Keys For Kids Ministries

Bible Reading: Romans 12:4-10Cassie sat on the beach with her seagull in a cage at her side. She looked up at her mother, who was standing beside her. "I'm not sure I can let Howard go, Mom," she said. "He's just about the only friend I've got!" She sighed. "Some kids at school say I'm dumb because I have to go to special classes." Cassie looked down. "Why can't I be smart like other kids?"Mom sat down and put her arm around Cassie. "You're very smart, honey. That word doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. Besides, our value isn't based on what we can do--it's based on who we are in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross. But He did also make each one of us special and give us our own gifts and talents."Cassie wiped her eyes. "I don't have any gifts.""Oh, but you do, Cassie!" Mom said. "I believe you have the wonderful gift of being able to help others.""I do?" Cassie asked, wide-eyed.Mom nodded. "You're very helpful to lots of people. When Grandma broke her hip, you went to her house almost every day t

Bible Reading: Matthew 7:1-5; James 1:12-15"I can't believe it! Andrew says he's a Christian, but I saw him looking at a bad website on his tablet today," Zane told his dad. "He must be really weak to look at that kind of stuff.""So looking at websites like that doesn't appeal to you at all?" Dad asked."No way!" said Zane. "I don't have any problem staying away from that junk.""I'm glad," Dad said as he put fishing rods into the trunk of the car. "Did you pack the trout flies?" "Trout flies? I thought we were fishing for northern pike. You won't hook one of them with a trout fly!"Dad grinned. "I can see you know a lot about fishing bait." He shut the trunk door. "So, what kind of bait do you need to look out for?" "Me?" asked Zane. Dad nodded. "Just like different fish are caught with different lures, different people are tempted to sin by different things. As you pointed out, Andrew is tempted by things he shouldn't look at online. So what are you tempted by?" "Um…" Zane hesitated. "I don't know.""Well, let'

Bible Reading: 1 John 1:5-10"Your mom's calling you for lunch?" Josie asked in surprise as she talked on the phone with her cousin Olive. "You mean you haven't eaten lunch yet? It's almost two in the afternoon! We ate a long time ago.""Well, it's only noon here in Colorado, remember?" Olive replied. "We're in different time zones." "Oh, that's right!" said Josie. "Well, I'd better go anyway--have a nice lunch."The girls said goodbye, and Josie hung up. Then she wandered out to the backyard where her dad was working. "Josie, I need you to walk down to Tess's house and pick up your sister," Dad said as he poured fertilizer out of a bag. "It's time for her to come home, and I'm busy with this.""Why can't she just walk home?" asked Josie."She's too young to walk that far by herself," said Dad. "I'm covered in fertilizer, so I need you to go get her.""No, I don't want to!" said Josie. "I'm sick of always doing everything for her. She's so annoying!" Josie turned and hurried toward the house.When Josie found hersel

Bible Reading: Genesis 50:20; Psalm 66:10-12; 1 Peter 1:6-9"Wow, look at all the flowers!" Kayla stared in awe at the field of flowers. Her family was hiking in Waterton Lakes National Park. To their left was a stunning lake surrounded by mountains and to their right was a forest filled with beautiful pinkish-purple flowers. The trees were all blackened and bare, so the true beauty came from the flowers and the backdrop of mountains."These flowers are called fireweed," Mom said. "They're called that because they grow after a fire.""Is that why all the trees are burnt?" Kayla asked. "Because of a fire?""Yes," Dad replied. "Several years ago there was a huge wildfire here. It burned all the trees and plants. Until the rest of the plants grow back, all that's here is the fireweed. The roots of fireweed can survive extremely hot temperatures, so it is one of the first plants to sprout up. The fire can even help it grow.""It's so beautiful how these flowers can grow even after the devastation of a fire," Kayla sai

Bible Reading: Colossians 1:9-14Hudson was working on his electric train set when Dad joined him in the basement. "How's the train project coming along?" he asked."Good!" said Hudson. "It's almost ready to run.""All right!" said Dad. "And how was school today?"Hudson frowned. "I got in trouble for coming in late from recess again, and Miss Cooley gave me extra math homework because I didn't do the homework she assigned yesterday." He sighed. "Everyone's always on my case--I wish I could just do whatever I wanted, like you and Mom." "Hmm," said Dad. "Well, Hudson, let's see how your train runs." He reached over and pressed the start button, and the train began moving."Wait! What are you doing? I don't have all the tracks down yet!" exclaimed Hudson. "It's gonna crash!" As he spoke, the train rounded the turn and rolled off the track, falling on its side. Hudson sighed. "I knew that would happen.""So the train needs the tracks," said Dad. "Otherwise it doesn't get where it's supposed to go, right?"Hudson nodded

Bible Reading: Isaiah 26:3; Matthew 6:25-27, 31-34"Get in there!" said Finley, shoving her beach blanket into her suitcase. "Are you still packing?" asked her older brother, Ian. "We're leaving in ten minutes! Here, let me help you." He jumped on the lid of the suitcase, holding it in place while Finley moved the zipper around the edges.Dad appeared at the door. "I'll take your suitcase to the car," he said, picking it up. "Wow! Why is it so heavy?" "Because she's taking half the things in her room!" said Ian."Well, they're important," Finley said. "I need my hat, my beach blanket, and three swimsuits in case I can't decide which one to wear. I need my sailboat to play with in the ocean, and I can't build sand castles without my pail and shovel. If it rains, I'll have my raincoat, my boots, and my umbrella. I also packed a puzzle, some games, and bedtime books. And my teddy bear in case I can't fall asleep.""I think you should leave some things behind," said Dad. "But what if I need something and don't have i

Bible Reading: Psalms 8; 104:24-28Carson loved visiting the aquarium. There was so much to see there, and he not only liked seeing the bigger fish but also the smaller ones and the other creatures that lived in the ocean. He could spend hours watching the tanks and all the different creatures that lived in them."Having fun?" Carson's uncle Brett asked.Carson's younger cousins were running back and forth, shouting out the names of everything they saw, but Carson had chosen to stand and quietly observe the tank in front of him.Carson nodded. "This is awesome.""It is. Just think about God's creativity with all of this," Uncle Brett said. "He could have made all the fish look alike, but instead they are different colors, shapes, and sizes.""Yet they all live together in the ocean." Carson shook his head. "It's amazing."They continued on in the aquarium for a while before taking a break for lunch. Carson was disappointed to leave. "There's just so much to see. I want to make sure we get to all of it," he said with

Bible Reading: Isaiah 55:10-11; Jeremiah 18:6Tiago held a headless clay animal in his hand. "Mom!" he wailed. "I forgot to put my animal back in the container, and the clay got all hard and dry before I could finish, so now it doesn't have a head!" "I'm sorry, Tiago," said Mom. "But it's too late to do anything about it now. It's time for bed." "But my animal project is due tomorrow, and now all this work was for nothing!" Tiago groaned as he dropped the animal onto his dresser and crawled into bed. Mom glanced at the Bible on Tiago's dresser. "Aren't you going to read a few verses before you go to sleep?" she asked. "I thought you did that every night."Tiago shrugged. "I've been busy lately, and I don't understand it very well anyway." He pulled the covers up to his chin. "I think it'd be better to wait until I'm older so I can understand it."Mom picked up the animal Tiago had made. "Did you know that we're a lot like clay?" "We are?" asked Tiago.Mom nodded. "The Bible compares us to clay that God shapes. Wh

Bible Reading: Romans 8:28-29; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21Trey was excited because today Grandma was finally going to teach him how to make her famous molasses bread. As Dad dropped him off and waved goodbye, Trey could already taste the rich, fluffy bread and the salty crunch of toasted oats on top.Grandma welcomed Trey with a hug and led him into the kitchen. They used sign language to communicate because Trey was deaf. Grandma signed "flour," "molasses," "yeast," and "spoon." Trey scurried around the kitchen to find the ingredients while Grandma started mixing. As they added more and more ingredients, a dark and gooey dough formed. Grandma placed a towel over the dough bowl before gently setting it in a sunny part of the kitchen."Why doesn't the dough look like bread yet?" Trey signed.Grandma smiled. "The dough must rise before it goes in the oven."That made sense to Trey. After an hour and a half, they checked the dough. It was double the size and very poofy. Grandma punched down the dough before laying it on t

Bible Reading: Romans 8:35-37; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10; 1 Peter 4:12–14Alisha ran inside the house. "There's a butterfly outside!" she exclaimed. "I got a picture on my phone. Do you want to see it?" she asked Devin, her older sister."Sure." Devin inspected the photo. "That butterfly is beautiful," she said as she cut into a mango. Alisha frowned as juice hit her phone. "That mango juice is getting everywhere."Devin shrugged as a piece of mango flew across the kitchen. "I'm trying to keep it from splashing all over the place, but mangos are messy."Alisha sat down at the counter and watched her sister. "Why eat mangos then? If they're messy, you could just not buy them." Devin popped a piece of mango into her mouth. "Because they taste really good, and I think it's worth it." She gave Alisha a smile. "It's kind of like your school problem." Alisha blinked. "Your mango is like people being mean to me at school because I believe in Jesus?" she asked doubtfully. "Kind of. Being a follower of Jesus can be messy. The