Hey, friend!  Thanksgiving is right around the corner! 
T= Tell God Thanks
H= Help Others
A= Appreciate Your Life
N= Note Your Blessings
K= Keep Look for the Good
S= Sing to God

   With a craft and a song, let's learn how Jesus wants us to live.  Watch and see!
(If I Were a Butterfly By:  Brian Howard)

      Hello, friend!  Have you ever used an umbrella when it is raining?  Why do people use an umbrella?  For protection, right?  To be covered from the rain, sun, and hail.  Submitting to God is kind of the same.  When you submit to God, resist the devil, he will flee (James 4:7-8)... When you accept what Jesus wants for your life and get under His authority, you will be protected.  He wants to cover you with His love and grace.  When you resist the devil... he WILL FLEE!!  That means when you listen to God, and not to the devil- he will flee from you.  You will still walk through some hard times in life, but with Jesus sheltering you- you can make it!  Watch and see!

    Hello, friend!  We love books at our house!  Do you love books?  Each book that you read and see has an author.  Someone or many people wrote each book. Stories have beginnings, middles, and endings.   Stories have story elements; for instance characters, plot, and climax.  God had me write a book two years ago entitled, Momma Loves You.  Circumstances in our life change us, and that is exactly what happened in our families lives., but all worth it. 
​       Did you know that God is THE Author?!  Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus is the author and the perfector of our faith.  He is the ONE who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  He works on our behalf, we just need to trust Him.  Watch and see!

        Hello, friend!  What spooks you out?  Does the dark, snakes, or maybe singing in front of people?  Today we are going to look at fear for what it really is.  Many people live in fear their whole life.  Fear Controls, Confuses, and Condemns... Does Jesus want us to live like that?  NO WAY!! 
​        Isaiah 41:10 tells us not to fear because Jesus is with us all the time!  He is going to help us no matter what we are going through.  I John 4:18 tell us that perfect LOVE casts out fear.  The opposite of FEAR is.... LOVE!  God wants us to live a life of love!  God is LOVE and He- Comforts, Conforms, and Confides in us.  Don't let fear keep you from fully living.  Read Psalm 27:1-3 to find out why we shouldn't fear!  Watch the video clip above and let LOVE reign in your life!  Jesus loves you! 

     Hello, friend!  Adoption is when a baby or a child needs a home and someone opens their hearts and homes and takes them in as their own.  My parents adopted my two brother's when they were small, and my sister and her family are wanting to adopt a baby.  Did you know that I am adopted, too?  Not by my earthly parents, but by God the Father. 
​    Galatians 4 tells us ....
​         1.)  God sent His Son, Jesus
​         2.)  Born of a woman, Mary
​         3.)  Born under the law
​         4.)  To redeem those under the law... YOU and ME!!!
​         5.)  To be ADOPTED into God's family:):):):)!!!
     If you are born again, you are adopted into GOD'S family.  You are an HEIR of the King of Kings, Jesus.  That means- if you are boy, you are a prince.  If you are a girl, you are a true princess!  We are God's children, adopted out of sin and death and given a new inheritance... eternal life!  So cool, right!!  Adoption is amazing!! Watch and see!

     Hello, friend!  Do you like the smell of homemade yeast rolls coming out of the oven?  Um... I do!  Yummy, but for the sake of today's thought we are going to look at yeast and look at sin.  Yeast is what you use to make bread rise up big and fluffy.  It only takes just a little bit and it works through the whole lump of dough.  Sin is the same.  It takes just a little bit of sin to ruin a whole life.  Think of sin like yeast in dough...

​                                S= Separates Us from GOD
​                                I=  Inside Our Lives
​                                N= Nothingness That Brings DEATH

​      Once just a little gets in the dough, it makes a big difference.  It effects the whole entire batch of dough.  The same is with sin in our lives.  Once a little gets inside us, it makes a big difference.  NOT a good, yummy difference.  A HORRIBLE, nasty difference.  It really does matter if we sin.  WE need to stay away from sin, and when we mess up and do sin, STOP!  REPENT! Ask for forgiveness and move on in full assurance JESUS LOVES YOU!  He died for you! Watch and see!

     Hello, friend!  S'mores, pumpkins, bonfires, and scarves!  Yep, it is FALL! AND I LOVE IT!  Fall is probably my favorite time of the year.  Winter, spring, and summer are pretty amazing, too!  Which season is your favorite?  Each season brings new and different changes and beauty. 
​   Sanctification is a word you may have never heard of before, but it is kinda like the changing seasons.  Sanctification is growing to be more like Jesus... or the process of becoming holy or set apart for God.  It is a miraculous thing!  It happens in two ways... automatically when you are born again, AND a daily process of growing to be more like Jesus.
​    Each season of our lives brings good times and bad times.  All of it is for our GOOD and God's GLORY!  We need to learn to enjoy all the seasons in our lives in different ways.  Jesus is always working on us.  Look for the good in each change and season.  Sanctification is a wonderful mystery!

      Hello, friend!  Are you afraid of anything?  The dark, telling somebody about Jesus, asking your teacher or momma a question?  I get afraid sometimes, too!  Let's look at water for a minute... you might be thinking what does water have to do with being afraid, right?  Well, hold that thought in your mind. 
​     Water?  What is it?  It is actually a very simple substance that is found in most places on planet earth.  It is 3 atoms combined to form a molecule... 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom, or H20.  Those simple molecules make up water.  Water has three different forms... Liquid, solid, and gas.  Liquid moves a whole lot, especially when it is blown around or gets stirred up. People don't normally walk on top of water because they would sink.  In Matthew 14 it tells of Jesus WALKING ON WATER!  Wait, what?  That is impossible, right?  Nope, Jesus is the Son of God!  HE CREATED WATER!  He most certainly walked on water and even one of His disciples, Peter tried to walk on water with Him. 
​      So, what happened when Peter tried to walk on water?  You got it!  He started to sink.  Why?  because of the physical properties of water? Nope!  Because He doubted the SON OF GOD!  Was Jesus mean to Peter?  No way, He helped him up and was kind to him.  Peter was the only disciple that got out of the boat!!!  He didn't do it perfectly, but he did it! 
​    Jesus doesn't expect us to be perfect, but He does want us to trust Him enough to try.  He will help us if we go to Him. In Peter's weakness Jesus was strong.  In your weakness, Jesus will be strong, too.  Just trust Him enough to step out in faith and try.  Hope you watch and are encouraged to be courageous!  Faith is simple like water, and it gives life just the same.  Have faith in Jesus!  He is our greatest reward!     

     Hello, friend!  Work, work, work... do you like to work?  Have you ever thought of work being a good thing?  A blessing, even?  Well, it is!  God created it, and He wants us to ENJOY WORK!  Colossians 3:23 tell us "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as if you are working for the LORD, and not for men."  God worked for six days at Creation and rested on the seventh.  SIX DAYS of work?!  That is a ton, right?  Yep, but that is exactly why we need to see work the way God wants us to.  Work is something that we can delight it, and we can enjoy!  

     Hey, friend!  To do anything, it will cost you something.  To learn to paint, or play an instrument- whatever you do, it will cost you.  It could be time, money, or maybe energy.  To be a true disciple of Jesus, it is going to cost you a lot of things.  Jesus didn't get excited when a large crowd was following Him. In fact, He knew they weren't all there for the right reasons.  He looked around and said that if anyone wants to be His disciple they had to hate their mother and father, children, sisters and brothers- even their own life (Luke 14:25-28).  Hate their families, wait a minute?  Jesus tells us to hate people?  He was getting his point across that compared to everyone else, He needed to be first.  He doesn't literally want us to hate anyone.  We should always put Jesus first and serve Him no matter what happens to us or anyone else around us. 
​   Sometimes being a Christian will cost more than not being a Christian.  If someone wants to be a Christian because of all the good stuff that will happen to them or what they are going to get out of it, that is not going to last.  Being a Christian is much more than just blessings and "good stuff".  It means to have an eternal relationship with Jesus himself.  Being a Christian is when people want Jesus and nothing more. 
   Dietrich Bonehoeffer said there are two types of grace... CHEAP GRACE and COSTLY GRACE... Watch and see!