busy and couldn't pinpoint a month to speak. So, one afternoon in March, she called me and started to leave a message: "Alana? This is Sono Harris. I know you're not going to believe this......" (Yes I screen my calls. But this one I had to pick up!) I had not met her before; but she talked to me as if we were old friends. We didn't just talk about when she could come speak and then say goodbye. She wanted to get to know me. She told me about her desire for James to be closer with his older siblings and I told her of my own desire to adopt. She said she would pray for me in that area. She also was concerned that she was becoming "flakey", as she put it; admitting she wasn't normally like that. When we hung up, I had made a new friend. She was a treasure. I had been praying for her since that conversation, and now I am praying for you and your entire family. Blessings, dear Brother.

I wanted to introduce myself to you this morning so you would have a face to go with this comment, and I am sorry now that I did not take the one opportunity that presented itself, for there were many who wanted to speak with you. But no matter. Perhaps we will meet at another celebration.

For me, one particular conversation with your mother stands out. I have a special relationship with my son, Thomas (one of Alex and Brett’s friends), as your mother had with you as her firstborn. I was grieving his growing up, going to college in Florida and beginning his life’s journey as a man, never to be my little boy again. One Celebration Sunday I talked with your mother about how she handled your growing up and moving across the country. She was so comforting and encouraging. Every time the grief comes over me again—-though it would be tragic if our children did not grow up, it still hurts, as she knew—-I think of Sono valiantly going before me, not only with you now, but your brothers.

Sono has gone before us and shown us how in so many ways, and we in our 50’s expected to have her growing old with us. We have so few “older women” in the church because our emphasis on the children does not appeal to “empty nesters”, and I believe it was Sono who said that we’d have to grow our own. It will be harder without Sono, but I can imagine her even now challenging and exhorting us to depend on Christ because only He will never falter or fail us.

One thing your mother said in a talk to us women I have never forgotten, and I have quoted many times. She said, “We constantly have to be reminded of the things we already know.” So many times this has stopped me condemning myself for making the same mistake yet again. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus, and if He can forgive us time and time again for forgetting what we already know then I can forgive myself, too.

I loved what you said this morning about being grateful for the time that God allowed us to have with Sono. My times with your mother were brief because I go to the Vancouver HOFCC, but she never failed to smile and greet me by name, and to let me know that she cared about me. The fruit of her example will continue to grow and flourish in my life and the lives of many.

I didn't know your mama,but I met her once and she was without a doubt a kind and sweet lady to talk with. The love of the Lord was in her beautiful face. God bless you and your family. Our prayers are with you all.

To the Harris family,

I didn't have the privilege of knowing your mother, but I can identify with how you may be feeling. My dear Dad passed away in May after a quick, but painful, battle with what looks to have been pancreatic cancer. He was 64.

After he died, a dear friend told me what she wished someone had told her when her own Dad passed away: Life will never be the same. At times, it may even seem wrong that the sun goes on rising and setting when this one you have loved so much is gone from your view. Questions may overwhelm you and the weight of grief may seem unbearable. But we grieve much because we have loved - and been loved - much.

Our hope in Christ does not mean that this temporary separation doesn't hurt like heck. Christians grieve, too. May the Lord hold you and comfort you and enable you to grieve well. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Maybe my Dad and your Mom are getting acquainted. I look forward to meeting her, too, someday.

Many blessings in Christ,
Sarah

Oh, Josh and family! I'm crying as I read of your mother's passing. She made a huge impact on my family's life through her teaching. 3 of my sisters probably never would have been born if it hadn't been for your mother and father speaking on the open womb. My mom always talks about your mom and all the things she learned from her, such as being a Godly wife, mother and parent. My mom started using the term, "Hustle while you wait" because of your mom and would always tell us where it came from. Our deepest condolences to you all. You are all in our prayers!

Sono Harris spent countless hours in my home, offering wise instruction and kind encouragement. Hour after hour, her words resonated deep in my heart, empowering me to press on as I struggled in the journey of homeschooling.

Then I met her in person and was delighted to find she was even more lovely than I had expected. You see, I had listened to her "Joyful Mother of Children" audio hundreds of times.

Her impact on my life and ministry is incalculable. My oldest daughter, aged 20, just returned from Haiti -- the 14th country in which she has served our King. She would not be who she is had Sono not invested in my life by sharing her powerful convictions about homeschooling.

My youngest daughter, 14, is a beautiful dancer who loves Jesus and shares her faith freely. This week, we're going to purchase her very own copy of I Kissed Dating Goodbye and let the impact of Sono and her descendants continue.

Sono was truly a gift to the Body of Christ. My love and prayers are with her family today
Donna Partow

I hardly know where to start, as anything I say will be so inadequate and incomplete. So, please know that I TREASURE the memories I have of Sono, her grace, loveliness, her quick (but never biting) wit, and her kindness to me and my family. I know that I became a better mother and wife for knowing her. I certainly wouldn't have home schooled my children (and what a blessing that has been) were it not for her gentle persuasion. Since finding out about her illness, not a day has gone by that I haven't had some memory come back to me. My sense of loss is profound; I simply cannot imagine the magnitude of yours. I am still not quite believing that she really has passed; she seemed so much larger than life to me. This sounds like hyperbole, but it's not. My prayers for God's healing and grace are with you all.

I remember going on a mission trip to Mexico with your mom and dad in approximately 1978. I was pregnant with my second child and ripped a hole in my maternity jeans. This put me in quite a predicament. I had nothing to patch them with and no access to a store that sold maternity clothes. Your mom told me to let her see the jeans and a little while later she gave them back to me with a little whale patch sewn over the hole. It was a very cute whale and was so nice of her to do this! Your mom was a very loving and giving person. We were out of touch but I still grieve her going on.

She must have been an extraordinary woman to raise such a family. The influence of her life has been passed down to her children and you are her living legacy. What a heritage you have!

I never knew her and yet I feel I knew her. As I've read your books and those of your siblings, I've sensed her presence and influence in your lives. I've often thought to myself, "What kind of woman raises kids like this?" Her influence reaches far and wide and through many generations, even those yet to come.

I'm very sorry for your family's loss, which must be great.

Hi,Josh.
You don't know me, and I did not know your mom. I started attending a church in 1980 that was very active in homeschooling. It was the first time I had even heard of it, and I knew that when I had my own children, that was what I wanted to do. Your name was "thrown around" as well as your dad's name, and I bought a few materials of yours to help raise/teach my kids.(One of my favorites is "I Kissed Dating Goodbye") (I have twin boys also, who are 20 years old now).
I remember listening to a tape series you did, and you had asked your mom if you could go to a school,instead of being homeschooled, and she said a flat out "no". She didn't give in to pressure. Sometime later,you said you were glad she had made that decision. She obviously knew her children well, and knew what was best for them. That so impressed me. When my own kids were nearing high school age, one of them wanted to go to a local public school. Your mom's conviction was a definite factor in my having the courage to also say "no", and not give in to pressure, especially since my husband was very little help, and other people who didn't understand the whole concept were telling me I should let him go. I homeschooled my kids all the way through highschool, and I know it was the right thing to do. Your mom helped me to be able to do that.
I also lost my mom about a year and a half ago, and she is also with the Lord. I know what you're going through. Give yourself 2 years to heal, but understand that, you never get over it,you just get used to it. But allow yourself to feel, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I will pray for you.
In God's love, Celeste