A ‘Reading’ Lesson Every once in a while, at bedtime, Zachary, my 7-year-old, needs to talk. Sometimes he simply melts down. Everything seems so bad. But if you lie with him long enough and listen, things get better. Last night was one of those occasions. At one point he began to cry. He had lost

A jeweler was getting married. When it came time to slip the ring on his bride’s finger, he hesitated. “With this ring …,” prompted the pastor, noting the jeweler appeared more than a little nervous. “With this ring …,” the jeweler began haltingly. “With this ring …” “Well?” said the pastor. “With this ring …

  M   is for the Miraculous gift God gave to mankind. E is for the Everlasting life He left behind. R is for the Richest love He gave to you and me. R is for the Redemption He blessed us with. Y is for the Yearning to meet Him in paradise.   C is

School Daze All through the month of November, the children at the local school had been learning about the Pilgrims, Thanksgiving, and the many blessings the Creator had bestowed on their country. Bulletin boards, decorated in fall colors, depicted themes of harvest, families, and thanksgiving. There were pumpkins, squash, straw bales, and corn stalks arranged

What Teachers MakeThe dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One guest, the CEO of a local company, decided to explain the problem with education. “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?” he argued, reminding the others of the old

It’s the Thought that CountsAfter misbehaving and generally making a nuisance of himself all afternoon, young Jason was finally sent to his room for a time-out session. After the session ended, he emerged from his room and informed his mom that he had thought the situation over. “Then I prayed,” he added. “Fine,” said Mom,

A New LessonMy two daughters were bickering one afternoon, and they started hitting each other. When I saw Kendall, 4, hit Kerry, 2, I said emphatically, “Kendall! Does Jesus want you to hit your sister like that?” Without missing a beat, Kendall replied, “No, but Kerry hit me first. And the Golden Rule says, ‘Do

Down to EarthA learned scientist approached a minister and said, “I don’t want you to talk about God anymore. I don’t want you to mention Him at all. As you know, science has progressed to the point where we can do anything God ever did. We can clone a man. So no more of this

Bible study at the Round TableOur grandson Noble Wulffraat, a first-grader, has always loved being read to and now is just as enthusiastic about reading alone. He even began reading the family Bible to himself, but found it pretty slow going. His birthday was coming soon, so he told his mother he wanted a Bible

Forgive us our errant passesUncle Matt went to watch his nephews Ian, 5, and Brighton, 4, play basketball. Before the game, they were explaining to him the three different passes they had learned from their coach: the bounce pass, the overhead pass, and the trespass (also known as the chest pass.) You can tell they

One for “Q and A”As a farmer with many tasks that need to be done quickly when weather permits, too often I miss Sunday services. My question is: Is it better for me to sit in church and think about my hay, or for me to sit on a load of hay and think about

Kids,James, age 4, was listening to his dad read a Bible story: “The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.” With a serious look of concern, little James asked his dad, “But what happened to the flea?”Anonymous