Tag Archives: preteen devotion

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 Do you know how when you’re organizing or moving you put things in a box? It’s o.k. to be organized. There is nothing wrong with that. But when you put people in boxes- it’s just wrong.  I know that sounds weird, but let me say what I mean.

Do you or your friends ever say or think things like “That girl is ugly”, or “She is rude”, or “She’s weird”? Well that’s what we do, we put people in boxes. We see the bad in them and don’t try to see anything else in them.

We just simply throw them in a box. For example, we throw the girl without makeup in the ugly box, the girl with bad grades in the dumb box, and the girl who sits by herself at lunch in the weird box. These people we try to avoid or put them down.

It’s bad because we don’t see them as people.  We see them as things in a box to ignore or throw away. But that’s not how God made us. He didn’t make boxes for the jocks, the popular people, the nerds or weirdos. He just made us all different.  How would we be special if we were all the same?

None of us should be put in a box or ignored. So we should stop seeing him as the nerd or her as the ugly girl. We should just think of them as God’s children.

In the bible it says, Have we not all one Father?  Hath not one God created us? –Malachi 2:10

He didn’t make boxes.  He just made people. So next time you see a person remember this: Would you want to be put in a box?  And try not to think of her as a nerd or him as a jerk. Just try to see the good in people.

Well I’m having a lot of fun writing about boxes but you’re probably tired of hearing about this so I’m just going to make this story short and sweet. Because those are the best stories.

And I guess all there is left to say is “Over and out”,

Goodbye!

Hallie Burden

11 years old

Hallie is my second guest blogger and my daughter.  She has determination bound to prove valuable as she stands firm in the midst of the temptation and chaos of the pre-teen world. She has a creative eye and enjoys designing. She loves listening to music, and twirling.  And truth be known she likes watching TV and sleeping-in too.  Pray for Hallie and her peers as they seek to see value in all people.  Pray that they be bolstered in love as they learn of the Father's love. Pray that they would find their security and self-worth in a God that lovingly created them unique to serve his purpose.

Attention GG's and other God's Girlies!

If you would like to share something special that God has done for you or through you send me an email.  I would love for you to highlight our God's Girlies page.

Email www.kristiburden@gmail.com

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Devotion for GG's Banana Extravaganza

 

Now that I've got your attention, this title isn't meant to be rude.

It's simply good advice.  We all want to grow up.  And we want to grow up well.  -Believe it or not bananas give us some great advice on just how to do that.

Most of you know the answer, but I'm going to ask the question anyway-just to get you thinking.

How do bananas grow? -Up from the stem or do they hang Down?

I specialized in Biology in college and didn't know bananas could grow up until I saw them with my own eyes on our Kenya trip.  How did I miss that?  Maybe because it seems logical that such a heavy fruit would grow down hanging from a branch or stem.

Bananas do indeed grow up, but they don't start that way.  Baby bananas actually grow down like most other fruits and vegetables. Gravity pulls them toward the ground just as it pulls you back down when you jump.

Here are some vocabulary words to keep you smart this summer.

Geotropism-the way an organism grows in reaction to gravity

Positive Geotropism-  organisms that grow downward ex. the way roots grow

Negative Geotropism-  organisms that grow upward ex. stems

Bananas display negative geotropism.  The more they encounter sunlight, the more they gravitate toward it.  This the reason bananas are curved..  In their small state, they grow toward the ground as gravity would have.  But as the bananas start to mature they start to sense the sun more and more. Referred to as fingers, the bananas curve from their starting place on the stem upward toward the sun.

You, my dear have spent time as a baby banana. 

As a baby banana some interesting things have gravity in our life. Gravity is defined as importance.  In Science you may have learned that gravity means weight.

Lets think of some weighty or important things in the life of you- as a baby banana.

Your clothes?

Others opinion of you?

TV and other entertainment?

What else?

As we mature, these things shouldn't hold so much importance.  Especially after we've sensed the sun.  The sun in our lives should be Jesus.  There would be no life without him.  It's also him who sees to it that we grow. As we reach for "the son" we begin to grow away from the old things that used to have gravity.

Just as the growing banana stretches to the sky leaving the ground behind, those things we once found weighty and important shouldn't matter so much anymore.

Grow up. Grow beautiful.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law. -Galatians 5:22-23

Discussion Questions:

1.Which way does a banana grow?

2. How are you like a baby banana?

3. What does a banana sense that helps it to grow?

4.How can you be more like a mature (or grown) banana?

Just for fun.

Banana bunches are referred to as hands and single bananas are referred to as fingers.  Fingers are much better combined to make a hand.  Likewise friendships and other healthy relationships are like bananas.  They come in bunches and grow together.

Also, a banana like any fruit stops growing and soon loses its beauty when disconnected from the branch or stem (think of a mushy brown-spotted banana). Likewise, our beauty and growth comes from staying connected to Jesus.