JANUARY 7, Philippians 4:11

Betsy smiled as she looked at her baby brother, still asleep in his crib. Rob is really cute, she thought, but I am so glad I am not a baby. All he does is eat and sleep. How boring! I have a lot more fun – swimming, biking...

At the breakfast table, Betsy watched Mom butter toast and pour coffee for her father. Betsy wondered if her mother knew how boring her life looked. She is always doing things for everyone else – like scrambling eggs just right, checking our schoolwork, and telling Dad he needs a haircut. Could anything be more dull?

Dad glanced at the clock and pushed his chair back. “I had better go,” he said. “Traffic is always heavy on Monday.” Betsy’s thoughts turned to her father’s life. Dad does the same thing Monday through Friday – eat breakfast, grab his briefcase, drive to the office to spend the day doing whatever he does there. After work, he comes home until the next day, and then he does it all over again. I wonder if he ever wishes every day could be Saturday. I would!

“It is almost time for you to catch your bus, Betsy, so let’s read our verse for today,” said Mom after Dad left. She opened her Bible as she spoke, and then began to read. “1 Corinthians 13:11. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.’” Looking up, she asked, “What does that verse mean to you, girl?”

Betsy thought for a moment. “I guess it is that children and grown-ups don’t think and do the same things,” she said.

“That is right.” Mom smiled. “God has a plan for our lives. When we are young, life is busy with school, chores and fun times. As we grow older, there are more responsibilities and different kinds of fun times. But both ages can be good times – parents, at their work, can be as happy as children are at their play. Aren’t you glad Jesus gives us contentment whether we are eight years old or eighty?”

Betsy nodded as she heard the sound of the school bus. She picked up her books. “Have a good day, Mom,” she called as she left.

Thought: Do you sometimes wish that every day could be Saturday? God has given days to work and days to play.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please teach me to be content with each given day, for You know what is best for me! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.