Bible Reading: Psalm 119:1-8; Galatians 5:13-18

"Hey, August," Dad said at dinner. "Remember that home run you hit in the baseball game today?"

"Of course!" August grinned. "I practically blasted that ball right out of the park!"

"It was quite a hit, all right," said Dad. "When you reached third base, it looked like you would have just enough time to beat the ball to home plate, and Coach Tim motioned for you to keep going. I wondered if you would slow down and look around to see where the ball was and then decide for yourself whether to go on or stay at third."

"I wanted to look, but Coach Tim is always telling us we have to trust him and just follow his directions, so I ran for it!"

"And it's a good thing you did. Taking time to look around would have cost you a run," said Dad. "Now--who would like to compare that to living the Christian life?"

August and Ryker looked at each other. "It's like you said before," August answered. "We need to listen to God."

Dad smiled. "Right, but this time it goes a little farther. Sometimes there's something we know God wants us to do, but we hesitate. We may feel the Holy Spirit urging us to do something at a particular moment, like show someone kindness or speak up about something that's wrong, but we don't trust Him enough to immediately obey Him. We want to wait and decide for ourselves whether or not to do it."

"But if August had done that in the game today, he wouldn't have made it home," Ryker pointed out.

"Right," said Dad. "And if we don't obey God right away, by the time we make the decision, we may have missed the Lord's timing. We need to obey God as soon as we know He wants us to do something. Even though it may feel hard or scary, we have the Holy Spirit in us to give us strength so that we can display His goodness and love in everything we do."

"So is God telling you to use my home run as another example in your Sunday school class tomorrow?" asked August.

Dad thought about it a moment. "You know, I think He is!" He smiled. "Maybe He'll use it to show someone else how important it is to trust and follow Jesus."

–Carolyn Gaston

Bible Reading: Proverbs 2:1-9; John 14:26

"How did you like our game today, Dad?" asked August when he and Ryker got in the car after their baseball game.

"It was great!" said Dad. "Do you mind if I use you guys for an example in my Sunday school class tomorrow? Our lesson is about our Christian walk with Jesus, and you gave me some good examples. Can you boys figure out what they are?"

Ryker and August looked at each other and shrugged. "Umm…because we were on the winning team?" August guessed.

"Good thought!" said Dad. "With Jesus, you're on the winning team too. He defeated sin and death when He died on the cross and rose again. But I had some other things in mind. One of them was something Ryker did."

Ryker grinned. "Something good, I hope?"

"Yes, something good. I noticed that while you were waiting for your turn at bat in the sixth inning, some boys in the bleachers were calling out to you just as your coach came up to say something."

"Yeah. Those guys are on my soccer team at school, and they wanted me to come over to the fence and talk to them," Ryker explained.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't let them distract you and miss what your coach wanted to tell you," said Dad. "It's important to listen to him."

"Right," said Ryker. "Coach Tim always tells us that too. But why did that remind you of Christians? I don't get it."

"That's the way we need to listen to God," Dad explained. "He talks to us through His Word, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit helps us understand what it says and how we should apply it to our lives. Sometimes we don't pay attention to Him because we're so busy doing our own thing. Other times we might be distracted by what other people are saying or wanting us to do."

"So if we're so easily distracted, how can we be sure to listen to Him?" asked August.

"I think I know!" said Ryker. "By taking time to read the Bible and pray?"

Dad nodded. "That's one way to listen to God's voice. He also speaks to us through His church--His body of believers. As we worship and learn about God together and share our struggles with one another, the Holy Spirit speaks to us and guides us in His truth and love."

–Carolyn Gaston

Bible Reading: Psalm 139:1-18; Romans 8:14-17

Sophia ran her fingers through the sand and watched in anticipation. Her family had been on vacation in Cabo, Mexico, for several days, and now the event she had been waiting for was here: the baby turtle release. Her younger brother Charlie inched closer to the rope they were supposed to sit behind. "Look, Sophie! He's dumping them out of the bucket!"

Dozens of tiny turtles, smaller than Charlie's hands, were gently deposited from the bucket onto the sand. Sophia squealed excitedly as she watched them move their tiny flippers to propel themselves across the sand toward the ocean waves. Occasionally, a giant wave would engulf the babies, sweeping some of them to their ocean home and dragging others further up on the shore.

Groaning in frustration, Sophia nudged her mom. "Look at this poor little one! Every time it gets closer to the water, a wave comes up and ruins its progress! How come the man releasing them won't help?"

Mom smiled. "It's all part of the process God created for the turtles--it's called imprinting. When the babies are making their way to the ocean, their bodies will remember the air, sand, and other things about this very beach. Years later when it's time for the grown-up female turtles to lay their eggs, they will journey hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles back here to bury their eggs."

"Wow! Imprinting is so cool!" Sophia exclaimed.

Dad snapped a picture. "It reminds me of Psalm 139, where David wrote about God knowing everything about him. God knows when we're sleeping and when we're awake. He knows when we're at home and when we're in Cabo. There's nowhere we can go that He doesn't see us and care for us."

Mom nodded. "When we trust in Jesus, He gives us the Holy Spirit to remind us that we are His. Our hearts are imprinted to Him, and His Spirit inside us speaks to us, telling us that we belong to Him."

Charlie piped up. "No matter where these turtles go, they will remember that this beach is their home."

Sophia grinned at her brother. "And no matter where we go, even all the way to Cabo, Jesus is our home."

–Savannah Coleman