Leave a Heritage

We put up our Christmas tree last night. Our tree branches are now heavy with ornaments, but our tree is not a designer tree. No one is going to put it in an interior design magazine. There's no color scheme, pretty ribbons or even distribution of ornamants across all the branches.

No, our tree is heavily decorated from about the four-foot mark down. The ornaments are a broad assortment of handmade, Hallmark and drug store specials. Some are old, some are new and some are simply precious.

You see, we use our tree as a way to share a heritage with our kids. We have ornaments on our tree that used to belong to my great-grandmother, and we have ornaments on our tree that represent important milestones in the lives or our children. It doesn't make for the prettiest tree, but every year it serves as an opportunity for us to share with our children about important people and important milestones in our lives. It's one way we can pass on a heritage.

We are commanded by God to teach our children about Him -- to pass on a heritage of faith. Proverbs 13:22 says, "The heritage of the good man is handed down to his children's children." As we try to focus our family's attention on Jesus this Christmas, start with the ornaments on your tree. Use this everyday moment to share the heritage of your faith with your children.

• If you don't have the mix of ornaments that we have, start this year creating those memories. Buy or make each child an ornament that represents a significant milestone in their life for this year. My girls got sports ornaments this year that contained pictures of them playing their respective sports. When I gave them to them, I asked them to tell me what they had learned while playing sports this year. Both were able to tell me that you have to persevere even when it's hard. This is a concept that we have worked hard on instilling in the girls this year. When they see those ornaments in the future, they'll have a physical reminder of perseverance.
• Don't rush through the tree decorating. Share the stories of the people and the places your ornaments represent. We have ornaments on our tree from four generations of my family. Some of the original owners of the ornaments, my kids never met, but they know about them because we share the stories with them each Christmas. Those ancestors left a legacy of faithfulness and love in marriage that set the example for how I wanted my marriage to be. Those ornaments give me the opportunity to verbally pass on that legacy to my kids.
• Make sure some of the ornaments on your tree tell the story of Jesus. We have several nativity-oriented ornaments that allow us to talk about Jesus' birth as we hang them.

Enjoy decorating your tree this year and use it as an opportunity to be intentional in passing on a heritage to your children.

Memory Monday: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (John 1:9)

I love the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everyone is in a season of anticipation -- waiting to celebrate Jesus' birth. Whether people acknowledge it or not, the only reason we celebrate Christmas is because Jesus came to earth.

In the next few weeks before Christmas, the Everyday Truth blog is going to help you anticipate Christmas. I'll be passing on some simple ways that you can keep your family's attention focused on Jesus during this busy time of the year.

Let's start with one of my favorite things about the Christmas season -- the lights. We put up our Christmas lights several weeks ago. My husband hates putting them up, so I try to pick a warm day in November for him to hang them. We leave them turned off until the night of Thanksgiving -- then we light up the sky.

I love seeing my kids' faces as we turn the lights on for the first time. It's as if they're seeing electricity work for the first time. Despite the fact that we see light all the time, there's just something about the Christmas lights that evoke a sense of wonder.

John 1:9 tells us that Jesus is like those Christmas lights. It says "The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world." Jesus is light. He came into the world to shed light onto the darkness of our sins. We should view Him with the same sense of awe with which my girls view the Christmas lights.

Use Christmas lights as a springboard to talk with your kids about Jesus:

• Help your kids memorize John 1:9. Ask your kids what they think it means when it says that Jesus is a light. Talk about how Jesus brought light into a world darkened by sin. He's a beacon that we can follow.
• When you view Christmas lights, remind your kids that Jesus came to be the light of the world. Explain that in the darkest time of the year, we light up the darkness with Christmas lights to celebrate Jesus' birth. This can remind us that Jesus came to do the same thing. He is the light of the world.
• Talk with your kids about how they can be light in the world. As followers of Jesus, we are called to let His light shine through us. Talk about how your kids can let others see Jesus through their words and their actions.

As you see Christmas lights this week, may they fill you with a sense of wonder and let them be a reminder to you of Jesus -- the true light of the world.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving. It's been a pleasure to share with you a journey of thanksgiving as we learned about God through His names this month. As I count my blessings today, I count the readers of this blog among them. I hope you enjoyed sharing these devotionals with your family, and I hope your Thanksgiving tree is overflowing with leaves of gratitude.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, but so often the meaning of the holiday gets shunted aside in the hurry to get to Christmas. When the pilgrims sat down to count their blessings, they had buried more than half the people who came to Plymouth with them. The remaining pilgrims knew they faced another harsh winter ahead, yet they set aside time to give thanks to God for providing for them.

Make it a point today to count your blessings in an audible fashion. Help your kids understand all that they have to be thankful for. Spend some time looking at your thanksgiving tree. Have your kids count the leaves and talk about how much they have for which to be thankful.

Before you sit down to eat your turkey, have each person say what they are thankful for today. If you want to mix it up a bit, give everyone some play-doh or modeling clay and have them create the things for which they are thankful. Or, pass around a basket filled with slips of paper with topics on them like family, school, work, home, food and have each person mention something for which they are thankful that fits the category. Be creative, have fun and spend some time thanking God for His blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." Psalm 110:4

God the Banner

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


Did you know the Bible tells us that God is our banner? That's kind of a weird name for God, don't you think? What does that even mean?

This is actually one of my favorite names for God, but it's tough for us to understand because  most of us aren't familiar with how armies fought during the time of Moses. When an army would go into war, they would carry the banner (or flag) of whomever they were fighting for. They would follow the banner into war. As long as the banner was flying, the army would know that they're side was still fighting.

A battlefield was a messy, dust-filled place. The soldiers might not be able to see what was going on around them, but because the banner flew high on a pole, they could see it and follow it. If it ever became necessary to retreat, the soldiers would find the banner and follow it, so they would know where to go.

In Exodus 17, we find the account of the Israelites fighting the Amelakites. During this battle, as long as Moses kept his arms raised, the Israelites won. When he lowered his arms, the Israelites lost. God was using Moses' arms as the banner for the Israelite army. When the battle was over, Exodus 17:15 tells us "Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner." He recognized that God was there with them during the fight.

God is our banner, too. No matter how confusing or upsetting a situation gets, God is there leading the way and providing a place to which we can retreat. He covers us with His love and protection. When we don't know which way to go or what to do, all we have to do is look for God because He is there. We may not be able to see Him, but we know that He is there with us and will provide us with strength and wisdom and will show us the way to deal with any situation. He is our banner.

To remind yourself of this, take a piece of paper and draw something on it that will remind you of God. You can use what you have learned about God in the past three weeks to create your banner. Post your banner in your room somewhere, so that when you see it, you'll be reminded of the fact that God goes before you into every situation, and He is waiting for you to run to Him when things get tough.

On your thanksgiving leaves, today, write down situations in which you are thankful that God is your banner. It could be a tough choice you need to make, a tough situation at school or even difficulties with a subject at school.

Pray together, and thank God for being your banner -- for going before you no matter where you go.

God of Wisdom

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


When you don't know the answer to a question, what do you do? You might ask your parent or a teacher for the answer. You can look up the answer in a book or search for the answer on a reliable site on the Internet. If you really want to find out the answer, you will look for it.

Sometimes, though, we face tough things in our lives, where there don't seem to be any answers. Maybe your mom or dad has lost their job or someone in your family has died. Maybe you're having trouble with another child at school. Maybe you have a tough choice to make, and both choices seem good. No amount of searching the Internet or asking an adult is going to provide the best wisdom on those subjects. The one who can offer the best guidance in these types of situations is God.

God is called the God of wisdom. Do you know what wisdom is? Wisdom is good counsel based on God's principles and experience. God is the source of all wisdom, and He freely offers it to us. Job 12:13 says "To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his." God is the best one to ask for advice on any subject. And He's always ready to give us His wisdom. James 1:5 says "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."

God cares even about the small decisions that you make in your life. He's ready and willing to offer you wisdom in any situation. When you're trying to decide whether to stand up for the kid in your class who is being picked on, God is there to offer counsel. When you're nervous before a test, God is there with His wisdom. When you're mad at your parents, God can show you the best way to deal with your anger. God wants to share His wisdom with you. All you have to do is ask.

Have everyone in your family practice asking God for wisdom today. Whenever you're faced with a situation where you don't know what to do today, stop and ask God for wisdom. Over dinner this evening, share with each other how God provided wisdom to you today.

On your thankfulness leaves today, write down situations in which you are thankful for God's wisdom.

Pray together, thanking God for being a God of wisdom. Thank Him for providing us with wisdom when we need it.

God Who Sees (Memory Monday)

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


Can you imagine what it would be like to be blind? You would never know what anyone looked like. You wouldn't be able to see with your eyes the beauty of the world God created. You would have to rely on other people to be your eyes for you.

Sometimes we act like God is blind. But He isn't. The Bible tells us in Genesis 16:13 that God is the God who sees. A woman named Hagar was running away from her problems. She was ready to die in the desert, but God spoke to her. When He was done speaking, Hagar said "'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.'"

Sometimes when we do something that we know is wrong, we try to hide it -- from our parents, our teachers and even God. When you stop and think about, that's silly. God sees everything. We're not hiding anything from Him. All we're doing is not allowing God the opportunity to forgive us for the wrong things we've done.

The Bible tells us in 1 John 1:9 that "When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So, even though God can see everything, He waits for us to show Him our sins, so that He can wipe them away. Memorize this verse this week to remind you that God is waiting for you to confess your sins to Him, so He can take them away.

Grab a white board and a dry erase marker. Write down something that you have done wrong recently. Now, take the eraser and wipe it away. That's what God does when we confess our sins to Him. He wipes the white board clean. Psalm 103:12 tells us that God separates us from our sin "as far as the East is from the West." That's about as far away as you can get.

But God doesn't just see our sin. He sees us as the wonderful creation that He made. He knows the number of hairs on your head. Sometimes we pretend to be different than we are so we can fit in with a certain group of people, but God sees us for who we really are. And, you know what? He loves you for exactly who you are. He doesn't want you to be anyone other than the person He made you to be.
Be thankful today that God can see the real you. On your thankfulness leaves today, write down things that you are thankful that God can see about you. Are you thankful that He knows the number of hairs on your head? Maybe you're thankful that He knows about the trouble that you're having with a friend at school.
 
Pray together and thank God for being a God who sees. Thank Him that He is willing to wipe the white board clean of our sins. Thank Him for seeing you for the wonderful creation that you are.

God of Mercy

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


If you do something wrong and your parents find out, what happens? You probably receive some type of punishment, right? What would you think if your parents didn't punish you when you did something wrong? Would you think there was something wrong with them?

Usually when we do something wrong, there are consequences. If you didn't do your chores, you might lose your allowance. If you hit your sibling, you might get sent to time out or lose video-game playing privileges for a while. If you break the neighbor's window, you might have to pay for it.

The Bible tells us that the consequence for sin is death. It's not talking about being struck dead on the spot when we sin (there would be no one left in the world). The death that the Bible is talking about is an eternal death that keeps us separated from God forever.
But, God is a God of mercy. In Ephesians 2:4-5, Paul says "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." God doesn't make us pay the price for our sin. He sent Jesus to do that for us.

Jesus took our place on the cross, so that we could have a relationship with God. He showed us mercy so that we would not have to pay the debt that we owed because of our sin.

Think of a time in your life when someone showed you mercy -- a time when you didn't get what you deserved. How did it make you feel? Did you feel thankful?

God's great mercy should be a reason for us to feel joyful and thankful. Who do you know that would sacrifice their son so that they can show you mercy? That's what God did. Jesus' sacrifice should give us a sense of peace, joy and thanksgiving.

On your thankfulness leaves today, write down how knowing God is a God of mercy -- that He doesn't give us what we deserve -- makes you feel. Write down the reasons you are thankful for God's mercy.

Pray together and thank God for being a God of mercy. As you go throughout your day, look for ways you can model your behavior after God's and how you can show mercy to others.

God Who Saves

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


One day, my daughters were at the pool with some friends and their Granddaddy. One of the girls' friends couldn't swim and was in water over her head. Granddaddy was holding her up, but the lifeguard couldn't see it. The girl took a faceful of water and came up spluttering. Immediately, the lifeguard jumped in to pull her out of the water. Although the girl didn't need saving because Granddaddy was holding her, the lifeguard was ready to jump in the water to save her.

Unlike my daughter's friend, we're all in need of saving, and God has already thrown us a life preserver -- Jesus. You see, sin (the things we don't follow God's plan) keeps us from having a relationship with God. God wants us to have a relationship with Him because He loves us, so He sent Jesus. The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23 that the "wages of sin is death," which means that sin will separate us from God forever. But, God sent Jesus to die in our place, and three days later He rose again. Jesus' death and resurrection mean that we can have a relationship with God. He has saved us from spending eternity without knowing Him.

God is the lifeguard, and the life preserver He has thrown us is Jesus. Psalm 68:19-20 says "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death." Because Jesus died and rose again, we can take all of our worries and problems to God. Our lives can be filled with joy because we know that God loves us.

The thing is, though, that for God to save you, you have to grab onto the life preserver. If you're in the water and someone throws you a life preserver, you have to reach out and hold onto it for it to work. The same is true with Jesus. You have to believe that Jesus died on the cross to save you, and you have to let God be in charge of your life to experience God's saving power. You can do that by simply praying and telling God that you believe Jesus died for you and you want Him to be in charge of your life.

Give everyone a notecard or a small piece of paper. On your notecard, draw a life preserver. In the center of that life preserver, write the word "Jesus." Have everyone stick the notecard somewhere that they will see it every day. Every time you see the notecard, stop and thank God for sending Jesus to save us.

On your thankfulness leaves today, write down why you are thankful that God sent Jesus. It might be because it lets us have a relationship with God or you might write down that you are thankful that you can spend eternity with Jesus. Think of situations in which God has saved you from doing the wrong thing and provided a way out of the situation. Write those on your leaves.

Pray together and thank God for sending Jesus to save you.

God the Refuge

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.



Do you know what a refuge is? You've probably heard of a wildlife refuge, which is a place where animals can live without being hunted by people. Sometimes a wildlife refuge will take in hurt animals and either nurse them back to health or provide a safe place for them to live even if a bird has a broken wing or a squirrel is missing a leg. The workers at the wildlife refuge provide what the hurt animal needs to live, like food and water, if it is unable to get those things itself.

The Bible tells us that God is a refuge for us. He's a safe place to whom we can run when someone hurts our feelings or we're struggling with a situation. Psalm 5:11 says "But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you."

God is our safe place. He will always love us and always care for us. He wants us to run to Him when we need a safe place to go. He wants you to tell Him about the things that are bothering you. What's the first thing you want to do when you fall down and skin your knee? You want someone to clean it up, put a bandaid on it and tell you it will be OK. That's what God does when we fall down in life. We can run to Him, and He can heal our hurts, including hurt feelings.

What do you do when you wake up from a bad dream in the middle of the night or when something scares you during the day? Do you look for a safe place or try to find a safe person? God wants us to run to Him when we are scared or uncertain. He wants to provide comfort and peace to us. He wants to be our safe place.


When we take our fears and hurts to God, He offers us protection, which Psalm 5:11 says leads to joy. When we run to God, we may come to Him hurt and upset, but after spending time with Him and letting Him be our safe place, we can find joy. We may still not be happy with the situation, but our joy comes from knowing that God loves us, cares for us and provides us with a refuge.

On your thankfulness leaves today, write down situations where you are thankful that you can run to God and let Him be your safe place. You might be thankful that God is your safe place when your brother says something that hurts your feelings or you might be thankful that God is a refuge when your upset because your grandma is sick.

Pray together and thank God for being your refuge, your safe place.

God of Strength

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


How strong are you? Can you lift a small dog? How about your brother or sister? Can you lift up your mom or dad? How about a 200-pound boulder?

Line up a few heavy things, and see whom in your family can lift the most. Did you know that even really strong people can only lift about 500 pounds? That sounds like a lot, and those people would have to be really strong.

Name some things that people do to get stronger. You probably came up with some ideas like eating right, exercising, practicing lifting things. Those things make our muscles strong, but there are different types of strength.

In Exodus 15:2, we find that one way that we can be strong is by asking God to make us strong. It says "The LORD is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him."

God offers to be strong for us in circumstances where we can't be strong. If a friend is asking you to do something that you know is wrong, God can give you the strength to stand up and say no. If you're having trouble with your homework or on a test, God can give you the strength to keep working until you figure it out. If you're having a disagreement with a friend, God will give you the strength to stay and work it out.

God will provide you with all the strength you need to do what is right. All you have to do is ask. Think of ways that God has made you strong. Share them with your family and write them on your thankfulness tree leaves.

Pray together and thank God for offering you an endless supply of strength. Thank Him for being strong when you aren't. Thank Him that His strength is never-ending.

God of Peace (Memory Monday)

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


If I asked you to describe a peaceful evening, what would you say? Give everyone a chance to answer the question. Were your answers the same or different? What did they have in common?

What we each think of as peaceful may differ, but peace is always the absence of conflict and a sense of calm. God is the God of peace. He offers us that peace. Jesus said in John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." God gives us peace even in the most difficult circumstances.

Our peace comes from knowng that God is in control. No matter what happens -- no matter if someone is mean to you at school or someone in your family is sick -- God is in control. Jesus tells us that God's peace means that we don't have to worry about things. We can ask God to help us deal with them, and God will give us peace about those things.

The Bible even gives us specific directions for what to do when we do feel upset, afraid or worried. Philippians 4:6-7 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." This verse tells us that if there's something bothering us, we need to take it to God with a thankful heart for all that He has given us. When we turn the tough stuff over to God through prayer, God promises to give us peace. That's a pretty sweet deal, isn't it?

As a family, memorize Philippians 4:6-7 this week. As you go throughout your week remember to pray about anything that is causing you to worry or be anxious. Draw a large peace symbol or the word peace on a piece of paper or posterboard. Hang it where everyone can see it. As you go throughout the week, everyone in your family can write down the things that they have turned over to God on the peace poster. It will serve as a visual reminder of God's promise to give you peace.

On your thankfulness tree leaves today, write down a specific situation when you were thankful that God gave you peace. It could be when you had a disagreement with a friend or even when your pet was sick.

Pray together and thank God for being a God of peace.

God is Love

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.



God loves you. You've probably heard that before, right? But have you ever really thought about what that means?

The God who spoke the universe into being loves you. The Bible tells us He knows the number of hairs on your head. He loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you, so that you can have a relationship with God. He refused to let our sin separate us forever from His love.

God's love is unconditional. No matter what we do, God will still love us. He doesn't care if you wear the "right" clothes. He doesn't care if your hair is blonde, brown or purple with pink stripes. He's even ready to forgive you when you mess up -- no matter what you have done.

Sometimes people tell us they love us, but then get mad at us when we don't live up to their expectations. Has your mom or dad ever said to you, "If you do well at school, then we'll go out for ice cream" or "If you clean your room, you can watch TV?" Those are conditional statements -- if you do this, then I will do that -- but they're not related to love. Sometimes, though, we have friends who don't want to be friends with us unless we do everything their way. They tell us with their words and actions that if we wear the right clothes or if we act a certain way, we can be their friend. That's conditional love.

God's love isn't like that. His love isn't based on anything that we do. It's based on who God is. The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:7-8 "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Look at that last statement. It says God is love. His whole being is made up of love. And He chooses to pour that love out on you. I don't know about you, but sometimes I'm not very lovable. I can be crabby and not much fun to be around. I make mistakes, and I don't always treat others like I should. But God loves me anyway.

Give everyone in your family a piece of paper. On the paper make two columns. Label one column lovable, and the other column unlovable. In the lovable column write down the things that you think make a person easy to love. In the other column right down things you think make a person hard to love. Share those lists with your family. Now draw a big red heart over both columns and write God in the middle. Hang your list somewhere that you can see it to remind you that even when you act in ways that might not be easy to love, God still loves you.

Do you know what the best thing about God's love is? We can share it with others. His love fills us up so much, that it should spill out of our lives onto other people. God will never run out of love. He has enough for each of us. Talk with your family about ways that you can show God's love to other people. Be sure to share God's love with someone else today.

Write on your thankfulness tree leaves ways that you are thankful for God's love. You can thank Him for loving you enough to send Jesus. You can thank Him for loving you even when you aren't easy to love. Thank Him for ways that you see His love in your life (he's given you great parents, good friends, a dog who loves to sit in your lap and kiss you). Hang your leaves on your tree.

Pray together, thanking God for His unconditional love. Have everyone take a turn telling God how His love makes a difference in their lives. Ask God to give your family opportunities to show God's love to others this week.

God the Helper

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


We all need help sometimes. No one can do everything themselves. When we try to do everything by ourselves, we simply get worn out and frustrated. For example, no matter how tall a chair my youngest daughter stands on, she's not going to be able to reach the top shelf in the cabinets. She needs someone to help her.

Depending on the situation, we need different types of help. Think about it. If you're learning to play a sport you've never played before, you need a coach to help. If you're trying to put together a Lego set, you need the directions. If you're learning to fly a plane, you need a pilot. Help comes in many forms, but the best helper is God.

Let's look at the value of help. Take a big box of Legos or another toy with lots of small pieces. Dump it on the floor. Now, have someone time you while you pick up all the Legos. You have to get every piece back in the box. Give everyone in your family a chance to be timed picking up the Legos. Dump the Legos one more time and have everyone help pick them up. Most likely your time will be much shorter when everyone helps, right?

Normally, picking up those Legos is a tedious chore, and it takes a while to get them all in the box. However, when everyone helps, the chore goes much faster and can be kind of fun. Helpers lighten the load of whatever task we are doing.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 46:1 that God is our help. It says "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." God is always ready to help us. That's what the word ever-present means. He offers us strength, wisdom, love and comfort, depending on the type of help we need.

Sometimes God's help is simply to give us peace in a tough situation. Other times, God sends tangible help in the form of a friend or a parent. And, still other times, God does something amazing like a miracle. No matter the situation, if we ask God for help, He will give it to us. Knowing that makes me thankful that God is an ever-present help.

Take out your thankfulness tree leaves and write ways you are thankful that God helps us. Be specific and be thankful for specific times when you know God helped you. Be thankful for ways that God can help you. Share these with your family and talk about them. End your time together with a prayer thanking God for being your Helper. Have everyone thank God for one way that He has helped them today.

God the Redeemer

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.



(Before you start this devotional, choose one item that belongs to each of your kids and place it in a prominent place -- the mantel, the kitchen counter. Make sure you choose something precious that your child won't want to live without.)

God is our Redeemer. What does that statement mean to you? Probably not a lot. Redeemer isn't a word we use a whole lot in our culture. It wouldn't be at all surprising if you have no idea what it really means to call God your redeemer.

To redeem something means that you buy something back by paying a certain price. Your parent has taken something that is valuable to you. To get it back, you need to pay your parent $100. If you're a normal kid, you probably don't have that kind of money and certainly think it's unfair that you would have to pay it to get your possessions back, right? If you don't have the money, what you need is a redeemer -- someone who will pay the price for you to redeem (or get back) your possessions.

Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago." If we are God's masterpiece, then we are valuable to Him. Sin separates us from God. It places a barrier between us and God, and no amount of money, energy or time will allow us to cross that barrier. We simply can't do enough to tear down the barrier between us and God. Sin makes us in need of a redeemer -- someone who will buy us back from an eternity separated from God. Because God knew we needed a redeemer, He sent Jesus. Jesus paid the ultimate price -- he died -- because you and I sin. But then Jesus rose again and became our redeemer. Job 19:25 says "I know that my redeemer lives." He bought us back by paying the price in our place.

Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages or consequences of sin is death, which includes an eternity without God. But Jesus paid that price for us, so that we can spend eternity with God.

We have so much to be thankful for when we know that God is our redeemer. Write down on your thankfulness tree's leaves ways that you are thankful that God is your redeemer. It could be that you're thankful that you can spend eternity with God. Or you could be thankful that God sent Jesus to die for you.

Pray together as a family, thanking God for providing Jesus as the redeemer even though we have done nothing to deserve being redeemed.

God of Truth

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever gotten caught telling a lie? How did you feel when you told the lie? How did you feel when you got caught?

Lying might seem like a good idea at the time you do it, but truth is always better. You see, the problem with lying is that once you tell one lie, a lot of times you have to tell more lies to cover up the first lie. After a while, you have so many lies that you can get confused and not even know what the truth is. Lying hurts others, and it doesn't make the person who lies feel all that great either.

Can you think of a way that telling a lie can hurt someone else? The Bible tells us that God is a God of truth. In the New King James translation of the Bible, Deuteronomy 32:4 says "He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He."

The past couple of days, we've talked about how God is unchanging and unmoveable -- like a rock. Today, we're learning that God is truth. That means He can't ever tell a lie. If God says it, then it has to be true. All of the promises in the Bible are true. When God said He loves you, He's not telling a lie. He loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you.

The stories about Jesus in the Bible aren't just made-up stories. They're true. We know that because God is a God of truth. When Jesus told us He is the only way to an everlasting relationship with God, it's true. God can't tell a lie.

It's important to be able to decide whether or not something is true. If we base our decisions about what is and is not true on God's truth, then we will be able to choose truth in every circumstance. The more we know about God and God's word, the easier it becomes for us to decide if something is true.

For example, let's play a little game. Have everyone in your family come up with two statements about themselves that are true, and one that is not. One at a time, tell your statements to the rest of the family and have them choose which statement is false.

How did you do? Were you able to pick out the false statements? How did you make those decisions? You probably based your decisions on what you knew about the person talking, right? The same thing is true when we're faced with a tough decision at school.

Say one of your friends says to you that it's ok to steal some candy off the teacher's desk because no one will ever know. It sounds good, right? If no one will ever find out, then what's the problem? If you know what God has to say about the subject, then you know that your friend's idea is a bad one. It's based in a lie. God says stealing is wrong -- no matter if anyone else knows about it or not. Knowing God and what He thinks about things helps you find the truth in a situation.

On your thankfulness tree leaves today, write down ways that you are thankful that God is a God of truth. It could be that knowing God is truth gives you a way to know right from wrong. Or it could be that knowing God is a God of truth gives us confidence to trust what God says. You can even be thankful that God's promises always happen. Hang your leaves on your tree.

Pray together as a family, thanking God for being a God of truth.

Everlasting God

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


Nothing lasts forever. Toys break. Clothes wear out. Food spoils. Even a terrible day eventually comes to an end. We throw things away every day that have come to the end of their useful lives, whether it be a cereal box or a car we take to the junkyard because it doesn't run anymore. We know it's a fact that things simply don't last forever.

But God is everlasting. He spoke the world into being, and He will still be around even after our world ends. Isaiah 40:28 tell us "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." God never runs out of time or patience. He never gets tired or doesn't understand something. He is everlasting God. The amount of time we have to live our lives is simply the blink of an eye to God.

Did you know that the longest hitting streak in baseball is 56 games? Joe DiMaggio got at least a base hit in 56 straight games in 1941. It was almost 60 years ago that Joe DiMaggio set that record. No one has ever done it since, and some people think no one will ever break that record.

The fact that Joe DiMaggio's record still stands tells us just how hard it is to consistently hit a baseball in a game. He had to do exactly the right thing at exactly the right time to keep hitting the ball. Because he was human, Joe DiMaggio's streak came to an end at 56 games. Even though 56 games seems like a long time, it's less than half the baseball season.

God is everlasting, but He never changes. If he were a baseball player, he wouldn't just get a base hit in a few consecutive games, He would hit a home run every time He came up to bat all season long. God is the same today as He was on the day He created the heavens and the earth. He will still be the same hundreds of years from now. He is everlasting, and He never changes.

When I was a kid, we used to get hard candy called Everlasting Gobstoppers. Give everyone in the family a gobstopper or a piece of hard candy. While you eat your "everlasting" candy, talk about how it makes you feel to know that God is everlasting. Unlike your candy, He's not going to suddenly disappear tomorrow. And unlike a real gobstopper that changes color and flavor as you eat it, God is not going to change. How does knowing that God is forever and He is unchanging make you grateful to Him?

On your leaves today, write down things you know about God that you are thankful never change. You could be thankful that God will always love you -- forever. You can be thankful that God sent Jesus to save us, and He's not suddenly going to change His mind and decide that there's another way to have a relationship with Him. Any quality that God has that's unchanging, you can write on your leaves. Hang them on your thankfulness tree.
Pray together as a family, thanking God that He is everlasting and unchanging.

Keep a bowl of gobstoppers or hard candy in a prominent place this week to remind your family of God's everlasting nature. Every time someone takes a piece of the candy, have them say Isaiah 40:28 as this week's Memory Monday verse along with one reason they are thankful that God is everlasting.

God the Rock

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


Before you start today's devotional, go outside and find a big rock. Bring it in and put it in the center of the place where you have your family devotional.

Look at the rock. Have each member of your family describe the rock. Think about all the things you could do with the rock. Pick it up. Is it heavy? Is it pretty? Does it have a particular shape?

Isaiah 30:29 describes God as a rock. It says "And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes go up
to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel." When you first think about it, I'm not sure I would want people to describe me as a rock. I mean, who wants to be a big, heavy, sometimes ugly chunk?

But, take another look at your rock. How easy do you think it would be to chop that rock in half or to make it move? Do you think you could break the rock? Those are the qualities that Isaiah was describing about God when he called God a rock.

God is like a rock in that He doesn't change, and He doesn't move. It takes a long time for wind and weather to wear away a rock. Like the rock, God doesn't change. He is the same God today that He was when He created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. His character hasn't changed.

God is also always there. Rocks aren't here one day and gone tomorrow. They stand for eons. The largest rock in the world is Ayers Rock in Australia. It is a huge mountain of a rock that rises up in the middle of the Outback. Ayers Rock has been there for all of recorded history and doesn't look to be going anywhere soon. Like Ayers Rock, God isn't going anywhere. He's the creator of the world, and He has promised to always be there. Matthew 28:20 tells us "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

God is our rock. We can live our lives based on His promises. We can know that He never changes and that He will always be there for us.

Take a Sharpie marker and write on your rock the ways that God is like a rock. Then leave the rock somewhere where everyone can see it to remind you to be thankful that God is your rock.

Grab your leaves for your thankfulness tree and write on them ways that you are thankful for God being a rock. It could be that He never changes or it could be that you are thankful for a specific time when you know that He was there. You could be thankful for specific promises God has given because if He's a rock, then those promises are solid. Hang your leaves on your tree.

Pray together, thanking God for his Rock-like qualities. Give everyone an opportunity to pray and thank God for being a Rock in their lives.

God the Shepherd

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


Did you know you're a sheep? I hate to tell you this, but sheep aren't the smartest animals on the planet. Without a shepherd to guide them and protect them, sheep would find themselves in a whole bunch of trouble. Sheep have no natural defenses. If something shows up and wants to eat them, it's going to have a tasty meal unless there's a shepherd to scare it off.

Psalm 23 tells us that God is our shepherd. It says "The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." God, like the shepherd, takes care of all of our physical needs, and He protects and comforts us.

Have you ever seen a shepherd's rod? It's a long stick with a hook on the end. The shepherd would use the hook to grab a sheep. He would put the hook around the middle of the sheep and pull the sheep away from whatever danger it was wandering toward. The shepherd also used his rod to defend the sheep. He could use it to hit another animal that wanted to eat his sheep. The shepherd also herds the sheep in the direction they need to go. He helps them to find good grass to eat.

God does all of these things for us. He protects us from evil. He provides us with what we need. He guides us in the direction that He wants us to go. That's a lot of things for which to be thankful.

Give everyone in your family a sheet of paper and have everyone draw a sheep. Decorate your sheep so it represents you. Be creative. When you're done, hang your sheep somewhere where you will see it a lot as a reminder that you're a sheep and God is the shepherd.

Now, grab your leaves for your thankfulness tree and write down reasons that you are thankful that God is your shepherd. It can be anything from, "God protects me" to "God keeps me from being as dumb as a sheep."

Pray together thanking God for shepherding your family. Thank Him for his comfort, protection and guidance.

God Most High

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.


Have you ever played King of the Mountain? The goal of the game is to push the other person off the top of a pile of dirt or the top step of the patio. The person who is at the top is the king, but it's usually pretty hard to stay the king because someone is always trying to topple you off.

One of the names that the Bible uses for God is God Most High. Psalm 97:9 tells us "For you, LORD, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods." This verse tells us that God is the king of the mountain. When the Bible says He is the Most High, it means that He is the best, the most awesome and the most powerful. He is the guy in charge.

But, what does that mean for you? If God is the Most High, then what position should He have in your life? He should be at the top, right? God and what He asks of us should be more important than anything else in our lives. Let's use a quick illustration to show you what this means.

Either set up a step ladder or draw a picture of a ladder. On separate pieces of paper, write down things that are important to you -- things that you are willing to dedicate lots of time to doing. In our house the list might look something like: soccer, hockey, reading, blogging, running, hanging out with friends. Now, place those things on the rungs of your ladder in the order of their importance to you. On the top rung of the ladder, put a piece of paper with the word God on it.

Now, have someone in your family climb the ladder. To get to the top, what did the person have to do? He had to step on all the other things, right? But, he didn't step on the word at the top, correct? If we put God in the most important place in our lives -- if we acknowledge that He is God Most High -- then everything else will be less important than He is. We will be willing to push other things aside to do what He asks.

Sometimes, though, we get mixed up, and we try to put other things at the top of the ladder. Those things try to push God off of His spot as King of the Mountain. If we make soccer the "most high" thing in our lives, then we have to move God to a different rung. To get to soccer, we now have to push God out of the way.

If we don't have God in the "most high" spot in our lives, then He can't offer us all the blessings that He would like to because we aren't seeking after Him. Matthew 6:33 says "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." When we put God first, everything else will fall into place.

On your leaves for your thankfulness tree today, write down ways that you are thankful that God leads you. You might be thankful for His help when you have to make a hard decision or thankful for His help when you have to decide between right and wrong. Add these leaves to your tree.

Pray together as a family and tell God that you want Him to have the "most high" spot in the life of your family. Ask God to show each of you if there's anything you have put in God's spot that you need to move down the ladder.

God the Provider

Each day in November, the Everyday Truth blog is looking at a different name for God and providing a family devotional for you to use with your kids. The goal is to keep our hearts focused on giving thanks to God during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

I think vending machines are a great invention. What's not to like about being able to get what you want to eat whenever you want it? I also like fast-food restaurants and pizza places that deliver. All I have to do is think about what I want, order it and suddenly it appears in very little time. I can have a hamburger, a pepperoni pizza or a candy bar in minutes. Instant gratification.

Did you know God is not a vending machine, a fast-food restaurant or a pizza delivery place? I bet you did. But do you also know that a lot of times we treat God like He is one of those things? We decide what we want, we ask God for it, and we expect Him to provide it. Then we get mad if He doesn't.

The Bible tells us that God is Jehovah Jireh, which is Hebrew for provider-God. Matthew 7:9-11 says "“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" These verses tell us that God loves us so much that He provides what we need.

However, God is not Santa Claus or a short-order cook. We can't just order up what we want and expect Him to deliver that new, red Porsche or the shiny new bike that we want. God provides for our needs, and sometimes we get those confused with our wants. That doesn't mean that God doesn't ever give us what we want, but sometimes what we want and what God knows is best for us aren't the same thing. And that's when we can start confusing God with a short-order cook.

God only wants what is good for us -- the things that are part of His plan. Sometimes that means that we don't necessarily get what we want, but God always provides for the things that we need.

Right now, ask your mom or dad if you can have a box of matches. The answer is going to be "No." Matches are not a bad thing -- they are extremely useful in the right circumstance. However, playing with matches is dangerous. It can cause a fire and could cause someone to be hurt or killed. It's the same way when we ask God for something that might cause us harm -- even though we might not be able to see the harm it can do. God sometimes tells us "No" so He can protect us. He also doesn't give us everything we want because He has a better plan in mind.

(Parents, try this activity to get this point across. Offer your child $1. Tell them they can have the $1 now but they will pass up the opportunity to get something better if they take the $1. After they decide, offer them a $5 bill if they chose not to take the $1. Point out that sometimes God doesn't give us things when we ask for them because He has something better in mind -- like the $1 and the $5 bills.)

Have everyone in your family take a moment to list off three things that God has provided that they need. See if you can think of a time when you didn't know what to do, but God provided everything you needed at that moment.

God provides for us in so many ways. He gives us friends to laugh with, play with and share with. He gives us families that love us. He gives us a home and food to put on the table. And, most importantly, He gave us Jesus, who provides us with a way to have a relationship with God through His own death.

As you close out your time today, write down on your leaves for your Thanksgiving tree ways that you are thankful that God has provided for you. Pray together and thank God for those things. Then hang your leaves on your tree.

God the Creator (Memory Monday: Psalm 8:3-4)

It's November 1. The Christmas music started on the radio today. Somehow, our focus always seems to skip straight from Halloween to Christmas, and we miss fully experiencing the holiday in between. Days of Thanksgiving were celebrated in many states before it officially became a holiday in 1863. Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday as a way to unite the nation by giving people a common focus on the things for which they were grateful.

This year, I encourage you to use the month of November to unite your family in a common focus on the things for which you are thankful. To help you do that, the Everyday Truth blog will focus each day on one of the names of God and how we can be thankful for how that particular attribute of God affects our own lives. It is my intent for you to be able to use part or all of the posts this month as a family devotional. In true Everyday Truth style, each post will also include an activity or some conversation starters for you to use each day. It is my prayer that you and your family would learn new things about God's character and find new things for which to be thankful in the weeks before you sit down to a turkey feast. So, let's get started.

Fall is an amazing time of the year. If you live where the seasons change, the air begins to get colder, the leaves turn beautiful colors and begin to fall, and the animals are busy getting ready for winter. All of this happens without us doing anything. No one has to tell the leaves to change color or tell the squirrels to store up food for the long, cold months ahead. No one suggests to the bears that it might be a good time to go take a long nap. All of these things happen because that is how God created it to happen.

God is an amazing creator. Take a look around outside and see the awesome variety of trees, plants and animals. God made everything from the smallest ant to the largest elephant. He made snakes and eagles. He made redwood trees and dogwood trues. He even made you.

I don't know about you, but I doubt my brain could have ever come up with the amazing variety of things that God created. Did you know that an elephant actually walks on its tiptoes? The largest land animal in the world supports its massive weight on its toe bones. Could you have thought up an animal like that? I know that if I had been making an animal that weighed 8,000 pounds, I'm pretty sure I would have given it a really big foot bone with which to support itself. But God didn't. He created this huge animal, and he made it so it could walk on its toe bones.

Examples of God's hand abound in the world, not just in His design of the elephant's foot. Have you ever seen a Surprise Lily? In the spring, this flower has lots of leaves that come up out of the ground, but then those leaves die off. Later, a lily springs up from the ground -- without any leaves. It's just a flower on the top of a stalk. It's totally different from any other plant.

Look around your family. Do you all look alike, act alike and think alike? Of course not. God made each one of you different and special. No matter how similar you may be to other members of your family, there are things that make you uniquely you. Take a minute and share with one another the things you've noticed about each other that make each of you different from the others in your family.

David was so in awe of God's creation that he wrote these words in Psalm 8:3-4: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" When David really looked at God's creation -- the sun, the moon and the stars -- he was in awe of the God that created them. The greatness of God's creation made David feel like a small piece of it. Yet, God loves you and is intimately interested in you, whether you feel big or small. Memorize this verse as a family this week. Talk about how knowing that God created everything makes you feel. Do you feel overwhelmed by God's amazing creation? Does it make you feel good to know that despite all the things God created, He wants to have a relationship with you? Share your feelings with your family.

As you focus on God the Creator today, think about all the things for which you are thankful that God made. You can each make a list and share it or you can make a thankfulness tree, which you can use throughout the month. Cut up some paper grocery bags to make a tree trunk and branches. Tape the tree to a wall or a door in your house. Then cut out some simple leaves from colored construction paper to go on the tree. Make a bunch because you will use them every day. On your leaves today, write the things that God created for which you are thankful. Put a different thing on each leaf. Tape the leaves to your tree. Be sure everyone in your family fills out at least one leaf. As you go through the month and learn about the different names of God, you will find more things for which to be thankful that you can write on your leaves. By the end of the month you should have a tree with an abundance of fall leaves.

End your family time today with a prayer thanking God for His creation. Be specific when you pray, letting everyone thank Him for several things. Be sure to thank God for each other.