Photo: Braendan Yong

Burdens. Everyone has them. Uninvited, they latch onto us and efficiently go about their business of sucking the life right out of us. And the longer they are with us, the heavier they grow.

Burdens come in all types. Some are physical burdens like a bad back or arthritis. Others are mental burdens like depression, anger, or grief. A very popular burden is worry. Worry for health, marriage, children, money.

The strange thing about burdens, though, is that they tend to grow on us. Not just in size and intensity, but in the figurative sense. After they are with us for a while, they "grow on us" and we mysteriously become attached to our burdens and sometimes even possessive of them!

Difficult to Hand Them Over

How can that be? I mean, who wants to hold on to a burden? Well, you'd think no one would. But if that's true, then why do we have such a hard time letting go of them? Jesus offers to take our burdens away from us. We know this and we want this, but somehow, it just seems difficult to hand those burdens over.

Maybe it's because we don't completely trust Jesus to handle those burdens in the right way. Of course, what that really means is that we don't trust Jesus to handle those burdens our way. Maybe we're afraid that by letting go of our burdens and giving them to Jesus to take care of, we'll end up not being able to control the situations that accompany those burdens. I don't know why it's so hard. I just know that I continue to struggle with it. But I keep learning that whenever I do hand over my burdens, Jesus does a much better job of handling them than I do.

It's a wonderful thing to have a friend who is willing to carry you and your burdens. "... casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

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By Gwen Scott Simmons. Copyright © 2008 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines. Scripture taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION © 1982.
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Photo: Yuri Arcurs

There‘s nothing in us that would make God love us. He loves us because He simply has no choice. He created us. He created us in His own image and likeness!

He knows everything about us. He knew us before we were even conceived and loved us from the beginning of time. Every day, when we wake up happy to be alive, it is God who sends us messages through rays of sunshine and the smell of the morning breeze. We don't need to feel anything special to know that God loves us, or see angels flying above us, or hear voices, or even see smoke coming from the corners of our room.

God Needs Us

My husband, a preacher and youth pastor, once said that "God needs us". God needs you! He loves to be with you! He loves how you look. He loves your hair, your voice, your way of looking, and he loves how unique you are. God needs you.Yes, you! He searched for you even from the beginning of time.

Adam and Eve quickly discovered that God was not willing to lose them after the fall. It was God who made the first step to "mend the relationship" He sought after them to let them know that He had a plan to save them, a plan that would extend to the rest of the human race. (Did I say that God needs you?)

With time I've realized that to love God means to accept His grace, an abundant grace. To love God means to trust Him and know that we are the reason for His love. Often we are like Martha, one of Jesus' friends, who, every time he came over to visit, was too busy with things she felt were important, missing out on the opportunity to learn what Jesus wanted to teach her. We need to be like Mary, Martha's sister, and sit at the feet of Jesus, allowing Him to speak to us and mend our soul (Luke 10:38-42).

Our Creator loves to spend time with us...We are his masterpiece! "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness. . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him. . ." (Genesis 1:26-27).

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By Chari Torres. Copyright © 2008 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines. Scripture taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®.
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My family and I were returning to our home state after living elsewhere for a few years. During our absence, a new interstate highway system had been constructed. Even though we were tired after traveling all day, we were enjoying the ride. It was like traveling in a different world.

As we approached one of the state's major cities, I called to my wife and children, "Look at this! We're actually riding above the city streets, instead of having to get down in all that traffic! This is great!

Suddenly, my words were interrupted by a loud thud, followed by a violent lurching. I struggled to keep our car under control, as we came to a quick stop among piles of sand and earth-moving equipment. We nearly got stuck in the deep sand.

No Warning!

What had happened? The smooth, new concrete pavement had abruptly ended. Just like that. No warning. No flashing lights or barricades. The road had simply run out. My immediate reaction was, "They can't do this! They can't just end the highway without a warning!" But they had done it.

As I searched for some way out of the mess, a verse of Scripture came to my mind: "Sometimes there is a way that seems to be right, but in the end it is the way to death" (Proverbs 16:25).

One thing is for sure: many circumstances in life are not always what they appear to be. But we can always count on this fact—God's Word is like a road map. And it will always contain warning signs of road hazards ahead. We just need to read it. And pay attention to the signs. Drive safely as you travel life's highway. The lives you save may be your own—and those you love.

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By Bob DuBose. Copyright © 2008 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines. Scripture taken from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION ®.
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It happened while driving down the 405 freeway in Southern California. A voice from behind me. A voice from a car seat. "Momma, listen to Jesus."

Hmmmm.

The first thought that tumbled into my mind and nearly out of my mouth was, "Speak Lord, thy servant heareth" (from 1 Samuel 3:10)". But then I realized it was only my two-year-old. It took a few minutes of questions to figure out that he wanted to listen to Christian music. Amazingly, he could pick the Christian music out from the rest and said, "That one, Momma" as I scanned the stations.

And though the situation was resolved, his words continued to ring in my ears: "Momma, listen to Jesus."

Is that You, Lord? Could the Most High be speaking to me thorough my young child?

He's Just a Kid

We often say that children teach us much about patience and simple faith and unconditional love, but do I really believe that my son may be able to speak God's truth to me? He's just a kid. He can't even tie his own shoes or make it through the night without wetting the bed. He needs my help to get dressed and to peel his orange. How could he have wisdom from the Lord to share with me?

I've begun to believe that our children hear the voice of God easier than we do. They don't have insecurities or defenses surrounding their hearts like many of us. They don't have expectations of the way God will act and they are open to love in a way we are not.

If God wants to reach out to us and speak to us, doesn't it make sense that He would use any means possible? Over the centuries, the Lord has spoken to His people from flaming bushes, with floating ax heads and talking donkeys—and with the voices of children. We need to be open to any way He might be trying to get our attention.

I'm sure you can think of a time your child said something particularly observant and pointed. They ask why we are fighting with Daddy, why we stayed so late at work, why we haven't played with them, why we look tired or sad and why we have been angry. Their simple queries may hint at problems we need to address. Listening to our children and respecting their observations is one way we can tune in to God's leading.

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By Joelle Yamada. Copyright © 2008 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines. Scripture taken from the King James Version ®.
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As a busy wife and mother, I typically focus on ways to clear my schedule and carve out extra time. I rarely seek to add to my hectic days. Yet, who would have guessed the positively life-changing impact of placing one more item on my daily agenda?

At the end of last summer, I felt God strongly convict me of my need to get to know Him through spending more time in daily prayer and Bible study. Many things were going on in my life at that time, and I knew I needed greater connection and communion with God as I navigated the sticky circumstances.

My previous attempts to squeeze my devotions in during my children's afternoon quiet time proved less than successful. I quickly discovered that "quiet time" simply was not quiet enough. I then planned to sit down with God at night after putting my children to bed. While somewhat easier, I found that other things often encroached on my good intentions—lingering tasks to accomplish, hanging out with my husband, or sheer exhaustion. This left me with one option: first thing in the morning, before anyone else awoke and before launching into the day's activities. Reluctant, yet determined, I set my alarm clock for 5:30 a.m.

Forced to Re-evaluate My Priorities

Very quickly, I realized that my commitment to mornings with God actually begins the night before. My snooze button will get the better of me if I fail to go to bed on time. When "me time" surfing the Internet or watching television tempts my inner night owl, I am forced to re-evaluate my priorities.

I also gratefully discovered (after the initial period of yawning, eye-drooping adjustment), that my pre-dawn devotions leave me energized rather than exhausted. Among countless other benefits, they enable me to start my day on the right foot, greeting my husband and children with a sense of peace and preparedness rather than rolling out of bed and hitting the ground running to catch up.

So, if you are looking for a meaningful addition to your day (or even if you are not), I highly recommend time with God. "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).

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By Hannah Henry. Copyright © 2008 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines. Scripture taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION © 1982.
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As Independence Day approaches, I'm reminded of July 4 of last year. Mark and I saw a beautiful display of fireworks, and the evening was perfect. There was no wind, the crickets were tuned up nicely, barefoot kids were running on cool grass, and toddlers were oooing and ahhhing at the living night sky. Mark put the top down on the car, and we sat back and let our senses embrace a moment of Midwestern summer. I even treated myself to a soft singing of The Star-spangled Banner as we watched the "bombs bursting in air."

I should speak more about Independence Day since that is the holiday at hand, but something else comes to mind. Here it is. Our son Jon came home a few evenings ago very put out that he had sat through a movie called Click which was supposed to be funny, but ended up being very sad. The purpose of the movie, I'm told, is to cause the viewer to think about relationships and use time wisely, spending time with people while you have them.

Hmmm..... I guess I can't fault the movie makers for trying to cause people to think about these things. The intent is good. But I'm not one to watch a movie for the purpose of making me realize things that I could better realize by living my own life.

I Don't Need Hollywood

For example, I don't need Hollywood to point out to me that my evening with Mark at the fireworks display was priceless. I didn't need a director to prompt me to lean over and ask Mark for a kiss beneath the open summer sky, nor did I need a movie to tell me that I should feel disappointed that I missed a large family gathering at my parents' home recently. I don't need a fake story to point out the priceless moment of hearing my daughter's affirming words in the Mother's Day address at her college graduation, nor do I need to be told that my son's spontaneous treating me to lunch a few days ago was a moment to cherish as well. I know these things because I'm living them.

I guess if movies like Click help some people to take a second look at their relationships or the way they're living their lives, that's good. But it just seems a shame to me that more often than not, we tend to spend our precious moments of life observing a mirror of life played by hired participants when we could be making moments in the reality of our own lives. And some of the best moments can be ones we actually spend alone, reflecting, praying, and enjoying our own company for a little while.

Okay, I'm stepping down now. Guess I just needed to get that off my chest. Anyway, if you have a choice this year between watching fireworks on TV and watching them "in person," go for the real thing! It's your life.

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By Gwen Scott Simmons. Copyright © 2008 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines.
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Have you ever had a special person in your life that you were so close to you considered them family?

I have been blessed in this way. As long as I can remember, there has been a special lady in my life that I thought of and considered my grandma. I have many wonderful memories of times we spent together and things we did. In fact, part of the reason you are reading this is because she encouraged my interest in writing. The memories and the lesson I want to share with you come from her last weeks of life.

After eighty-seven years of living and working on a farm, Grandma fell and broke several bones. This left her bed bound. I never saw her stand or sit again. Despite her condition and hospice's grim prediction, she maintained a good attitude and never complained. I considered visiting her a privilege more than a duty and was blessed in return.
Her voice was often barely audible, but she would share pearls of truth she had uncovered in life. She would ask questions about my family and me and was interested in what we were doing. That's when I was struck by the thought that reaching out and touching other people's lives is not influenced by our mobility. The world is full of people running around in their self-centered existence who don't stop and take the time to care about others. Grandma was so weak she could barely lift her hand to scratch her nose; yet, she was still reaching out, caring, and touching lives.

"He'll Do It!"

Here is one example of Grandma's ability to still touch and influence a life.

She had always told my son, Caleb, that he was smart, and he would be president someday. During her final days, Caleb accepted our youth pastor's challenge to learn a hundred Bible verses. We told Grandma one morning that Caleb was going to try to say the hundred verses after church that day. She responded," He'll do it!" Caleb was nervous, but he did say the hundred verses flawlessly.

That night when I was walking Caleb to bed I told him how proud I was of him. Caleb asked me, "Do you know what helped me?" I gave the standard, correct answers and said that studying and prayers had helped. He nodded in agreement, but replied, "What Grandma said helped me get through it."

I knew it was one of those moments I'd never forget. From her deathbed, Grandma's words had inspired Caleb and given him additional confidence to face the challenge. What a lesson!

I believe we all have something to say, to share, or to give. It may be as quick and uncomplicated as a hug. It may be as simple and as important as an encouraging word.

Will you reach out and influence a life today?

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By Donice Palmer. Copyright © 2008 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines.
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Photo: Lukasz Fus

School's out for the summer! Our kids have worked long and hard and deserve a few months of rest and play. But for some kids, summer is a time of boredom while their parents are away at work or busy around the house. Unfortunately, many find themselves watching hours of TV.

As parents, grandparents, and childcare providers, we need to consider these startling statistics:

• By the age of 18, an average American child will have seen 200,000 violent acts and 16,000 murders on TV.
  
• Two-thirds of all programming contains violence.
  
• The average child viewer will see 2,000 beer and wine commercials each year, and see many of their favorite characters smoke.
  
• 51% of households say their TV is on most of the time.¹

In addition to these facts, TV's effects can be harmful both physically and emotionally. Too much TV can cause loss of sleep, over-eating, lack of fresh air and exercise, lack of imagination, and can isolate kids from their family and friends. If we allow our children to spend endless hours watching TV this summer, they'll miss out on living each day to the fullest—and that's what childhood is all about.

Creative Summer Ideas

If you don't want TV to rule your child's summer and need some creative ideas, here are a few to get you started. Click on the links for more details and to browse the sites for even more ideas:

Create a kid's scrapbook. This site will show you how.

Play outdoor games. This site will give you more ideas than you'll use in one summer.

Cook with your kids. This site has kid-friendly recipes that are fun to make and eat.

Identify flowers. Here you'll find matching photos of flowers gathered from hikes and family travels.

Learn sign language. This site has printable flash cards you can print, cut, and use.

Paint ladybug rocks. This site will show you how to turn rocks gathered from trips to the park or hikes into cute bugs.

Make easy crafts. Gives ideas using items you already have around the house.

Make Bible Friends paper dolls. This site has printable friends you can put together and use when reading Bible stories.

Keep learning! Gives dozens of summer learning activities for kids ages 4-18.

With these and many more wonderful ideas to help our children learn and grow, who needs TV? So why not unplug for the summer? Or at least have the TV on only for scheduled times.

It will take a little bit of creative planning, but our kids will be much happier if they aren't spending their days zoned-out in front of a TV. Childhood is to be celebrated—and it goes by much too fast. As parents, whether we're home during the day or trust our kids to someone else's care, let's plan the summer rather than just let it happen. Then someday, you and your child will look back on this one with fond memories.

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By Nancy Canwell. Copyright © 2008 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines.

¹ http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/tv.htm
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Hidden behind all the clothes I actually wear, is a beautiful white dress. My mother and I went to a special fabric store in Seattle to pick out material for this perfect garment. A family friend stitched it together with love from a picture I had drawn of exactly what I wanted. So far the story of my wedding day looks seamless.

However, I have a love hate relationship with my wedding dress. Everything else leading up to my wedding was less than what the fairytales had told me. Our wedding was canceled a few months prior to the first planned date due to family conflict. I wondered if it really was going to happen. How would I be able to assure everyone else that Tim and I were making the right choice? Would we ever agree on a date that would fit everybody's needs? After asking these questions I realized that I could not make everyone happy. Almost everything felt like it had fallen apart, but the most important factor in the wedding remained perfect.

Tim was the only man I could imagine spending the rest of my life with, and through all of the stressful wedding related conflicts, I needed to remember that. Because I was spending all of my energy trying to make everyone else happy, I was sabotaging any chance for actual joy in the process of getting married. I had heard about people having cold feet, but in our case, that was the only thing I was not worried about. When I met Tim I knew that there was something special about him. As we became friends I was even more certain that I wanted to be with him always. Honestly, if he had randomly asked me to marry him before we started dating, I would have been prepared to say, "Yes."

At Peace

We finally did set a date that would work for us and stuck to it. I remember walking down the aisle with my eyes fixed on him. When I reached him, it was as if everyone else disappeared and we were standing there locked in our own private conversation through glances and smiles. In that moment, we were at peace knowing that very soon we would be married.

As I said my vows and listened to his, I forgot about other people's critisims towards us. Even though it was special to share the wedding ceremony with friends and family, they couldn't take the place of the main reason for the wedding. Everyone may have had valid opinions, but I was not spending the rest of my life with them. It would be nice to look back and think about how things could have been if everything had moved along smoothly, but I look back and think this was a better representation of the marriage to come.

My husband and I are still very happily married and our four year anniversary is this fall. I know that we have not been married for very long, and from my experience so far, not every moment is a perfect. However, the most import factor is still there; I love him and he loves me and we work through the not so perfect moments. We look for each others eyes during difficult times and find comfort, just as we did on our wedding day.

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By Marion Ruybalid. Copyright © 2008 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines.
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I recently attended my 20-year high school alumni weekend. It was great. We spent the whole time repeating again and again and again that we all looked "just the same." I think we hoped it would become true through repetition.

In the months leading up to the weekend, I was super excited to see where life had taken this group of people I had so completely loved and cared for. But in other moments, I felt unworthy to even go. Several of my classmates became physicians, one is a famous concert cellist who plays around the world, another is a police officer, there are successful corporate climbers, a restaurant owner and then there is me: a mom of two, staying home and changing diapers and doing endless laundry. How could I compare?

Luckily, I only felt sorry for myself for a short period of time before again being swamped by feelings of love—love for my classmates, love for the teachers who helped me become myself, and love for the experiences of high school (the good and the bad). What I remembered is that my true worth comes from whom I love and am loved by. And I'm loved by my family, my friends and my God.

Not One Forgotten

Jesus reminded me in Luke 12:6, 7, "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

With my self-worth readjusted, I headed to the reunion. And it really was amazing to see how these kids I hung out with years ago had grown up. See them dressed in something NOT from the 80's. See how their skin had cleared and gray hairs had appeared. See the paths they'd taken and how most importantly, some of them had come to know Jesus as more than a character in a Bible class - they'd come to know him as Savior and friend.

Looking forward to the next reunion, whether in heaven or on earth.

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By Joelle Yamada. Copyright © 2008 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines. Scripture taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®.
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