Daily Devotion!

"Look at this odd plant," called Kelly as he and his fellow campers made their way around the swamp.
"Hm-m-m," murmured Mr. Pete, the counselor. "That's called a pitcher plant! It's one of North America's most interesting insect-eating plants."
"What are all those flies doing down in there?" asked one of the boys as they crowded around and peered into a cluster of leaves.
"That plant has caught them for food," explained Mr. Pete. "It has a substance-kind of like nectar-that attracts insects. They easily enter the opening at the top of the leaves, but the sides are slippery and have thousands of tiny hairs that all point downward, and the flies and bugs can't get back out."
"So they drown in that pool at the bottom, I guess," remarked Kelly. "Those flies thought they were getting something good, but instead they got caught."
"That's right," said Mr. Pete. "The nectar that draws insects to their doom reminds me of how narcotics, or drugs, pull so many young people down. They think they're getting something good, but instead they get caught and become addicted to drugs."
Kelly looked thoughtful. "A kid gave my brother free samples of drugs, so he tried them," he said. "Before Jon knew it, he was hooked pretty bad."
"What happened then?" asked one of the boys.
"Mom and Dad sent him to a drug rehabilitation center. He's there now, and I can't even send him a bag of potato chips or cheese curls because the people are afraid someone might try to sneak him some drugs that way," explained Kelly. He shook his head. "I'm never going to try drugs," he declared. "Not even for free."
"I hope and pray you won't," said Mr. Pete. "It's a very foolish thing to do."
"My dad says alcohol is a kind of drug, too," said one of the boys.
"I agree," said Mr. Pete. "Sometimes it's hard to say no when someone wants us to join in an activity, but God urges us to 'come boldly' to Him for help. Ask Him each day to keep you from ever acting like those foolish flies by giving in to the temptation to try any kind of drug-other than what doctors prescribe for you, of course." As he spoke, they heard a buzzing sound. A fly was circling the pitcher plant, drawing a little closer with each pass.
MEMORY VERSE: The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations. 2 Peter 2:9
HOW ABOUT YOU? Are you attracted by the world's drug culture? By its music? Its way of dressing? The fun some kids using drugs seem to have? Don't be foolish. Keep your distance! The closer you get, the harder it is to turn away. Choose to spend time with kids who hold the same values you do and want to avoid dangerous habits. Ask the Lord daily to keep you safe from the evil influence of anyone involved with drugs. With God's help, say no if drugs are offered to you.
THE KEY: Say no to drugs

A Visit From Ms. Howland!

Today I was sitting in a corner of the classroom reading my book when my teacher came over and told me to go out into the hall. I didn't know what it was about. Am I in trouble or is there something really fascinating in the hall, I thought. I started walking toward the door and there was Ms. Howland, my old P.E. teacher from Ridgeview! I started speed walking toward the door and finally into her arms for a big hug. We chatted for a little while. Maybe about ten minutes. We talked about how the schools are without each other and found out that we both missed each other a LOT. She asked what the chances were of me going back to Ridgeview for 6th grade. I told her that the chances really weren't that great. I'm glad that I got to spend the three years that I did at Ridgeview and will always have a clear memory of Ms. Howland!

The End Of The Season

The soccer season has ended! I'm glad that I'll get to sleep in on Saturdays and not have to keep track of all of my gear, but I will miss my teammates, punting the soccer ball and congratulating my teammates when they score a goal! Thank you all who have been to even one of my games to support me! I look forward to the spring when I'll play with my teammates for the last season and then move onto Scotties select soccer. Soccer will always be my favorite sport even if I don't continue to play it in the future.

Daily Devotion!

Joanna skipped along beside her mother. They were going to an "open house" at her sister Kaylynn's school. "How will we find Kaylynn?" asked Joanna.
"She said she'd be in her pottery class," answered Mom, "and she gave me directions to get to it." Joanna and her mother soon found the place where Kaylynn was working, and they sat down quietly at the back of the room.
The class instructor was at his potter's wheel, demonstrating how to make a clay vase. The students watched and then began work on their own projects. "Kaylynn's good, isn't she?" whispered Joanna, watching her big sister at work.
"Yes," agreed Mom. "The vase she's making will be lovely filled with flowers."
"She's making it for her Sunday school room," said Joanna. She sighed. "Jon teaches Sunday school, Whitney sings in the choir, and Kaylynn makes pretty things for church and Sunday school. But me . . . I'm like . . ." Joanna gestured towards the instructor's table. "I'm like one of those ugly lumps of clay."
"Joanna," said Mom gently, "the vase Kaylynn is making was a lump of clay like those. And so was the one the instructor is making. Those lumps are the clay the potter uses to make beautiful things."
Joanna looked at the instructor, who was again at the potter's wheel. A tall vase was being shaped by his skillful fingers. "Imagine one of those ugly lumps ending up like that!" exclaimed Joanna.
"You know, honey, we're all somewhat like the lumps of clay," said Mom gently. "On our own, we can do nothing. But God is our 'potter,' and He skillfully molds and shapes us into something useful. All He requires of us is that we be pliable and . . ."
"What does plia . . . plia . . . pli-whatever-mean?" asked Joanna.
"Pliable! That means being soft and easy to mold," explained Mom. "If the clay is hard, it's also hard to mold it, and if we are stubborn and our hearts are hard-if we're not willing to do the things that please God-He can't shape our lives into something beautiful." She smiled at Joanna. "You're not like an 'ugly' lump of clay," added Mom. "You're like a pliable one. You're a thoughtful little girl, and I'm sure Jesus appreciates your kindness to your friends and all the errands you run for me and Grandma and your teachers."
MEMORY VERSE: O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter . . . we are the work of Your hand. Isaiah 64:8
HOW ABOUT YOU? Are you learning-and willing-to do the things that please God? Do you try to please Him in all your thoughts and words and actions? You don't have to feel less important than others even if you can't speak or sing or draw or study as well as your brothers or sisters or friends. The important thing is to be willing to do what God wants you to do. Then you'll be like pliable clay, and God will use you to accomplish His work on earth.
THE KEY: Yield yourself to God

Greenbluff!

Christian and Zac chowing down!

Mom, Maisie and Christian on the tractor ride!

The horses from the HAYRIDE!!!!!

Me on the HAYRIDE!!!!!!

The tractor ride!

The caramel apples!

Just today we all went to Greenbluff for the harvest festival! We ate caramel apples, went for a HAYRIDE, went through a corn maze, went for a tractor ride and got pumpkins! I got an ice cream cone and everyone else got pumpkin pie or apple crumb. I just don't understand why I chose ice cream over pumpkin pie on a day like this! After our Greenbluff adventure we went to Rancho Chico and had linner! We had a great time at Greenbluff and look forward to going again next year!

Daily Devotion!

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.

A young man who was confused about his future and in a quandary as to which direction to take with his life as he sat in a park, watching squirrels scamper among the trees. Suddenly, a squirrel jumped from one high tree to another. It appeared to be aiming for a limb so far out of reach that the leap looked like suicide. As the young man had anticipated, the squirrel missed its mark but landed, safe and unconcerned, on a branch several feet lower. Then it climbed to its goal, and all was well.

An old man sitting on the other end of the bench remarked, "Funny, I've seen hundreds of 'em jump like that, especially when there are dogs all around and they can't come down to the ground. A lot of 'em miss, but I've never seen any get hurt trying." Then he chuckled and added, "I guess they've got to risk it if they don't want to spend their whole life in one tree."

The young man thought, A squirrel takes a chance. Do I have less nerve than a squirrel? He made up his mind in that moment to take the risk he had been thinking about. Sure enough, he landed safely, in a position higher than he had ever dared imagine.

What dream are you aiming for? Does it seem out of reach? Take a leap of faith. God will catch you if you fall.

Aim for perfection.

2 Corinthians 13:11

Devotion Of The Day!

Whatever you dislike in another person, take care to correct yourself.

In A Closer Walk, Catherine Marshell writes: "One morning last week He gave me an assignment: for one day I was to go on a 'fast' from criticism. I was not to criticise anyone about anything."

"For the first half of the day, I simply felt a void, almost as if I'd been wiped out as a person. This was especially true at lunch....I listened to others and kept silent....In our talkative family no one seemed to notice. Bemused, I noticed that my comments were not missed. The federal government, the judicial system, and the institutional church could apparently get along fine without my penetrating observations. But still I didn't want to what this fast on criticism was accomplishing-until mid afternoon."

"That afternoon, a specific, positive vision of life dropped into my mind with God's unmistakable hallmark on it-joy! Ideas began to flow away everything that I had not experienced in years. Now it was apparent what the Lord wanted me to see. My critical nature had not corrected a single one of the multitudinous things I found fault with. What it had done was to stifle my own creativity."

Before you are tempted to criticise someone, examine your own life. While you may not commit the same act or have the same habit you're about to criticise, you probably have some behavior that could be criticised. Don't stifle your creativity with criticism!

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brothers eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

Matthew 7:3

Devotion Of The Day!

When you flee temptations, don't leave a forwarding address.

Velazquez Polk and Janet Kuzmaak both grew up in Portland, Oregon, but the two could not have been more different. Polk was a tough street kid who joined a gang at the age of ten and was eventually arrested for selling drugs.
Kuzmaak was an honor roll student from an upper-class neighborhood. In 1980 Kuzmaak's sister was raped and strangled to death. Authorities never found her killer. She came to regard every criminal as her sister's murderer.
Kuzmaak eventually became a nurse at a medical center. Polk, released from jail in 1990, was given a job as her surgical aide. Kuzmaak was furious. She didn't believe in rehabilitation for criminals, but she noticed that when Polk's gang member friends tried to entice him to rejoin their ranks, he refused. He told Kuzmaak he wanted to flee his old life and join a program to become a nurse's aide. She remembered that her sister had once befriended a man on parole, so she lobbied the hospital to pay Polk's tuition while she continued to monitor him.
Today, she and Polk are great friends. She helped him gain entrance into a world he once didn't know existed. He helped sweep away the bitterness that had once poisoned her heart.
Change and growth are always possible if you first turn away from evil, determined not to return.

Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness... with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

2 Timothy 2:22

S.I.D.S Fun Run

Last week Amy, Jenna and I went to a S.I.D.S fun run! S.I.D.S stands for sudden infant death syndrome. There were lots of people there supporting S.I.D.S! The first half of it we were going a little bit slow because Jenna was wanting to be carried. But in the last half we picked up our pace because Jenna was back in the stroller again! We finished in about an hour! My legs felt like rubber after walking three miles, but I was glad that we got to spend that time together!

The Late Devotion Of The Day!

I know it's late but you can never learn too much about Jesus! Here it is.

No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.

Charles Oakley, forward for the New York Knicks and an NBA All-Star, has a reputation for being one of basketball's best rebounders. It's his toughness, however, that has probably contributed the most to his outstanding sports career.

While other professional players seem to have frequent injuries or are sidelined for other reasons, Oakley has had very few injuries over the course of his 13 year career, even though he has absorbed a great deal of physical punishment on the court. He is often pushed or fouled. He puts in miles each game running up and down the court. He frequently dives into the stands for loose balls, to the extent that the court side media teases him about being a working hazard. According to Oakley, his tenacity and energy have an orgin: his grandfather, Julius Moss. Moss was a farmer in Alabama who did most of his work by hand. "Other people had more equipment than he did," Oakley says. "He didn't have a tractor, but he got the work done," Oakley says. Moss who died in 1990, developed all sorts of aches and pains in his life, but he laughed at them and went about his business. Oakley saw a lesson in that-nothing should prevent him from earning a days pay. Being focused, dedicated, and disciplined will make the difference between a mediocre life and a great life.

In a race everyone runs but only one person gets first prize.... To win the contest you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

I have learned the same lesson as Charles Oakley had about his grandfather except I thought about that the entire devotion! Tell me what you think and learned about this when you comment!