God’s Smuggler and the Royal Way

Our Sonlight Core H year was filled with great books, but “God’s Smuggler” was the highlight for me. It is one of those books that, if you are a believer, will move you to a deeper relationship with Christ. Brother Andrew is a present day Paul, with a faith and prayer life that harkens back to George Mueller.

He could have written a whole book about his childhood, a boy growing up in Holland during the German occupation in the 1940s. His antics will endear him to your children’s hearts (especially if you have boys, like I do).  And his love for his older brother Bas will touch your sweet mommy-heart.

But, it is his walk with the Lord, his calling and desire to glorify God that is especially awesome.  Brother Andrew truly learned to live in tune with the Holy Spirit.  That is something that eludes a lot of us here in America where we want for so little and have so much.  He also learned to be a servant of the King.  In becoming His servant, he had to be subject to Him. But first he had to truly know and trust Him. What was He like?  In what ways could he trust Him?  In the same way he trusted a set of impersonal laws? Or could he trust Him as a living leader, as a very present commander in battle? That question is central for all of us.  Is Christ a King in name only to you?  Or is He a Person–does He communicate to you, care for you, love you and lead you?

And so began Brother Andrew’s journey on the Royal Way–the path of God providing for him.  Providing in a kingly manner, not some groveling way. This book is a great  read and a wonderful call to young missionaries’ hearts.

SB4

Record This Year’s Favorites

As we enter the last month of our homeschool year, I find myself making mental notes about next year, and getting nostalgic about this one.  Another school year is coming to a close. Yes, it is good to be nearing the finish line, but I want to capture where each of my kids is right now and bottle it up.  What if I forget the joys from this year?  And the struggles that motivated us to work harder and dig a little deeper? I want to be able to look back years from now and reminisce about our homeschool journey.  So, this week I had my kids record this year’s favorites and look ahead to our summer break.  Here is a look at what we used:

Slide1Slide2

There is one for the boys and another for the girls.  All of my children enjoyed filling in their favorites. My first grader needed a bit of help spelling a few things she wanted to write, but otherwise had fun on her own filling it in and coloring it! (The recording sheets in My Favorite Things are printer-friendly,black-and-white, and can be colored by your kids).  There is also an autograph page, so you can record all your students’ signatures. Click on the picture below if you’d like to grab them to use with your kids.

Slide1Record This Year’s Favorites

SigBlk5