Bible Reading: Galatians 5:22-26; Colossians 1:9-14

"This is the prettiest flower garden I've ever seen!" said Nia.

Grandma looked up from her weeding. "I enjoy it too. When it's nice outside, I spend time almost every day watering, weeding, or transplanting something. It's a lot of work, but worth it." She smiled as she pulled a weed out of the dirt. "It reminds me of my life as a Christian."

"It does?" asked Nia. "Why?"

"Well, for one thing, weeds in my life can grow as quickly as weeds in my flower bed," replied Grandma.

"Weeds in your life?" asked Nia. "You mean things like problems? Like when people are nasty or you get sick or somebody you love dies?"

"Yes," said Grandma. "We experience all kinds of difficult and painful situations, and if we're not careful, they can cause us to become angry, bitter, and unforgiving. Those attitudes are like weeds with very long roots. The weeds in my garden would take over if I let them, and the weeds in my life would too."

"So how do you get rid of them?" asked Nia.

"Well, I like to think of the time I spend with Jesus as His weeding and watering time for my life," replied Grandma. "Praying, reading my Bible, going to church--those are all ways to learn more about Jesus and what He wants for me."

"I try to pray and read my Bible and listen in church," said Nia. "But sometimes it's hard."

Grandma nodded. "Sometimes I don't feel like working in my garden," she said. "But then I remember how important it is for my flowers and do it anyway, and once I get my hands in the dirt, I often find it to be a pure joy."

"So can you make flowers grow in your life by doing those things like you do in your garden?" asked Nia.

"Well, God makes the flowers grow, not me--in both my garden and my life," said Grandma. "But I can give the flowers in my life--the Bible calls them the fruit of the Spirit--a good place to grow by spending time with Jesus so I have the strength to handle any weedy situations that come along. It's well worth the effort."

–Rosalie J. Currier

Bible Reading: Genesis 1:2-5; 2:7; Psalm 33:6-9; Ephesians 2:4-10

"Look, Levi, I'm making a snowman!" cried Claire, rolling a white blob of playdough into a ball.

But her brother didn't seem to be listening. Levi was concentrating. He had spent the last ten minutes sculpting the face of a lion out of some yellow playdough. Claire had to admit, Levi's lion was pretty good. He had used a plastic knife to carve out the lion's features, and now he was working on a fiery mane.

"Looks like you guys are having fun!" said Mom, pausing at the table to view their creations. "I like your snowman, Claire! And that lion's beginning to look quite lifelike, Levi. I love the way you've twisted all those strands together to make his mane. You're both so creative!"

"Creative?" asked Claire. "I thought only God created things."

"Well, the Bible says God made people in His own image," said Mom, taking a seat at the table. "That's why we enjoy being creative. Some people like to paint. Some people like to bake. But while humans can only create things using materials that already exist, God created the universe out of nothing."

"Nothing?" asked Claire. "How can you make something out of nothing?" She waved her hands around as though trying to shape a creature out of thin air. "It's impossible!"

Mom laughed. "God created light just by speaking! And Psalm 33 tells us He created the heavenly hosts--all the stars in the sky--by the breath of His mouth."

Claire gasped. "Wow! That's amazing!"

"But when He created Adam," Mom continued, "God fashioned him with His own hands from the dust of the earth and breathed life into his nose."

Levi finally spoke. "Whoa! This lion I've been sculpting is just a model. It will never live or move. But God made a real man!"

"That's right," said Mom. "Only God can do that! And only God can give people new life. The Bible explains that because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, humans are born spiritually dead because of sin. But when we trust Jesus to save us from sin, it's as though God breathes new, eternal life into an old pile of dust. Jesus makes us alive all over again!"

Claire and Levi looked at each other and smiled. "That's so awesome!"

–Angela Jelf

Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 4:16-18

"Nick, can you come up here and hold this for me?" Mr. Manning asked.

Nick's heart beat faster as he walked to the front of the classroom. He got nervous any time he had to be in front of others.

With shaking hands, Nick took the poster his teacher asked him to hold. A minute later, he was sitting on the floor with his teacher in front of him.

"Just breathe," Mr. Manning said.

Nick did as he was told and eventually calmed down. When he looked around, he found the classroom empty. "Wait…where did everyone go?"

"They went out to recess," Mr. Manning said. "You can go too."

Nick frowned. Everyone had abandoned him, even his friends.

"Hey, are you okay?" A voice came from behind Nick as he headed for the door.

Nick turned and saw Alex, a kid he barely knew, using his hands to move his wheelchair up to him. "Why aren't you at recess?"

Alex shrugged. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I thought everyone just went out and left me." Nick sighed. "Thanks for caring."

At church that evening, Pastor John talked about the apostle Paul. "In the book of Second Timothy, Paul writes about a time when everyone abandoned him but God," Pastor John said. "Have you ever felt like that? All alone? Sometimes we don't even feel God with us."

Nick thought of how he'd felt at school that day. He had felt completely alone. He hadn't seen Alex in the corner of the room, and he had felt abandoned.

"God is always there," Pastor John said. "Whether we feel His presence or not, He is always with us."

Nick looked at the stained glass window, the one that showed Jesus hanging out with a group of children. Are you always there, God? he wondered. Even when it feels like everyone has abandoned me?

"God never abandons us," Pastor John said, as if reading Nick's thoughts. "Jesus died for our sins and rose again so we would never be separated from Him. Even if everyone else abandons us, God is with us and will help us with every problem we face. He also places caring people in our lives--sometimes ones we don't expect--to remind us we're not alone."

–Emily Acker

Bible Reading: Psalm 139:1-5, 13-18; Matthew 10:29-31

"Aunt Vivian, will you help me carry these shells? There are so many I want to take home!" The beauty of the seashells scattered on the beach captivated Gatlin. He had already filled his hands with shells of many colors.

Aunt Vivian laughed. "Gatlin, why don't you pick your favorite shells to take home? We can't carry them all."

After Gatlin and his aunt strolled back to their beach towels, he dumped the shells in a pile. Together they began sorting out the most interesting ones.

"Thanks for taking me on my first trip to the beach, Aunt Vivian," Gatlin said.

Aunt Vivian nodded. "This has been such a fun day. I love being out in God's wonderful creation."

"I just wish I could take all these shells home. I didn't know there would be so many!" Gatlin exclaimed.

"As many shells as there are, there's even more sand. And the Bible tells us God's thoughts toward His children outnumber even the grains of sand," Aunt Vivian added.

"Wow." Gatlin paused in sifting through the seashells. "God must think about us a lot."

"He sure does. Jesus even told His followers that God knows the number of hairs on our heads!"

Gatlin looked out toward the waves and the sun setting over the water. "God must really love us," he pondered. "I know Jesus came to save us, but I didn't know He pays that much attention to me."

"He does, Gatlin," Aunt Vivian answered. "God cares about every single person in this world. He sees everyone and knows their hearts. And as Christians who trust in Jesus, we can have peace knowing that God is always with us and that we matter to Him." She paused then picked up a peach-colored shell shaped like a heart. "Look at this one!"

"Oh!" Gatlin grinned. "I think I'll keep this one to remember that God knows me and loves me."

"Good." Aunt Vivian smiled. Then she jumped up from the sandy towel and said, "Race you to the water for one last swim!"

–Allison Wilson Lee

Bible Reading: Psalm 116:1-7; Philippians 4:4-9

More than an hour after Amelia had gone to bed at her grandparents' home, she still had not fallen asleep. She tried everything she could think of to relax her mind, but nothing worked. Finally, she slipped out of bed and went to find Grandma.

"Grandma, I saw an ad on TV about sleeping pills," said Amelia. "Do you have any? Can I have some?"

"I don't have any--and I don't think it would be good for you to take anything like that anyway, Amelia," said Grandma.

Amelia sighed. She thought Grandma might say something like that. "But I just can't get to sleep," she said.

"You're probably worried about the divorce hearings tomorrow, aren't you?" asked Grandma, giving Amelia a hug.

Amelia nodded. She felt better just having Grandma close. "It makes me nervous," she said, wishing she could tell Grandma exactly how she felt. But Amelia couldn't put her emotions into words. "I'm afraid of what will happen."

"It's been bothering me too," Grandma told her. "We need to keep on praying for your mom and dad." Grandma was silent for a moment, and Amelia guessed their feelings were almost the same.

"Sleeping pills might make our bodies go to sleep, but I think there's an even better medicine for our nerves." Grandma picked up her Bible and opened it. "I'll read one of my favorite passages to you. It's in Philippians, and I think it will help both of us."

As Grandma read out loud, Amelia noticed the Bible verses encouraged her to pray about everything. "Amelia, as your Savior, Jesus promises to be with you in every situation," Grandma said when she finished reading. "He wants you to trust Him with the things you're worried about so you can feel His peace--no matter what happens."

Grandma prayed and asked God to quiet their nerves and give them rest. She also prayed for Amelia's parents.

"I think I can go to sleep now," Amelia said as she hugged Grandma. "Thanks for reading those Bible verses to me. That was good nerve medicine."

Amelia settled back into bed, and even though she was still nervous, she felt better knowing Jesus promised to be with her and give her peace.

–Esther M. Bailey

Bible Reading: Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:23-24; Matthew 1:23

"Can I have one of your French fries?" Gavin asked his sister as he snatched one from her plate.

"Hey, no! You have your own!" Hailey protested. She put her arm around her plate to defend her food.

"But you got the crispier ones!" Gavin held up one of his flimsy French fries.

"Our oven hasn't been cooking evenly. Here, Gavin, I got a few more crispy ones," Mom said and scraped some of her fries onto Gavin's plate.

"I thought that since we rented this place it meant the landlord had to fix things like that," Gavin said as he ate another fry.

"He does, but he also prioritizes repairs," Mom explained. "He oversees more than twenty apartments and does most of the repairs himself. Our oven not working is not as important as someone's broken heater, so we have to wait until the landlord has time to fix it." Mom got up and put her plate in the sink. She returned with her Bible and took the church prayer list out. Every night they prayed for the people and things on the list together.

"God has a lot more people to take care of than our landlord. Is that why we sometimes have to wait for our prayers to be answered?" Hailey asked.

"No, that's not why," Mom replied. "Unlike our landlord, God is able to immediately do anything we ask. But He doesn't always answer our prayers right away because His plan is often different from what we think is best. That doesn't mean He doesn't hear our prayers. God sees and hears everything because He's omnipresent."

"Omni-what?" Gavin asked with a puzzled look.

"Omnipresent," Mom repeated. "It means He's everywhere all the time. Millions of people could pray at the same time, and God would hear them all. But even though He's everywhere, God is present with Christians in a special way. The Bible calls Jesus 'Immanuel,' which means 'God with us.' When we put our faith in Jesus, God gives us the Holy Spirit, who will never leave us. Even though God doesn't always answer our prayers right away or how we want, He promises to be with us through everything."

"I'm thankful God is always with us to help us," Gavin said. "Let's pray that He'll help our landlord fix our oven soon!"

–Melissa Yeagle

Bible Reading: Ephesians 1:7-9

Tinkling bells chimed invitingly as the ice cream truck turned onto Cali's street. Ice cream was one of her favorite treats, but it was just before lunchtime, so she was sure her grandma wouldn't let her have anything now. But I can still have a little fun with the ice cream truck driver, Cali thought. She yelled loudly to get his attention as he drove by, then ducked behind a bush. The truck stopped, and the man got out expecting to sell something, but no one came to buy. Cali snickered to herself when she saw his puzzled face.

"That was unkind," said Grandma, and Cali jumped in surprise. She had no idea Grandma was watching and had come out. "It was wrong for you to stop that man and make him think he was going to earn some money. Now come with me. You need to apologize." Grandma led the way to the truck, which had not yet moved on.

Under Grandma's watchful eye, Cali told the driver she was sorry for playing a trick on him. Then Grandma bought an ice cream bar for each of them.

Cali felt ashamed when her grandmother held out the treat. "No thanks, Grandma."

"But I bought this for you," said Grandma.

Cali looked at the ground. "I don't deserve it after what I did."

"That's true," said Grandma. "But I want you to have it anyway--it's a gift from me." She continued to hold out the ice cream bar.

Reluctantly, Cali took the treat and began to eat. It tasted so good and was very refreshing on such a hot day! "Thank you, Grandma," she said.

Grandma smiled. "You're glad you accepted my gift, aren't you?"

Cali nodded. "I am, even though I don't deserve it."

"We don't deserve God's love and forgiveness either," said Grandma. "But He offers it to us as a gift--a gift we need to accept. Jesus died on the cross to save us from sin so we could be forgiven and have eternal life with Him. But we can't enjoy that gift until we accept it."

"Just like this ice cream," said Cali. "I've accepted God's gift, Grandma. I know Jesus has saved me and given me eternal life."

–Nance E. Keyes

Bible Reading: James 3:1-10

"Hey, Dad, do you know what Elise told me?" asked Tenley.

Dad put down the book he was reading and smiled. Tenley loved to tell him everything that was going on with her friends at school--even when they were on vacation.

"Elise says Aria's dad was arrested and taken to the police station," Tenley went on. "He was driving under the influence--that means he was drunk--and he crashed into another car. Elise says he gets drunk every weekend, and he--"

"Hold on a minute, Tenley," said Dad. "How do you know what Elise said is true? And even if it is, should you repeat it? You could hurt Aria's father badly by saying things like that about him. And I'm sure it would hurt Aria to know you're telling people about her family's problems."

"Well, I--" Tenley suddenly stood up and pointed to a nearby campsite. "Dad, look! Over there! Those leaves are on fire!"

Dad and Tenley raced over to the campsite, grabbing a couple of wet towels from the line as they went. A hot log had rolled out of an unattended fire, and dry leaves had started to burn. Tenley and Dad stomped and beat the spreading flames until they had the fire out.

"That was a close one!" Dad said.

"Yeah," said Tenley. "I wonder where the people are who started the fire."

As they walked back to their own campsite, Dad said, "You know, Tenley, Mom and I love that you like to share ideas and experiences. But when you share information that's harmful, it's called gossip. God says the tongue is like a fire, and you saw how fast fire can get out of control. That can happen with words too. What you say can be exaggerated, and it can spread rapidly and hurt others--like Aria and her dad."

Tenley nodded. "I'm sorry, Dad. I'll be more careful about repeating things I hear."

"Good," said Dad. "The best way to do that is to trust God to help you speak about others in a loving way. God loves us all so much that He sent Jesus to die for us so we could have eternal life with Him. Trust Him to help you show His love through your words."

–Judith K. Boogaart