Bible Reading: Matthew 13:31-32; 17:14-20 Gianna and her cousins were spending the day at Grandpa's house. "Will you measure us, Grandpa?" asked Alex. "I want to see how tall I am." "All right." Grandpa followed them to the wall where he had been measuring them since they were toddlers. He made a mark on the wall for each of them and wrote their name and the date beside it. "I'm the tallest!" exclaimed Alex. "Gianna, you're not even as tall as I was when I was nine, and you're ten!" said Joy. "Gianna is a shortie," said Alex, grinning. Gianna's cheeks grew hot. She hated being teased for her s ..read more

Bible Reading: Romans 5:12-13, 18-21; Colossians 2:13-14 "Dad!" Everett stared at his computer screen in dismay. "Chase just told me there's a virus in the game I downloaded! It could ruin the hard drive." "Oh no!" Dad said. "How much damage has it done?" Everett groaned and covered his eyes. "I don't know yet." "What's a virus?" asked Rachel, climbing onto Dad's knee. "Isn't that what gives you the flu?" "That's right," said Dad. "When a virus gets into your body, it can make you sick. But a different kind of virus can get into a computer, and once it does, it can spread and take control of t ..read more

Bible Reading: Psalm 33:4-12 "Come on, Mal," called Bailey. "Mom said we could play in the attic. Let's try on some of the old clothes in the trunks up there." The clatter of feet echoed through the halls as Bailey and Mal climbed the steep steps to the attic of the old house. Soon they had the trunks open and began trying on a variety of clothes their grandmother and mother had saved through the years. They laughed at each other as they paraded back and forth in front of a full-length mirror. "Let's go show Mom and Dad our latest fashions," said Mal. Tipping an old hat to the back of her head ..read more

Bible Reading: Romans 12:9-21; James 1:19-20 "Bri, I love your new pet! He is so soft and sweet!" Ella stroked her friend's chinchilla, Herman. "A chinchilla's soft fur is one reason why they're such popular pets," said Bri. "They're native to the Andes mountains in Chile where it gets really cold." "Remember two years ago when you kept telling everyone you wanted a porcupine for a pet?" Ella could not contain her giggles. Bri shook her head. "What was I thinking? Chinchillas and porcupines are related, but porcupines are so prickly they don't make good pets." Bri handed Herman a seed and watc ..read more

Bible Reading: Psalms 42:4-8; 73:21-26 "Maria!" Dad called. "Your aunt and uncle will be here soon. Can you come down and help with dinner?" Maria sighed and tossed the book she was reading on the floor. The last thing she wanted to do was help with Thanksgiving dinner. It was their first Thanksgiving without Mom, and it wouldn't be the same, no matter how much food they cooked. When Maria shuffled into the kitchen, Dad smiled at her. "Want to learn how to carve a turkey?" he asked. Maria shrugged, which Dad took to mean yes, she did. After Dad explained what to do, Maria began slicing the tur ..read more

Bible Reading: Psalm 100 "I pray today!" Jameson announced as his family sat around the breakfast table. Dad nodded at the little boy, and they all bowed their heads. "Thank you, God, for bacon an' eggs an' milk an' toast an' orange juice," said Jameson. He paused and peeked through his fingers. "An' jam," he added. "Amen." "Thank you, Jameson," said Dad. He shot a look at Elliot and London, who were giggling at their little brother. After breakfast, everyone went outside to enjoy the beautiful day. When it was time for lunch, Mom called them together around the picnic table. "We'll pray first ..read more

Bible Reading: Ephesians 2:4-10 "I do it!" said Isla insistently. Her balloon was stuck up on a shelf, and her mother had offered to help her get it down. Isla was two, and she liked to do things all by herself. "All right, you do it," said Mom as Madeline came into the room. "How was school, Maddy?" "Okay," said Madeline. "But I don't seem to be making any headway with Kenna." She sighed and set down her backpack. "Ever since she went to church with me a few weeks ago, she's had questions about Jesus. I tried to explain it to her today, but she still seems to think she can be saved because he ..read more

Bible Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-10 "Annie's house is huge! Did you see her bedroom?" Rayne asked her sister when they got home after visiting their new friend. "What about her basement?" Lily said. "They had a huge TV with tons of movies and video games." "The yard was awesome too," Rayne said. "I'm so jealous of their pool." "I wish we had a house that cool," said Lily. "I wouldn't ever want to leave!" Rayne nodded and sighed as she looked around their small living room. Their TV wasn't even a quarter the size of the one in Annie's basement. "It's not fair." Lily made a face. "We don't even get ..read more

Bible Reading: Isaiah 43:10-12 Jacob rolled a piece of paper into a ball, took aim, and flicked it toward Cody in the row ahead. It hit its mark, but by the time Cody looked around, Jacob was staring straight ahead. Next to him, Mateo snickered. Jacob was glad Mateo had come to church with him today. Usually he declined, saying church stuff didn't make sense to him, but Jacob had convinced him that today's special guest, a missionary from Africa, would be interesting. Something the missionary said caught Jacob's attention--but he didn't understand a word of it. Mr. Mensah spoke in one of Afric ..read more

Bible Reading: John 15:9-15 "Amen," whispered Grandma after Aspen knelt at her side and asked Jesus to be her Savior. "Now you'll always have a friend close beside you," said Grandma, giving Aspen a warm hug. "You won't see Him, but He is real and He's right there with you. Talk to Him every day, and read some verses from your Bible each day too. Then ask Him to help you understand what He's saying to you." Aspen nodded. "He'll be with me all the time, right? He'll be my friend?" "He absolutely will," Grandma assured her. Aspen sat thinking to herself for a moment. Then she glanced at her gran ..read more