The Closest of All Relationships

"Perhaps the first vitalizing idea to give children is that of the tender fatherhood of God; that they live and move and have their being within the divine embrace. Let children grow up in this joyful assurance, and, in the days to come, infidelity to this closest of all relationships will be as shameful a thing in their eyes as it was in the eyes of the Christian Church during the age of faith." ~ Charlotte Mason Vol 3 pg 145

We "live and move and have our being withing the divine embrace." This, to me, is the core of our religious studies. The goal of our studies is to encourage and strengthen our relationship with God.

For our formal studies we use selected readings from the Amplified Bible, alternating readings from the Old and New Testaments using Penny Gardener's Highlights and including a selection from Psalms each week as well as a couple of scriptures from Proverbs daily.

We also use the Westminster Catechism along with the Westminster Singing Catechism to help it stick in our heads! Then I have Georgi use the catechism for copywork with the help of our Westminster Copybook. And to round it all out, we have been memorizing Colossians this year, using the week's scriptures for copywork as well. Additionally, I have found that the presence and providence of God is celebrated in numerous Ambleside Online books - Trial and Triumph, Parables from Nature, Pilgrim's Progress, Heidi, Pollyanna, and Robinson Crusoe
just to name a few!




Perhaps even more important than our formal religious studies is our desire and our efforts to acknowledge Him in all that we do each day - to "earnestly seek Him".

"And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be [first] in your [own] minds and hearts; [then] You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets (forehead bands) between your eyes.And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates." ~ Deuteronomy 6:6-9

So whether we are exploring and observing God's creation, or using the gifts He gave us to create things ourselves; discussing the best way to handle a problem or what to watch on T.V.; we strive to include our Lord in everything we do - to have and enjoy a real and intimate relationship with Him.