Bible Reading: Colossians 1:9-14; Hebrews 12:1-2

Kyla sank down onto the bed, exhausted and upset. "I can't do it."

"Patience," her mom said quietly. "You'll get there eventually."

Kyle shook her head. "I'm not going to," she said, staring over at the door to her hospital room. "I'm not going to be able to walk, and then I'm not going to be able to leave here. I'll be here forever."

"You won't be here forever."

The next day, Kyla worked with a therapist again. This time, she walked even less than she had the day before and then was too tired to go on. Tears filled her eyes as she was helped back to her bed.

"Sweetheart…" Mom pulled her chair close to the bed. "You just need to be patient and keep trying."

Kyla shook her head. "I prayed, Mom. I prayed that God would help me do it this time."

"I'm sorry that things didn't work out the way you wanted," Mom said. "I prayed that you would stay safe, yet you're in a hospital bed. I prayed that you would recover quickly, but things are going slowly." She sighed. "I think God is using this situation to work on us. On both of us."

Kyla frowned. "Why?"

"Maybe to teach us patience," Mom said. "And to help us remember that Jesus is with us and is still at work even when bad things happen." She reached over and ran her fingers through Kyla's hair. "I remember when you were first learning to walk--my baby trying to grow up. You got so frustrated when you fell. And I got frustrated too. I wanted you to get better balance so I wouldn't have to worry about you falling and hurting yourself. It took a lot of tries, but you got better, and I learned to be patient. Eventually, you got it figured out. I believe you'll do the same this time around."

"I wish I could just pray and then be done. Be out of here," Kyla said.

"I know," Mom said. "But healing takes time. I think we need to keep praying and trust Jesus to help us be patient. He endured death on a cross to give us eternal life, and He'll help us endure every trial we go through."

–Emily Acker

How About You?
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like God was trying to teach you patience? It can be hard to endure difficult things that happen in life, but Jesus promises to help us. He is always at work, even when things aren't going well, and He can use those situations to do good things. Trust Him to be with you in the trials you face in life and to endure them with patience.

Today's Key Verse:
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (NIV) (Psalm 27:14)

Today's Key Thought:
Endure trials with patience

Bible Reading: John 10:1-10

"Hey, Taj," whispered Caleb after the two boys had gone to bed. "I forgot the lures Dad gave me to bring along tomorrow. I left them in my room." The boys were going on a fishing trip with their church group early the next morning, and Caleb was spending the night at Taj's, who lived a few houses down from him.

"Let's run over to your house and get them," said Taj.

"It's too late," replied Caleb. "Everybody will be sleeping."

"We'll just sneak in so we don't wake anybody up," said Taj. "If we don't do it now, we might forget in the morning." After thinking it over, Caleb agreed.

The boys quietly left the house and hurried to Caleb's home. As expected, the house was dark. "I'll pry the screen off my bedroom window," Caleb whispered. "That way we won't wake anyone up."

Caleb carefully removed the screen and started climbing in as quietly as he could. He had one foot through the window when a voice yelled, "Stop!"

Caleb froze as he recognized the figure of his father towering in the shadows, holding a baseball bat. "It's me, Dad!" Caleb called out. "Me and Taj!"

Dad flicked on the light. "Caleb? Taj? What's going on here? Why are you sneaking in through the window?" Caleb gulped. He knew he and Taj had a lot to explain.

The next day, the boys told their church group leader what had happened. "My dad thought we were burglars," said Caleb. "He was pretty upset. I'm definitely never doing that again."

"You boys trying to climb in through the window instead of using the door reminds me of our lesson last week," said Mr. Bates. "Do you remember what name we learned for Jesus?"

"Um…oh, I know," said Taj. "He's called the door because it's only through Him that anyone can enter heaven."

"Right," said Mr. Bates. "You couldn't sneak into your house, Caleb, just like we could never sneak into heaven. It would be impossible, and we've done nothing to deserve spending eternity with God. But Jesus offers us the incredible gift of salvation--He died on the cross so our sins could be forgiven and we could become God's children. He's the door, the only way we can enter into eternal life."

–Jan L. Hansen

How About You?
Are you trying to sneak into heaven--to get there without trusting in Jesus? You can't do it. On earth, a person might be able to sneak into a house and get away with it. But the only way to be saved and enter God's eternal kingdom is through the Door--Jesus Christ. Trust in Him today! (To learn more, click the "Good News!" button in the right column of this page or go to www.keysforkids.org/goodnews.)

Today's Key Verse:
I [Jesus] am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved. (NKJV) (John 10:9)

Today's Key Thought:
Jesus is the door to eternal life

Bible Reading: James 3:13-18

"Are we going to invite Bea to our party Friday night?" Valentina asked her friend Jane as they sat on Valentina's bed, going over their party plans.

"No way! We don't want the teacher's pet at our party." Jane looked at the list. "Looks like we're inviting all the girls in our class except Bea."

Valentina put a finger to her lips. "If my parents find out, we'll have to invite Bea too. Keep it quiet, will you?" Valentina slipped the list into her desk drawer, and the girls went down to the kitchen.

Valentina's dad greeted them with a puppy in his arms. "Look what I've got."

"A puppy!" Valentina took the puppy and cuddled him under her chin. "Can we keep him? I'll take care of him--I'll teach him good doggie manners!" Then she thought of their other dog. "Has Roscoe seen him?"

Dad smiled. "No, Roscoe hasn't seen him yet, but yes, we can keep him--if Roscoe will let us, that is. Let's go see."

When they opened the porch door to go out, a collie came bounding across the yard. Suddenly he stopped and growled deeply. "Come on, Roscoe. Don't act like that," said Valentina. "This puppy wants to be your friend." The puppy whined, but Roscoe growled again. "Stop it, Roscoe!" Valentina frowned. "Why is he being so mean, Dad?"

"Because he's jealous. Roscoe doesn't want you to have another pet."

As the girls looked at each other, they both suddenly realized they had been acting just like Roscoe because they were jealous of Bea. We need to replace jealousy with love, Valentina thought, remembering a lesson she'd recently heard at church. Jesus loves us so much He gave His own life for us, and because of that, we can love others instead of being jealous of them.

"I think the two dogs can learn to be friends," said Dad. "But for now, you'd better take the puppy inside."

The girls took the puppy to Valentina's room. "I think I'll name him Shadow," said Valentina. "Here, hold him for me a minute." She handed the puppy to Jane, then pulled out the list for the party and added Bea's name. "Guess what, Shadow?" she said, patting the dog's head. "On Friday you're gonna meet all the girls in our class!"

–Barbara J. Westberg

How About You?
Have you let jealousy creep into your life? Maybe you envy someone who always has the right answers in class or a brother or sister who gets a lot of your parents' attention. If you're jealous of someone, ask God to help you see all the good things He's put in your life. Remember that Jesus died for you, and trust Him to help you replace jealousy with love. Then do something nice for that person.

Today's Key Verse:
Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there will be confusion and every kind of evil. (ERV) (James 3:16)

Today's Key Thought:
Don't be jealous

Bible Reading: Galatians 6:9-10; Philippians 1:4-6, 9-11

"Are we going to tap all the trees today?" asked Soren as he helped Dad drill a hole into the trunk of a maple tree and insert a little pipe. "That will take forever!"

"Making maple syrup does take a long time, and it's hard work," said Dad. "But it's worth the effort."

Once all the maple trees had buckets hanging from the pipes to collect the sap that would drip out during the week, they returned to the house and Soren slumped into a chair. "In another week or so, we'll have to collect all those buckets of sap," he said. "But we won't have syrup yet! First we'll have to dump the sap into that big container and build a fire under it and boil it for a long time. By the time the water is out of the sap, we'll probably have one little pail of syrup!" He sighed. "All that work for just a little syrup. It'd be a lot easier to just buy syrup instead of making it!"

"True," said Mom. "But it wouldn't be nearly as good. We're going for quality. Keep at it and we'll be eating the best pancakes ever!"

"Do not grow weary in doing good," said Dad.

Soren smiled. "I know that Bible verse, but I don't think it's talking about making syrup."

"I don't think so either," said Dad. "But maybe we can learn something if we compare making syrup with growing spiritually. As we patiently keep that fire going under the sap, we get good results--delicious maple syrup. And as God works in our hearts, helping us get to know Jesus better and show His love to others, He brings out good results too."

Mom nodded. "As we make maple syrup this year, let's remember that God is doing similar work in us. We can trust Him to use the experiences of our lives to make us more like Jesus and grow in our relationship with Him. He isn't finished with any of us yet--He will patiently continue His work in us until the day we see Jesus face-to-face."

–Nance E. Keyes

How About You?
Are you struggling in your Christian walk through life? Do you do the same wrong things over and over or wish you felt closer to God? Being a Christian doesn't mean you'll always feel close to God or won't ever struggle with sin, but Jesus promises to always be with you and forgive you. He died and rose again to save you, and He will continue His work throughout your life. He began a good work in you when you first trusted in Him, and He promises to finish it.

Today's Key Verse:
He [God] who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (NIV) (Philippians 1:6)

Today's Key Thought:
Trust God for spiritual growth

Bible Reading: Romans 12:17-21; Ephesians 6:13-18

"Look!" said Mirabel. "A white-breasted nutcracker!"

Carmen laughed at her younger sister. "I think you mean a white-breasted nuthatch."

"Oh--well, I was close," Mirabel said.

Carmen looked out at the bird feeders Mom had helped her hang on the pine trees. She loved the little birds that flocked in their front yard.

"Uh-oh," said Mirabel. "There's that tiger cat again. He's crouching under the tree."

"Yeah," said Carmen. "He looks like he's ready to pounce! Quick, bang on the window and try to scare him away." They both knocked on the window. The cat looked up, startled, and disappeared into the woods.

"I think he belongs to one of the houses on the next street," said Carmen. "Well, we scared him away this time. Mom did too last week. She opened the window and banged on a pan."

"And Rollo barked his head off at him the other day," said Mirabel.

Carmen laughed. "Well then, I guess we're all prepared for any future attacks."

"Yeah," said Mirabel. "We've got pans and dogs and we're ready for war!"

"I'm not sure how effective those weapons would be in a real war," said Carmen. "But for us they should work just fine!" She looked at Mirabel. "Mom and I talked about weapons not too long ago when I was telling her about this new girl in my class named Abby who's not very nice. Mom said not to act the same way back to her--she said the Bible tells us our weapons are different, and they're really powerful."

"What are they?" asked Mirabel. "Water balloons--or slingshots?"

"No, nothing like that. Things like prayer. Mom said to pray for her, and she gave me some verses to memorize to help me remember that Jesus loves Abby and died for her."

"Do you really think those weapons are going to work?" asked Mirabel.

"They already are!" said Carmen. "I've been praying for Abby, and every day I feel myself becoming more patient with her. And trusting Jesus to help me see her the way He does has helped me treat her well without expecting her to be kind to me in return."

"Wow," said Mirabel. "I guess God's weapons really do work." She looked out at a little nuthatch. "Oh look--another nutcracker!"

–Sharon Lee Roberts

How About You?
Did you know that God offers spiritual weapons for you to use in any situation? It's easy to want to deal with difficult people and hard situations the way the world does, but the Bible tells us God's weapons--things like prayer, Scripture, love, and faith--are much more effective. They put the problem in God's hands, and He can do anything--even turn enemies into friends!

Today's Key Verse:
If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. (NKJV) (Romans 12:20)

Today's Key Thought:
Use God's weapons