Give me not my daily bread 'cause it's temptation

By Tonya Kipple
Director of Children's Ministries

Tis So SWEET To Trust In Jesus!
Here's an acronym for FAST for you:

F = Finding
A = All
S = Sweets on
T = Tuesday

There are some serious issues with some people I know who have not had chocolate since we began this fast.  It is getting ugly,  fast.  Suddenly, candy jars and secret stashes are hotbeds of temptation. The check-out lines at Safeway are get-behind-me-Satan trials. Forget the candy aisle at Wal-Mart.  It is a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah.

Most everyone on staff knows that I am not a "sweet" person.  Let me clarify . . . I do not crave desserts, chocolate, sugar.  That is why it is easy for me to keep all those treats in the treasure box in my office for kids (and for Pastor Brent who occasionally raids the chocolate supply!).  However, if truth be told, I am a carboholic.  I have never met a carbohydrate that I did not like.  That is my weakness. Living without potatoes, pasta and bread has been, in a word, difficult.  However, I am getting somewhat accustomed to this change and am healthier as a result. The process has not been easy, but I can see that the outcome is going to be good.  I trust that it will continue to improve even through the inevitable bumps in the road.

Isn't that the way that God often grows us in His likeness?  The timing of those growth spurts is rarely our timing. The growth is painful and hard at first, then there is a recognition of HIS divine wisdom and will for our lives.  The growth is still not quite easy, but there is more of a partnership with the ONE who has our future and best interest in mind. Tis so SWEET to trust in JESUS!

• Thank you Jesus for the many children in the DR who are learning the sweet love of Jesus through the "I Love Baseball" program.
• Thank you Jesus for your heart for children everywhere - Jesus loves me this I know, For the Bible tells me so!
• Thank you for all the children who have been baptized this past year! 
• Please pray for children as they read through their daily devotions during the 40 Days of Solidarity With The Poor that they may have a closer walk with Jesus.