Bible Reading: Psalm 119:97-105

"Oh, look at this!" exclaimed Aunt Jessie as she and Melanie were cleaning Grandma's attic. "Here's a box of mementos from when I was in high school!"

Melanie took a pair of neon green sunglasses from the box and put them on. "Why did you keep these?"

"Tom gave those to me after he won them at the county fair," Aunt Jessie replied with a smile. "I haven't thought about him in years." As she sorted through the other things in the box, she told Melanie about each item and how she'd gotten it.

"Don't you forget anything, Aunt Jessie?" asked Melanie. "Everything you see reminds you of something! Your head must be stuffed fuller than this attic."

Aunt Jessie laughed. "Well, I've heard that people never really forget anything. Everything we experience is stored in our brains, but it may take something like a memento to bring it into a part of the mind where we can recall it." She stretched her arms. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired. Let's take a break."

They went to the kitchen to get a snack. "What do you have in your attic, Melanie?" Aunt Jessie asked as they ate. Melanie started thinking about the attic at home, but Aunt Jessie leaned forward and tapped her on the head. "What I mean is, what do you have stored up here? I hadn't seen the things stored in Grandma's attic for years, but they brought back good memories. Like her attic, your mind is storing things too."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," said Melanie. "Sometimes a song pops into my head, even if I haven't heard it for a long time!"

Aunt Jessie nodded. "Bible verses do the same thing. Even if you haven't thought of a particular verse for years, something may suddenly bring it to mind. So, are there lots of Bible verses in the storage area of your brain?"

Melanie shrugged. "I try to learn as many as I can."

"Once memories are in place, things we see or hear can bring them back," said Aunt Jessie. "When you memorize God's Word, He can use people and events to bring it to mind when you need it. That's one way the Holy Spirit helps you each day."

-Catherine Runyon

How About You?
Have you ever seen or heard something that reminded you of a verse you knew? By memorizing God's Word, you store it in your mind and make it part of your life. When you need help or encouragement, the Holy Spirit can use it to remind you of God's love, truth, and promises. Keep reading the Bible and memorizing verses, and God's Word will come to mind when you need it.

Today's Key Verse:
I will not forget your word. (NKJV) (Psalm 119:16)

Today's Key Thought:
Memorize Bible verses

Bible Reading: John 6:5-13

"Bye!" Amber waved as her aunt drove away. Aunt Nina had eaten dinner with Amber's family that night. Afterwards, Aunt Nina showed them pictures from the recent mission trip she'd taken.

Amber sighed as she returned to the kitchen. "I wish I could go on a mission trip. I never do anything important."

"Why do you say that?" Mom asked, handing Amber a plate.

"Aunt Nina traveled to another country and told others about Jesus. She helped doctors in that village serve sick people. Everything I do seems like no big deal." Amber shut the dishwasher and looked sadly at her mother.

"Here." Mom placed the leftover garlic bread in Amber's hands.

Amber glanced at the bread. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"Tell me what it is."

"Bread." Amber shrugged. "I don't get it."

"Do you remember the story of the miracle Jesus performed with a few fish and loaves of bread?"

Amber nodded. "A little boy gave his lunch to Jesus. Not much, but it was all he had. Jesus turned it into enough to feed thousands of hungry people."

"That boy believed Jesus could do something special with what he offered," Mom replied.

Amber tucked the leftover bread in a bag and waited for Mom to explain more.

"Jesus has forgiven your sins and given you a new life, Amber, and He promises to help you share His love with others so they can know Him as their Savior too. Don't you think He can use whatever you have to offer Him--just like He did with the boy in the Bible story?" Mom asked.

"What do I have to offer?" Amber wrinkled her forehead.

"Well, Aunt Nina needed to pack long skirts to wear on her mission trip. Remember how she found a big tear in one of them? You sewed it up for her."

"That's right! I saw her wearing it in lots of her pictures too."

Mom nodded. "You had a part in that mission trip."

"I guess my needle and thread were my loaves and fishes," Amber said. "And I can't wait for God to use them again!"

-Allison Wilson Lee

How About You?
Do you get discouraged at not being able to do the things others can do to serve God? Do you wonder if God can use you--right where you are? He can! As you trust and follow Jesus, He will show you what you can do to share His love with others and help build His kingdom. It doesn't matter if it doesn't seem like much to you--God can use it all, big or small. Give Him whatever you have to offer and trust Him to use it to do great things.

Today's Key Verse:
All glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (NLT) (Ephesians 3:20)

Today's Key Thought:
God honors our faithful efforts

Bible Reading: Psalm 143:8-10; John 14:23-26

"Rerouting…rerouting…"

Landen heard his dad's GPS talking in a lady's voice. "What does rerouting mean?" he asked.

"It means to change direction. We need to stop by the grocery store on the way to Aunt Cyndi's party, so I went a different direction than the one my GPS recommended. Now the GPS is rerouting, figuring out a new way to get to the party."

"Is that a bad thing? The lady sounded mad."

Dad chuckled. "She doesn't get mad, Landen. She's a machine. But, to answer your question, rerouting isn't necessarily bad. It certainly wasn't in this case. We can't have a party without ice cream!"

"Let's get mint chocolate chip!" yelled Landen's younger brother, Archer.

"Good idea." A minute later, Dad spoke again. "Remember last summer, when you two played ball in the house?"

Landen wasn't sure he wanted to remember. He and Archer both nodded but didn't speak.

Dad continued. "God tells us to obey our parents, and you two usually do. But that day, you and Archer went off course and did what you were told not to do."

"Big mistake," admitted Landen. "It took six months of saving our allowance money before we had enough to buy a new lamp. Worse than that, Mom cried because the one we broke was her grandmother's."

"When we choose to go a different direction than the one God commands, it often doesn't end well. Instead of trusting God to help us obey Him and show His love to others, we follow our own selfish desires, and people get hurt." Dad parked in front of the store and turned around to look at the boys. "I think the Holy Spirit did some rerouting for you both. Once you made your wrong turn, the Holy Spirit guided you back in the right direction by showing you how your disobedience had been hurtful and prompting you to admit you were wrong and ask for forgiveness."

Landen sighed. "It would've been a lot easier to do the right thing from the beginning." Then he grinned. "But we sure won't be throwing balls in the house anymore!"

"No way!" agreed Archer.

"Good," said Dad. "Now, let's go buy that mint chocolate chip ice cream and get back on the road!"

-Bonnie Carr

How About You?
Did you ever do anything you knew was wrong? We all have. But, when we trust Jesus as our Savior, He gives us the Holy Spirit to be our GPS. The Holy Spirit fills us with the love of Jesus and guides us in loving others. When we don't follow the Holy Spirit's prompting and instead do wrong, hurtful things, the Holy Spirit will help reroute us in the right direction.

Today's Key Verse:
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." (NIV) (Isaiah 30:21)

Today's Key Thought:
Let the Holy Spirit guide you

Bible Reading: Psalm 102:25-27; Hebrews 13:5-8

"I'm going to run and jump into the leaves, Daddy. Are you watching?" Meliah asked.

Dad held the rake and smiled at his daughter. "Sure, honey. Go ahead."

Meliah grinned as she started running. When she landed in the pile of leaves, she laughed. "This is lots of fun! I like fall."

Dad raked the leaf pile back together. "I like fall too, though I wish it was warmer. I don't like the changing temperature."

Meliah put her foot into the pile of leaves. "Everything changes," she said with a frown. "Mommy went to live in an apartment. Grandma came to live here. It's getting cold. I got a new teacher because my other teacher had a baby."

Dad set down the rake and stood beside Meliah. "I'm sorry that Mommy moved to the apartment. You can still see her whenever you want if you ask me to drive you. And Grandma wasn't doing well living by herself. Weren't you excited about her coming to live with us? You always loved having her visit."

Meliah shrugged. "Yeah, but it's not the same. Nothing is the same."

"Well, there's one thing that never changes," Dad said.

"Never?" Meliah asked.

"Never. Jesus never changes. There's a verse in the Bible that says He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will be with you no matter where you go, and He will stay with you no matter how many things change. He loves you, and because you trust Him as your Savior, He will always be with you."

Meliah was quiet. "I haven't been going to church," she admitted. "Mom and I watch TV shows instead."

"Jesus still loves you, no matter if you go to church or pray or read your Bible. He doesn't change. If you want to grow in your relationship with Him and understand more about Him, then going to church and reading your Bible are great ways to do that. And the more verses you learn, the more you can remember when you need them."

"Can we read that verse about Jesus never changing after dinner?" Meliah asked.

"That sounds like a great idea," Dad agreed. "Now, these piles of leaves need to be jumped into!"

-Kimberly Brokish

How About You?
Do you ever feel like everything is changing? Do you get scared when things change and wish you could go back to how things were before? Even though you will face many changes in the course of your life, Jesus will never change. No matter what happens, He is always there for you, and He will always love you. Go to Him for help and trust Him to be with you in times of change.

Today's Key Verse:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (NIV) (Hebrews 13:8)

Today's Key Thought:
Jesus never changes

Bible Reading: Matthew 10:29-31; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

"Listen to this," Mom said as Hope and her parents relaxed in the living room one evening. "The writer of this blog post says pennies should be discontinued in our money system because it costs too much to make them and nothing can be purchased for a penny anyway. What do you think about that?"

"I agree," said Dad. "Pennies are a nuisance. I don't like bothering with them, so I dump them in a jar on my dresser. It's almost full."

Just then Reuben came charging into the house after his youth club meeting at church. "Guess what! We're going to have a contest to raise money for missionaries. The team that fills their giant container with money the fastest wins. My team is changing the money we collect to pennies so it takes up more space. Will you help me?"

Hope laughed. "I guess the person who wrote that blog post didn't know about the needs of missionaries, Mom. There's a use for pennies after all."

Dad headed for the stairs. "Well, I'm all too happy to get rid of my jar of pennies by donating it to Reuben's penny drive."

A week later, Reuben had a huge smile on his face when he got home from youth club. "Guess what! The other teams had the same idea and filled their containers with pennies. They counted all the pennies donated, and we raised over twelve hundred dollars for the missionaries!"

"Wow!" said Hope. "Pennies seem worthless by themselves, but they really add up, don't they?"

Dad nodded. "Each penny has value, even if we don't see it right away. Perhaps remembering that will help us change our way of thinking in a few other areas as well."

"Like what?" asked Hope.

"Well," said Dad, "there's a verse in the Bible that says God often chooses things the world has no use for."

"I think that's especially true when it comes to people," said Mom. "Each and every person is incredibly valuable to God. He loves each one of us so much that Jesus died for our sins so we could have eternal life with Him. We're all so valuable to Him that He even knows how many hairs each person has on their head!"

Reuben looked at his father's balding head. "That's getting easier and easier when it comes to Dad."

They all laughed--even Dad!

-Catherine Runyon

How About You?
Have you ever taken a discarded object and made it into something useful? Or have you bought something no one else wanted and found it was just right for you? Maybe you know someone who the world sees as worthless. How do you think God feels about that person? God loves them very much--and He wants you to love them too.

Today's Key Verse:
God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. (NLT) (1 Corinthians 1:28)

Today's Key Thought:
God values each person