Read: Ephesians 1:4-6 Audrey sat on the front steps, lost in thought. She’d had a rough week. She failed her math test and skinned her knee, and one of her best friends had moved away. Why is God letting all these things happen to me? she thought. It almost seems like He doesn’t care about…
Read: 2 Thessalonians 3:3-5 With a big sigh, Peyton dropped her books on the table and flopped into the chair beside her mother. “Something wrong?” Mom asked, closing her laptop. “It’s Mila,” Peyton replied. “You know—that annoying girl in my class. I can’t help it—I just don’t like her at all.” “I know it can…
Read: Proverbs 3:5-6; Hebrews 13:20-21 “I can’t wait to taste maple syrup!” Brady said, smacking his lips. Mom laughed. She was chaperoning his field trip to the nature center to see how maple syrup was made. As they trudged behind their group, Brady sighed. “I wish I was invited to my teacher’s wedding.” Mom was…
Read: Psalm 139:3-12 “I’m scared, Mom,” River said. “What if Dad never comes back?” “I don’t know if he’s going to, River. I don’t know how things will work out.” River’s stomach hurt. It had been hurting a lot since his dad stormed out of their house weeks earlier. “It’s just you and me?” “You,…
Read: Isaiah 55:8-9; John 9:1-3 “Why, God?” murmured Jolene as she hugged her baby brother. They had recently learned that Jaiden was deaf. “Oh, Jolene,” Mom had said gently after they found out. “I don’t know why God allowed this to happen. His ways are not like ours, but He is good and loves us…
Read: Matthew 7:7-11 Snow was starting to fall from the sky as Nick looked out his bedroom window, and he let out a sigh of frustration. His cousins were supposed to come that weekend, but if the roads were snowy and slippery, they wouldn’t be able to make it. Nick missed his cousins and looked…
Read: Psalm 139:1-12; John 10:11-15 “I shouldn’t have let you see my test paper,” Teo said as he and his friend Joel rode the bus home after school. “I think I should tell Mr. Grant I cheated.” “Why would you do that?” asked Joel. “You didn’t cheat. I did.” “But I helped you,” said Teo,…
Read: Ephesians 2:4-7 Harvey threw a baseball toward his dad. “What if I do all this practicing and I still don’t make the team?” Dad grinned. “I’ll still love you.” Harvey sighed. “You’ll always love me. You say that all the time.” “God will always love you too.” Dad lifted his arm. “Get ready to…
Read: Luke 16:1-10 Mina pouted as her older sister, Jackie, folded a pastel quilt and placed it on top of a large stack of quilts their mother had made. “Ready to go?” Mom asked as she hurried into the living room. Kitty, Mina and Jackie’s toddler sister, giggled as she bounced on Mom’s hip. “Ready!”…
Read: Matthew 10:28-31 “Shall I brush your hair before you go to bed, sweetie?” Grandma asked. Jiya, who was spending the night with her grandparents, nodded and got her hairbrush. Her scalp tingled as Grandma brushed her hair with long, gentle strokes. When she finished, Grandma handed the brush to Jiya. “There, now. Why don’t…
