"Proof Pirates Family Devotional" Review

As a Christian parent, one thing I struggle with is balancing discipline with grace.  We want to teach our kids to obey, to be productive members of society, and to understand good behavior.  But, at the same time, its a very tight rope to walk.  I want my kids to obey, but I don't want them to think that my love - or, worse yet, God's love - is dependent on performance.  "Proof Pirates" is a family devotional/children's book that covers this very subject!

I call it a "family devotional/children's book" because it starts out with a story.  Jesse is a little boy that disobeys his parents and feels very guilty about it.  But his parents send him on a treasure hunt to find the MOST AMAZING treasure ever - God's grace!  Through the story, Jesse finds out that God's grace is:

Planned
Resurrecting
Outrageous
Overcoming
Forever

After the story, there are 7 short devotionals.  Each devotional has a memory verse, an activity (like a treasure hunt), a Bible passage to read and discuss, and a short prayer.  If you're looking for a way to explain the mystery of grace to your children, Proof Pirates is a good start!  My one concern would be that the book does seem to have a Reformed Calvinistic slant.  One quote that concerned me just a bit was in devotional #2 (page 27): "God picked out whom he would save, and he decided just how he would save them."  Predestination is a very difficult subject to discuss.  There are so many views.  I'm not sure that simple sentence gives the full picture of predestination AND free will.  But then, again, I may be overthinking the author's intent.  Either way, its always best to read a devotion yourself before reading it to your children - in case there's something in it that you disagree with or you think may be confusing for your children.  Over all, I think its a well-done devotional and this one sentence will not stop me from doing the devotional with my kids.  Although, I may skip that particular sentence or rephrase is in a less confusing way.

You can buy the book on the New Growth Press website and also on Amazon.com.
And if you are a Sunday School administrator, check out their Proof Pirates VBS Starter Kit

I received this book, free of charge, from New Growth Press, in exchange for my honest review.