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If you haven’t yet experienced the Miller Family, you simply must. Whether your children are in early elementary grades or are finishing up high school, they will love these books. You will too. Every night when Daddy came home at our house, my first grader was eager to tell him what had happened to the Millers in our reading for the day. My high school senior dropped everything to listen as we read aloud.
I usually dislike materials that attempt to teach character building traits through modern day stories. Most of the stuff I have seen along those lines is very disappointing. Not so with the Miller Family Series. Mildred Martin knows how to hit children where they live--and their parents as well. These are stories that will stick, and your children will ponder them for days at a time. Many times I found myself repenting of wrong attitudes and unkind ways of relating to my children after reading our chapter for the day.
These delightful stories center around a Mennonite family and their efforts to follow Jesus passionately. I found their serious desire to live holy lives so refreshing and encouraging. I would guess that these stories are real life experiences of the author and/or people she knows intimately. No one could just imagine some of the things that happen to the family and their friends. They have the ring of truth in them.
A few of the Millers’ convictions will seem a little quaint to those of you who are not from a Mennonite tradition. For example, in one story, one of the boys struggles with a desire for baseball cards--a strictly forbidden item in his home and Christian school. The main point, however, is not the baseball cards themselves, but whether children will choose to obey or to be deceptive. Differences in beliefs can easily be explained, and if this is done correctly, your children will learn to respect other Christians’ views, and appreciate them for the godly heart attitude behind their convictions.
I liked the author’s portrayal of God as an active, prayer-answering, miracle-working, healing, speak-to-us-personally God today. Evidently the Mennonites are not in the camp that says miracles and healings ended with the Book of Acts! People today so desperately need to be encouraged that God is a living God that will come to help them just as much as He helped believers in the Bible. The Miller Family Series carries this message.
Do yourself and your kids a big favor: buy these books.
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