Show kindness to kids!

I substitute taught in second grade the other day. The assignment for the children was to write a story about something that really happened. One little girl sat and sat, without beginning to write. I went and talked to her alone, trying to prompt her to think about happy things that had happened to her in the past. She couldn't think of any happy times. Her dad doesn't have time to play with her. Her mother just works. Her brother is mean to her. Her friend doesn't ever come to see her. I told her she had a pretty blouse. I asked if her mom had taken her to buy clothes for school. She said her mom went by herself to get clothes. It was fun for her mom--it wasn't fun for her. I told her that I wanted to be her friend. We would have a happy day in class. I asked her if she could write about that. So she got going and wrote three little pages about having Mrs. Harthan in her class. There is a lot of talk about "no child left behind" as the theme for our educational system. But some children will always be left behind--those in dysfunctional homes where they are neglected or abused or unloved. We must all work to show love and kindness to children around us. They need to know that Jesus loves them!

"I love Grammy"

My four-year-old granddaughter drew this picture of me. Isn't it great? I cherish every opportunity I have to be with my grandchildren. I am passionate to give them God's Word in a form they can understand. I am excited to think that they will be able to read the Bible as they learn how to read.

Tell the bully, "Jesus loves you!"

I substitute taught in second grade today. I read the children a story this afternoon. It's actually a book my dad gave me when I was four years old! It's about Keeko, a little Indian boy, who showed kindness to everyone, even to Meany Cat who was always mean to the forest animals. We talked about what we should do when someone is mean to us. We talked about not being mean back to the person and not saying bad words. Then one little girl raised her hand and said, "We should tell that person 'Jesus loves you!' "
I told her that was a great answer!

God will answer OUR prayers too!

"Elijah was a man. He was not important. But he prayed. He asked God to not send any rain. God answered his prayer. There was no rain for a long time. Then Elijah prayed for rain. He asked God to send rain. God answered his prayer. God sent a lot of rain. The grass was green. The crops grew" (James 5:17-18, The B-I-B-L-E).
God will answer OUR prayers too!

Jesus is Lord!

"The name of Jesus is very special. All the angels in heaven will bow down to Jesus. Everyone on earth will bow down to Jesus. Everyone in every place will bow down to Jesus. Everyone will say, 'Jesus Christ is just the best! He is Lord! He is the Ruler of everything!' Everyone will say, 'God is awesome!' "
(Philippians 2:10-11, The B-I-B-L-E).

"Praise ye the Lord!"

Last night we took care of our four grandchildren. We had a great time. We did lots of fun things. Do you know the little song "Hallelu...Praise ye the Lord"? We all sang that together. I love to hear our two-year old grandson sing "Praise ye the Lord." It's easy to understand why Jesus said we must become sweet and trusting as children to be part of God's Kingdom.

"God, I will always tell you 'thank you.' I will always tell about the amazing things you do. You are awesome. So I will be very happy. I will always sing praise songs to you" (Psalm 9:1-2, The B-I-B-L-E).

...then you will not give up

"God is super strong. We are asking him to make you strong too. You will have problems. Bad things will happen. But you need to keep on trusting in God. He can make you strong. Then you can keep on going. Then you will not give up. Then you will be patient. I want you to be happy. I want you to have a happy heart" (Colossians 1:11,
The B-I-B-L-E).

God is always with us

I went to school this week and had lunch with my granddaughter who is in kindergarten. She was excited to tell me about her class and show me her work. I loved being with her and hearing about what is important to her. And I was thinking how that is like our Christian life. We should be excited to talk to God in prayer. God wants us to talk to him. He wants us to be close to him. We should remember that he is always with us.

"God is always with me. I will always trust in him. He is close to me. That is why I am super happy. That is why I say God is super good. That is why I can sleep in peace" (Psalm 16:8-9, The B-I-B-L-E).

God's love is amazing!

"God really loves us. He showed us his love. He sent Jesus. Now we can be close to him. We will live with God forever. He gives us eternal life. God’s love is amazing. His love is the best. He sent Jesus. Jesus died on the cross. He died for us. Then he forgives our sins. We love God. But our love is not the best. God’s love is the best. That is real love" (1 John 4:9-10, The B-I-B-L-E).

Becoming more like Jesus

"Think about important things. Do not mess around with bad things. Do not mess around with stupid things. Do not hide bad ideas in your heart. Do what is right. Be ready for Jesus to come back again. You love Jesus. He forgave your sins. He saved you. He will keep on working in your heart. You will keep on growing to be more and more like Jesus. I want your heart to be super full of good things. Jesus will do that. People will look at you. They will see how nice you are. They will say, 'Wow! God is awesome!' " (Philippians 1:10-11, The B-I-B-L-E).

Forgiveness

My two-year-old grandson was in "time-out" because he threw a toy at his sister. His dad told him to sit quietly in "time-out" and think about what he had done. But he made several attempts to talk with someone. He said, "I want to talk to my mommy." And he said, "I want to talk to my grammy." Then he looked at me pleadingly and said, "Grammy, talk to me." That pulled at my heart, but I followed the rules. It made me think about David and his desire for forgiveness and a restored relationship after his sin.

"I am very sorry that I hurt someone. Please forgive me. You are the one who saves. I will sing happy songs about you. I will tell others that you forgive. God, help me tell other people about you. I do not want to be quiet. I will tell others how great you are. I will praise you. I could give an offering to you. But that would not make you happy. I know what you want. You want me to be sorry for my sins. That will make you happy. You want me to know I did bad things. You want me to be ready to be good. That will make you happy" (Psalm 51:14-17, The B-I-B-L-E).

Reading mastery for kids

As a teacher, I can tell you that reading is perhaps the most important skill for success in school. We must put forth every effort to help children become proficient readers and understand what they read. The B-I-B-L-E is perfect for children to develop reading mastery. And as they read God's Word and understand it, we can challenge them to put it into practice in their lives. As they read God's Word and think about it, they will come to know God better and understand what he wants them to do. The B-I-B-L-E is not intended to be a book for Scripture memory. Rather, it is a book for reading. Children can read God's Word and understand it as early readers.

The perfect guidebook for life!

I substitute taught in Kindergarten this week. We talked a lot about responsibility. I love to teach children about character qualities and values. I taught them that being responsible means to respect others. It means to show self-control. It means to listen well. It means to finish all of our work. It means to do our best. All of that is in God's Word. The Bible is God's guidebook for life. I am passionate to give kids access to God's Word. I am anxious to finish Proverbs and Romans and get Volume 3 out.

The Good News

"You did not have real life. You were far away from God. Sin was the ruler of your life. Your old self wanted to do bad things. But then you asked God to forgive you. You asked God to take away your sins. So God gave you a new life. Jesus is the Ruler of your new life. We all did a lot of bad things. Our sins made us be far away from God. God will punish people who sin. But God put all of our sins on Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. We asked God to forgive our sins. We asked God to take away our sins. So God will not remember our sins anymore" (Colossians 2:13-14, The B-I-B-L-E).

God, who loves me? Only you!

"Wow! I almost made a big mistake. I saw the proud people. They are bad. I saw all the nice things they have. I wished I had those nice things too....I see the bad people. And I look at myself. Why do I do what is right? I have problems all the time. I am hurting every day....I did not really say those things. That would have been bad. Some things are hard to understand. Why do bad people have nice things? I do not know. Then I got close to God one day....I can see that I was crabby. I can see that I was mad. I was thinking about the bad people and all their nice things. I was stupid to think those things. That was not good. But, God, I know you love me. You are close to me. You will show me what to do. You will show me what is right. Someday you will take me home to heaven. God, who loves me? Only you! I want to be close to you. That is what I want the most" (Psalm 73:2-3,13-17,21-25, The B-I-B-L-E).