Bible Reading: Matthew 5:13-16; Luke 8:16; John 5:24

"Help! It's not working! Troooooy!"

Troy stepped into the kitchen to see his little sister's hands covered in purple glue. "Crafting again, Emmy? What are you trying to do?"

Emma blew a curl off her forehead in frustration. "I'm trying to make slime! I have glue, water, and baking soda. Look at this, it's just a sticky mess! Not slimy at all."

"You forgot the activator." Troy pointed to step four of the recipe. "You need contact lens solution--I'll get you some of mine."

"What does an activator do?" Emma asked when Troy returned with the missing ingredient.

"An activator reacts with the rest of your ingredients and transforms them into something new--in this case, slime! Slime happens when you mix the liquid substance in your glue with the boric acid in an activator. This fun transformation is called cross-linking."

Troy added the activator to his sister's bowl and watched her stir it in. "It's so slimy!" Emma held her slime in front of Troy's face with a grin. "Thanks for helping me!"

"No problem, sis. Hey, did you know that you helped me?"

"I did?" Emma poked her slime. "How?"

"Before you called for help, I was thinking about some friends of mine. They don't know Jesus and have started doing some stuff that's not good for them. Instead of talking to them about it, I just stayed away from them. But God used your slime project to remind me that I should do something different."

"What's that?" Emma asked.

"Since I have God's Spirit in me, I can be an activator to those around me who are in darkness. I have His light, and I need to shine it to others. I don't have to participate in the wrong things my friends are doing, but I can choose to show them a better way. I can tell my friends about a different kind of cross-linking: Jesus died on the cross and rose again so we could cross over from death to life and be transformed!"

Emma raised her slime in the air. "Activators make everything better!"

–Savannah Coleman

Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalm 105:42-45; Romans 8:32

"I'm getting mint chocolate chip!" Peyton said as he climbed into the van. "Two scoops!"

Ian was right behind him. "I'm getting orange sherbet with sprinkles!"

"And I," said Dad, "am getting the biggest fudge sundae you've ever seen."

"Hey!" said Peyton. "You didn't get a good report card."

"No, but I promised everybody ice cream after a good first half of the school year," said Dad. "And since I'm driving, that includes me. Now buckle in, we have a few stops to make first."

They watched longingly out the window as Dad drove past the ice cream shop. But after the grocery store, gas station, and library, Peyton and Ian grew worried. When Dad drove by the only other ice cream shop in town, Ian frowned and crossed his arms. "He broke his promise," he whispered to Peyton.

Peyton swallowed. "Um, Dad? Are you mad at us?"

Dad met his eyes in the rearview mirror. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, because you changed your mind about ice cream. There are no more ice cream shops." Peyton looked out his window. "Where are we, anyway?"

Dad was about to respond when Ian spoke up. "Look, a big sign with a cow on it! Ice cream!"

Dad pulled in and parked the car. "Best ice cream for miles. A bit of a drive, but I thought you two deserved something special."

"You didn't lie to us!" said Ian.

"Of course not," said Dad.

"It was just taking so long," said Peyton. "And we've never been this way before."

Dad smiled. "I understand. You know, God also takes us places we've never been. When it seems like it's taking a long time, it's easy to forget His promises too."

"I did wonder where you were taking us," said Ian, eyeing a big jar of sprinkles behind the counter.

"And we might wonder the same thing about God," said Dad. "But God never lies. He fulfilled His promise to save us by sending us His own Son, and He will always keep His promise to love and care for us, even when we struggle to trust Him." Dad led the boys up to the counter. "Now, pick what you want. I promise it'll be some of the best ice cream you've ever had!"

–Kelly Carlson

Bible Reading: Romans 5:3-5; Galatians 5:22-25

"You take the sword, Leo, and be ready when I storm the castle," Javier instructed as he slipped on his dragon mask.

His little brother nodded, put on his knight helmet, and paced back and forth in front of the tent.

Javier ran off and disappeared from Leo's view, crouching behind a bush. Then he crawled back to the tent and quietly entered it from the back, unnoticed by Knight Leo.

"RAAAAAAWR!" Javier bellowed. "This is my castle now! Flames! Run for your life, knight!" He continued to yell as loud as he could as he ran at his brother.

Leo threw his helmet down and dropped his sword. "That's not fair!" he exclaimed. "You came from behind. I wasn't ready for you!"

Javier ripped off his mask. "Oh, come on, Leo! Knights don't throw their helmets down and whine. I hate playing with you, you always wreck everything!"

"Whoa, you are a fiery dragon," Mom said as she came over at the yelling. "Calm down, Javier. Don't treat Leo that way."

"But he does this every time! When we played astronauts and the aliens came, he threw a fit. When we played superheroes and the villain caught him, he started crying. Superheroes don't cry, Mom!"

"I know, Javier," Mom said. "Leo just has some trouble staying in character." She turned to Leo. "Javier has a point, Leo. When you're playing pretend, it's more fun if everyone stays in character." She turned back to Javier. "But you're also acting out of character when you talk to Leo like that."

"But he makes me so mad!" said Javier.

"All the more reason to stay in character," said Mom. "It's easy to be kind when everything goes smoothly. It's when things don't go our way that we need to remember who we are as followers of Jesus. He defines our true character. He has freed us from sin and given us the Holy Spirit, who lives in us and is helping us become more like Jesus. Remember that the next time you're tempted to do something wrong--like lash out at Leo in anger. Jesus wants us to love others the way He loves us."

Javier looked at his brother. "Sorry, Leo," he said. "I didn't mean to be such a dragon."

–Kelly Bakshi