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