​

Hello Reader,

We have a high school senior this year, and March feels like crunch time! So many deadlines are hitting all at once: cap and gown orders to be placed, scholarship applications to be submitted, photos to be taken, tributes to be written, graduation details demanding my attention.

My head is spinning with all that and more!

One thing I've marked off my list? My son's graduation gift. We are sending him (back) to Summit this summer, this time with his younger brother. Summit Student Conferences provide a great foundation in Christian worldview and apologetics, equipping students with the tools they'll need to stand strong in their faith in a college environment that is often hostile to Christianity.

If you have a student who would be interested in Summit, you can save $100 off registration fees with the code FLANDERS23. Plus, you'll get an additional $200 early bird discount if you register before March 31. (Sessions 3 and 5 are already full for girls, and the rest are filling up quickly as well)

As for help with some of the other responsibilities that come with graduating a child from high school, that's what this week's link list is all about!

Free resources for you this week:

• ​A Prayer for the Graduate - another of our pretty printable prayer guides
• ​Advice Cards for Graduates - let guests share their best words of wisdom with your grad
• ​Senior Scattergories - a word game to celebrate your graduate, perfect for group play
• ​Getting Your Child Ready for College - a short list of things we do to help prepare our kids
• ​Free Editable Transcript - an official high school transcript template for your homeschooler
• ​Study to Show Thyself Approved - a coloring page based on 2 Timothy 2:15​

What I'm reading this week:

I recently finished reading Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Duggar Vuolo. In it, the author re-examines many of the beliefs and practices she’s embraced since childhood in an effort to disentangle man-made rules from biblical truth.

I have a lot of thoughts about this book -- too many to share in a newsletter. If you're interested in reading them, follow this link: On Becoming Free Indeed​

What we're watching this week:

We set up our projector, rearranged the furniture, and invited friends over to watch my husband's all-time favorite western this week, Silverado. It was released the year he graduated from high school and contains a star-studded cast: Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum.

After rewatching it, my daughters got into a discussion about how beautifully this movie illustrates something they read in Brant Hansen's The Men We Need: namely, that girls find guys incredibly attractive who devote themselves to protecting women and children, which is exactly what the unlikely heroes of this film did.

Progress on last week's goals:

I accomplished almost everything on my to-do list last week: ✅ memorized Psalm 139, ✅ painted the first panel of my backyard mural, ✅ recorded and submitted everything for my son's graduation slideshow, ✅ took a weekend trip to Tulsa, and ✅ packed up all the valentine's decor and half the costumes.

Personal goals for next week:

• paint another mural panel (or two?)
• make several new throw pillows for the den
• spend a few days in Branson with our youngest kids & my mother
• blog about the early bird discount for Summit

Another poll for you this week:

What's the most memorable gift you ever given or received for graduation? What about the most practical? I'm looking for ideas for a blog post on the topic, so hit reply and let me know, okay?