The Right Focus

Bible Reading: Colossians 3:1-3, 8-10 Dinner was finished, and Egan was just thinking of teasing his sister when she interrupted his plan. “Why did you have to stay in during recess today?” she asked him. “I heard you and a bunch of other kids got caught cheating on a test.” Egan swallowed hard, and it…

Different Is Good

Bible Reading: Acts 17:24-28 Abe stopped short when he and his friend Laramie passed a bakery window. “Wow!” he said. “I’ve never seen so many different pastries. I want to try them all!” Laramie joined him at the window. “Me too!” As they were looking at the window display, an older couple strolled by. Their…

In the Family

Bible Reading: Galatians 4:1-7 “We had a new girl in our class today,” said Leilah as she nibbled on cheese and crackers at the kitchen table after school. “Her name is Ana. She’s from an orphanage in Romania, and an American family—the Blackmans—adopted her.” “How wonderful!” said Mom. “For both her and the Blackmans.” “Yeah,”…

How May I Help You?

Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 28:2-6, 9 “Daniel, Daniel!” Daniel’s little brother and sister came zooming into the room. “Will you play store with us? Please?” Daniel smiled. “Okay, sure.” Eli and Alessia often begged Daniel to play store with them, but Daniel didn’t mind. Their grandfather owned a hardware store, and the kids loved to…

Detour

Bible Reading: Proverbs 3:1-6 “Uh oh!” said Mom. “That sign says, ‘Detour—straight ahead.’ We can’t make our turn onto the freeway. The ramp is closed for repairs.” “But we have to get on it somehow, don’t we?” asked Maggie. “We’ll get there if we follow the orange detour signs,” said Mom. “See if you can…

Stumbling Blocks

Bible Reading: Romans 14:12-13, 19-21 Mia was having a bad day. Lucy and Krista had come to play, but when Krista won nearly every game, Mia became angry. “Give me that,” she demanded, grabbing the score sheet. “You didn’t put down the right points.” “I did too!” said Krista. “No, you didn’t!” said Mia. “You’re…

Remote Control (Part 2)

Bible Reading: Matthew 8:5-13 Bryce and Andrew took their remote control truck out to the driveway while Mom was weeding the flower beds. Their little sister, Olivia, was hopping around on a pogo stick. “Mom,” Olivia said, “I wish I had a remote control pogo stick. I could ride it, and you could make it…

Remote Control (Part 1)

Bible Reading: Luke 17:11-19 “I sure hope we get remote control race cars for our birthday,” said Bryce as he and his twin brother walked home from school. “Me too,” said Andrew, “but with Dad out of work, you know we won’t get them.” He kicked at a stone on the sidewalk. “Don’t be so…

New Glasses

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 Stella skipped down the sidewalk toward Grandpa and Grandma’s house. It felt strange to be wearing glasses, but she was amazed that she could see things so much better—like individual leaves on the trees and even the letters on the stop sign at the far corner. Stella laughed in delight….

Your Best

Bible Reading: Mark 12:41-44 Nina jingled the coins in her pocket. She liked the sound they made. She called it her Sunday song because she often jingled coins before Sunday school started each week. Nina earned her own money for offerings, but lately she hadn’t been able to find many jobs, so the amount she…