Bring Others Into the Sunshine of God's Good News by Linda L. Linn - HTML preview

Chapter 11

Here is part of the hymn, “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.”

Lives again our glorious King. Dying once, he all does save. Where’s your victory, O grave? Alleluia!

On Mercy Valley Ranch this year for Resurrection Day / Easter, Ted chose some different songs for them to sing along with an SD card in a boom box when they met on the lawn of the big house after lunch. By then it had warmed up nicely. The number of people attending was growing each year since those who had graduated returned each year with their spouses and families.

Using the hymnals they brought with them from their homes, they sang each song after Ted had read the scripture that went with it, and some people made comments after the song.

The first song was, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” and Ted read 1 Corinthians 15:55, O death, where is your sting? O Grave, where is your victory?

Oscar stated, “I really like all the Alleluias at the end of every line of music in this song, because it’s a good way to praise the Lord!”

“Yes,” agreed Vera, “and the second stanza goes so well with the scripture Ted read.”

The second song was, “Christ Arose,” Acts 2:24, God raised Jesus up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he would be held by it.

William remarked, “This is another great praise song and has such a triumphant message about Jesus rising from death, which could not hold him. He’s the victor, just like the song says!”

The third song was, “As Jesus Died and Rose Again,” and it goes with 1 Thessalonians 4:14,16,17, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so those also who sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. The dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Anna noticed, “many of the words in the stanzas of this song are taken right out of that scripture, and what a precious promise it is!”

The fourth song was, “Easter Song,” which goes well with Mark 16:6b,7a, … you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen, he is not here. … But go tell his disciples…

Jeff said, “This was another triumphant song of praise to God, and many of the words in it came right out of that scripture.”

For the fifth song they sang, “Worship Christ The Risen King,” John 20:28, when Thomas saw the risen Jesus he said, “My Lord and, my God.”

Karen mentioned, “This song is like a sermon and it tells believers to worship our risen Savior, Jesus.”

The sixth song was, “Celebrate Jesus” Romans 14:9, For … Christ died and rose again so he could be Lord of both the dead and living.

Unice exclaimed, “I like the way this song tells us to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection!”

For the seventh song they sang, “Jesus Lives and So Shall I,” John 14:19b, Jesus said, “Because I live, you shall live also.”

Denji stressed, “This song is another good sermon. Each stanza gives us a reason to live for Jesus. Plus each one ends with the words, Jesus is my hope and trust.”

“It sure is a good sermon, “Sara concurred and went on, “thank you very much Ted for the wonderful time of singing and scriptures for this Resurrection Day!”

The rest of the people nodded and applauded.

Two couples in Pine City, who attended one of the Grace ‘n’ Faith churches, each had two foster kids apiece. The kids were all eight years old and they became good friends. One afternoon they were visiting together at one of their houses. After talking about many topics, they looked on the web to find information their kids could read about Labor Day. They found some good facts and had the kids take turns reading aloud about why there is a Labor Day. Then they also looked up other interesting days they had found on a calendar.

Pretty soon, they saw an advertisement on the web about a restaurant having a Beef Day, and it happened to be that same day, so they decided to go there and eat supper together. The prices were very low and they all enjoyed the time they had spent together, and they were grateful they had not needed to spend a lot of money on their meal.

On another day the two families went to a park on a weekend. They chose a park that had just installed a lot of new, interesting, fun looking equipment. The kids enjoyed playing there while their foster parents had a chance to visit.

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Oscar and Vera and their four girls were reminiscing about the girls’ arrival and their time on Mercy Valley Ranch.

Stella remembered, “I was the first girl to be assigned to your family, and at first I was very lonely, but as my new parents, you were both so kind and gave me interesting things to do. You made me feel like I belonged here and taught me about Jesus, who could help me forgive and forget my past. It was easy for me to accept him and want to live for him the way my new parents did.”

“I just realized,” stated Liz, “that must be why you were so kind and helpful to me when I came to the ranch as the last girl in their family. You had me join you in a race and asked Mom to teach me about trees and wildflowers like she did you.”

Emma agreed, “I remember also, and then Mom said Nan and I could join you and learn about them also. Of course we wanted to learn. Our Dad and Mom are such good teachers.”

“For sure” added Nan, “and now all of us have learned so much about trees and flowers and animals and horses and especially about Jesus and how to live for him.”

Stella mentioned, “The difference between the deciduous and evergreen trees was interesting to learn. I’m glad we got to taste the seeds of the pinyon pine trees, even though I didn’t like the taste of them very well.”

The other girls laughed, remembering when they had gone up the hillside in the early fall so they could have a chance to find some seeds before the birds and squirrels ate all of them.

Emma recalled, “I think one of the things that helped me the most when I first came to this ranch was learning how to take care of the horses before and after riding. Stella, you were a good teacher, and I’m glad all the horses on the ranch get such good care.”

“I agree,” said Nan, “and I still like it when Dad and Mom stop their horses and one of them signals for quiet and points to a tree, or flower or an animal we might otherwise miss on our own.”

Liz reflected, “So do I, and another thing that helped me when I first got here to the ranch was learning the names of all the mountains that do have names. I like the way all of our family knows the names and we can talk easily about them without having to point or tell what it looks like.”

“Same here,” and Nan went on, “I think the Nature Corner stories and looking up other information to go with them has really enriched our knowledge about nature and the great Creator.”

Emma nodded, “Yes, and it’s really neat to have the good library in the game room. I’ve learned a lot by reading those books.”

The others agreed and Stella concluded, “One special memory I have is the first time we saw the crop duster airplane and worried about it crashing. I had said it looked like fun and maybe I would be a pilot like that when I grow up. Well, I still think I’d like to be a pilot, but not to dust crops. Maybe I can find something even more useful to do in a way that would serve Jesus.”

Oscar smiled at “his” girls and stated, “Thank you girls for this trip down memory lane. I enjoyed all those memories a lot!”

“So did I,” and Vera continued, “and we are both so glad God put all four of you into our family here on this ranch!”

The next day while the girls were at school Oscar stated, “We need to be looking for a couple who will continue to supervise the ministry when we are no longer able to do it.”

“Definitely,” Vera agreed, “and when our girls graduate, when they are nineteen, I don’t know yet if we’ll be able to have any more assigned to us.”

“True,” he replied, “both these topics are for an indefinite time in the future. But we need to think and pray about the best thing to do.”

Oralie began the next section of “Choose Your Examples” by saying, “I’ll give you time to follow Karen’s directions in the first paragraph.

Karen taught the following lesson for the girls on the ranch. This time she instructed the girls. “Write in your notebooks some things you consider to be your valuable possessions.”

When they were finished she asked for a volunteer to read Matthew 6:19-21, Do not lay up treasure on earth for yourselves, where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up … treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Karen continued, “In Matthew 6:25-33, Jesus tells you to not worry about what you’ll eat or wear because verses 32b,33 say, your heavenly Father knows you need these things. But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Luke 12:22-34 is a parallel passage”.

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Next she had a girl read Luke 12:15, Take heed, and beware of being covetous. For a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.

Karen went on, “Then Jesus told the story about a rich man who ran out of room in his barns for his crops, so he built bigger barns and said he could take it easy now. But he died that night and got no use out of his things. Verse 21 says, So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

One girl asked, “Do these verses mean that we shouldn’t have any treasures on earth?”

Karen responded, “Let’s look up treasures in the dictionary.”

Another girl did and read, “Treasures are a quantity of precious objects like gold, silver, or jewels. Synonyms are riches, valuables, wealth, and more.”

“I think” decided Karen, “we can have things we need and like, but not collect a lot of any of those things mentioned in the dictionary and then put our trust in them instead of in God. The key is to not gain treasure for ourselves but to be rich toward God.”

Sara questioned, “How do we lay up treasures in heaven?”

Karen replied, “This is a good question. Let’s use the concordance and center references for those verses and see if we can find our answer in the Bible.”

One girl said, “I read Proverbs 2:2-5. It basically said to seek for wisdom as if it were a hidden treasure

so you can understand the fear of the LORD. So I think wisdom could be a heavenly treasure.”

Candy added, “Yes, and Isaiah 33:6 kind of goes with your verse. Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of your times, and strength of salvation. The fear of the LORD is your treasure.”

A girl noted, “Proverbs 11:30b says, He who wins souls is wise.”

“Right,” and Kim continued, “in Matthew 19:21 Jesus told the rich young ruler what to do: sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me.”

Another girl said, “Luke 18:22 says the same thing.”

June added, “In Luke 12:33 Jesus told his disciples, Sell what you have and give alms. Provide yourselves bags that do not become old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief comes, and moths don’t corrupt.”

“Thank you girls,” said Karen. “Those verses give us some good ideas about how to lay up treasures in heaven. If you want to, you can look up that question on the web and get some more ideas.”

After a pause she instructed, “Now follow along as I read Matthew 7 verses 1,2a. Do not judge, so you will not be judged. For with the judgment you judge, you shall be judged. What do those verses mean to you?”

Kim answered, “To me it means that I shouldn’t criticize other people, because it usually results in them criticizing me.”

“Yes,” June agreed, “if I point out what I think is wrong with someone, he or she might come right back with something that’s wrong with me.”

Candy stated, “Since I don’t like being judged, I should remember that other people don’t like it either.”

“I agree,” then Sara added, “Our parents or teachers can evaluate our work or things we say, and tell us so we can learn, but our peers definitely don't like to be evaluated by us.”

“Those are good thoughts, girls,” commended Karen. “now read verse 6 to yourselves. … It might help you understand the meaning of this verse if you know that dogs and swine were looked down on by the Jewish people. I think verse 6 means to not give holy things or thoughts you value to somebody if you know he or she won’t appreciate them or will judge or disagree with them. I see that our time is up for today, so I’ll see you next time.”

William taught a similar lesson to the boys on the farm.

Oralie remarked, “This was a pretty long section today and it had several different important topics.”

“Yes it was, and the longest part was about treasures,” said Max. “I learned that the best place to have treasures is in Heaven.”

“For sure. It’s the only safe place.” Kevin reasoned, “I like the idea that wisdom can be a treasure. It takes a lot of effort to find it.”

Levi nodded, “I agree, and the next part was a good reminders to not judge others or tell them about something if you already know that they will judge you or disagree with you.”

“I agree,” declared Cory, “And if we can just remember to not say the wrong things, we’ll stay out of a lot of trouble.”

Daniel observed, “Exactly, and this lesson had good scriptures in it. I plan to memorize some of them and remember to do them.”

“Good comments you guys,” Greg concluded, “and today I have a comment for this lesson. The third verse of ‘Be Thou My Vision’ says that I don’t pay attention to riches or man’s praise, but that the Lord is my inheritance, and he has first place in my heart, and he is my treasure!”

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The Spencer family was on a horseback ride with two visitors who came with them very often these days. In fact as soon as they had figured out the riding schedule and how it would work with the hours everyone worked at their jobs, Hugo and Jose were expected guests.

For this ride, Hugo and Ellie were riding the new buckskin horses, Cumin and Ginger. Jose and Lisa were on the new palominos, Goldenrod and Marigold. Jeff and Karen had chosen to ride Arrow and Stripe, two new bay horses. Of course Jeff and Karen’s other girls, Christi and Hanna were along for the ride and they were riding the new beautiful reddish brown horses, Lollipop and Flame. Those two girls enjoyed watching the two young couples talking as they rode side by side. So they often came at the rear of this family group.

Christi mentioned, “I wonder how it might be next year for you and me after the graduation / going-away party.”

“Maybe there will be some handsome boys from the farm who can come here and ride with us on the ranch,” suggested Hanna.

Christi responded, “Maybe so, but of course we don’t even know how many will graduate from the farm next year.”

“True,” continued Hanna, “anyway I like to watch, and I wish we could listen to Jose and Lisa, or Hugo and Ellie as they ride side by side talking so seriously, and then they start laughing about something one of the guys has said.”

“I wish we could listen too,” agreed Christi, then added, “but this reminds me of some of the lessons Mom has taught to us. We need to become honorable young ladies and choose a husband carefully if we know it’s God’s will for us to be married.”

Hanna nodded and acknowledged, “This is the hardest part of growing up. I’ve been praying all year about God’s will for me, but I haven’t gotten an answer yet.”

“I know what you mean,” and Christi nodded. “I feel the same way, but we’ll keep at it and keep listening.”

Hanna stated emphatically, “Exactly, because for believers, there is no such thing as giving up!”

About the same time on that day, William and Anna Beckett with their four foster girls and Afta and Hana Suehiro with their four foster girls were all talking together on the lawn by the big house on Mercy Valley Ranch. The girls liked to sit with the girls who were their ages in the other family, and talk about things in their area of interest.

Today Kathy, Nora, Wendy, and Dana were watching as the Spencers and their guests went riding up the road.

Wendy mentioned, “I don’t think we’d have to speculate about the two young couples in that group!”

“For sure,” stated Kathy, “their speeches at the party more than clearly matched them up. My mom would say God put them together with the ones who had the same desires.”

Dana nodded, “I agree, and I’m happy for them. It will be a good ministry for them and I know God will help them do a good job.”

“I think so too,” Nora agreed. “Plus, there’s another couple we weren’t surprised about. We were able to watch and listen to others talking about them, so I was almost expecting them to get married.”

“Right,” added Dana, “Mr. Decker was more like a teacher when he tutored our family for only one weekend.”

Kathy went on, “Indeed, so I didn’t think anything much about him, but I’m glad he taught us things that helped me get better grades.”

“Same here,” admitted Wendy, “and I think he and Irene will make good foster parents as soon as the next house is finished.”

“Precisely,” and Nora nodded, “it’s good that they will have a few months to get used to being married before they start their ministry here on the ranch.”

“Very true,” Wendy agreed and then changed the subject. “Kathy, I really liked your speech at the party. I was inspired and even though I’ve never been to the Serving Joyfully Restaurant, I am considering changing my plans to see if I could work there instead.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Wendy,” replied Kathy. “Nora and I were impressed when we went to that restaurant with our parents to celebrate all four birthdays on the same day last year. The peaceful atmosphere is amazing.”

Nora continued, “Yes, it has quiet instrumental praise music playing in the background, and it’s great working with, and for believers who encourage us to share our faith with the customers!”

 

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“The two of you have been working there for a few months now, and I can tell you like it.” Then Dana asked, “Do you think they would have room for two more waitresses? Wendy and I have been wanting a more service oriented job than the one we have at the jewelry store.”

Kathy answered, “It’s worth a try. If you write a good essay about why you’d like to work there and proofread it like we learned from Mr. Decker, you would have a good chance.”

“Oh, I hope you can!” Nora exclaimed. “And possibly the four of us could consider finding an apartment with two bedrooms. We’re all used to living with roommates and sharing one bathroom. If we would all share the expenses, we might earn enough to buy a used vehicle we could also share.”

Wendy and Dana nodded and said they’d try hard to get a job there at the restaurant and would think about Nora’s idea too.

As things turned out, two of the waitresses were moving to another city in two weeks. So when Dana and Wendy went for their interview and gave the boss their essays, the boss was so impressed that he hired them right then to begin working in two weeks. They went and gave a two week notice to their other boss.

When they got home that day, they sat right down and wrote thank-you notes, explaining what had happened and sent them to Brad, who was very pleased to get them. When those four girls turned nineteen at different times they did all move into an apartment with two bedrooms and it was perfect for them.

Greg got to read the next part of “Choose Your Examples” to his five boys. He began by saying, “This section has many verses in it from Jesus’ sermon on the mount.”

William began his Bible Study lesson for the boys on the farm by having the boys silently read Matthew 7:7-11.

“I wrote a summary for these verses.” said William, “If you ask, you will receive. If you seek, you will find. If you knock the door will be opened. Good dads give good things to their children. Your heavenly Father will be even more likely to give you good things. Notice that we already talked about verse 12 in another lesson.”

A couple boys said, “Yes, it’s the Golden Rule.”

William nodded at them and instructed, “Read Matthew 7:13-20 to yourselves.”

Next he explained, “I looked up ‘strait’ in a Bible dictionary, and it said it means narrow or tight or difficult. Actually verse 14 uses the synonym, narrow, for the way leading to life. In your notebooks, write a paraphrase for verses 13 and 14.”

Afterward he asked a volunteer to read what he wrote, and Carlos read, “ Come in at the narrow gate and go on the narrow way, because it leads to life, but not many find it. The gate that leads to destruction is wide and the way is broad, and many go that way.”

“Thank you, Carlos,” said William, “Your paraphrase is good for those two verses. Listen to Deuteronomy 30:19 and see how well it goes with what Jesus said in Matthew. Moses told the Israelite people before they went into Canaan, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both you and your offspring may live. Now all of you write in your notebooks what Matthew 7, verses 15-20 mean to you.”

When they finished, Gary volunteered to read his, “We need to watch out for false teachers who pretend to be gentle but are really harsh and unkind. The way to tell if they’re false is by what their lives produce. Evil results in evil, but good produces good. Bad teachers will be destroyed.”

William responded, “I like your explanation, Gary. This statement by Jesus is emphasized again in Matthew 24:11 where he warns that in the end times, many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. So we need to be very careful. I wish we had time to listen to everyone’s explanation, but lets go on.”

He called on Sam to read verse 21. “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

Then William stressed, “John 6:40 tells clearly what the Father’s will is, This is the will of him who sent me, that every one who sees the Son and believes on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Then he had another boy read Luke 6:46, And why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say?

William stated, “Those verses clearly explain God’s will in this case. Now silently read Matthew 7: 24-27 and write a summary of what Jesus taught there.”

 

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Evan read his this time, “The person who hears and does what Jesus taught is like a man who built a house on a good foundation. It stood firm in the storms, but it’s the opposite if the person doesn't do what Jesus taught.”

William commended them all, “Thank you, Evan, and all of you boys. You did a good job today, as you usually do.”

Then William suggested, “Let’s all read John 14, verses 15 and 21 aloud. If you love me keep my commandments. … He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will show myself to him.”

“Good expression, everybody,” said William. “Now go back to Matthew 7 and notice that the last two verses say the people were amazed by Jesus’ teaching and his authority. They weren’t used to being taught the way he did. This is the end of the Sermon on the Mount, but Jesus continued to teach in the rest of this Gospel and the others. We’ll be looking at some of those things in later lessons. There will be no homework for today, since we actually did it during the lesson, so I’ll see you next time.”

The boys cheered and thanked him as they left.

And Greg said, “This is the end of this section.”

Max exclaimed, “Thank you, Dad, for being a good dad and for giving us so many good things!”

The other boys all agreed and they all cheered for their dad. Greg felt so good about their affirmation!

The Fosters had enjoyed showing their new foster girls the many interesting, beautiful, and fun things to do on Mercy Valley Ranch. It was fun to hear their exclamations and other comments. For example when Lina first saw all the horses and heard some of their names she shouted, “Stop! I can’t remember any more than this many names right now!”

Sherry encouraged her, “It’s OK, Lina. I’m sorry for going too fast, and I’ll stop saying names. Please don’t worry about remembering their names. We can tell them to you again and pretty soon you’ll be able see that the names often go with the colors of the horses or with white markings on their faces. It will be more fun for you by then.”

When it came time for the girls to learn how to row on Wild Mint Lake, they asked Mindy to come and teach Hope and Joy, while Roy taught April and May, and Sherry taught Tina and Lina.

Afterward, May admitted, “I don’t think I’ll ever learn how to launch the boat without getting my feet wet.”

“Same here,” agreed April, “and I know it’s good exercise, but I don’t like being stiff and sore.”

Lina reasoned, “Maybe it’s like riding a horse. My legs got used to it after a few days of riding.”

“Yeah,” put in Tina, “but horseback riding is much more fun, so it was worth being sore and stiff at first.”

Joy added, “I agree with all of you. I had never rowed a boat before either, and it seemed very hard.”

“I feel the same way as the rest of you,” said Hope.

Roy tried to cheer them up, “I got my feet wet too, but the people who taught your mom and me, said we would get better with more practice.”

Lavender Falls was an all around favorite when they arrived after the long, steep hike during which there were a few grumblings heard.

Tina declared, “This is gorgeous! It made the hike worth the effort. And it’s even cooler here near the falls!”

The new girls were completely impressed when the rocks they were holding in the water changed to the darker lavender color. They decided they would like to come here often.

The first time the family went to the nature blind built by Nathan Mendoza so they could watch the animals come to the lake and stream for a very early morning drink of water, the new girls learned the natural consequence of a noisy exclamation. All the animals ran away! The next time they came to the nature blind, their quiet carefulness was rewarded with getting to see a deer, a raccoon, a skunk family, two foxes, and some birds. This was another place they would like to revisit, even though they had to get up before it got light in the morning.

April expressed what all of them felt, “This ranch is full of so many wonderful, amazing, and beautiful things we’ve seen and learned about. And we still want to learn about the wildflowers and the names of the mountains! I really like it here!”

The other girls nodded in agreement, and Sherry stated, “Your new dad and I are very glad that you like it here, and we like having you in our family!”

For some of the times when the big Foster family went shopping, Joy and Hope were dropped off at Fiona’s house to visit and play with the children. They tried to make arrangements ahead of time about once a month so they all could nurture their friendships.

After the shopping was finished, Sherry quickly ran inside to say “Hi,” and then took her girls back to the ranch.

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One day Jose and Lisa and Hugo and Ellie were on another horseback ride with the Spencer family. The young men carried out a plan they had made the night before, after they had talked about how much they already loved their chosen lady. Today the two couples were riding at the rear of the group. Simultaneously they slowed their horses to a walk and stopped.

Turning in the saddle to face their ladies, each young man explained in his own words that he felt like the LORD had brought them together with similar desires to become foster parents. He had worked out ways for them to have enough time to get acquainted and to talk about issues and find out they were indeed compatible.

Even though it had only been a couple months since the graduation / going-away party, they had gotten to know each other very well because of the many times they had been able to talk while both families visited, and during the many horseback rides through the late winter and spring. So each of them had called Mr. and Mrs. Spencer to ask for the hand of their daughter in marriage.

Then reaching a hand across to hold the hand of the young lady on the other horse each of them proposed, “So my Dear, because I love you very much and because of all I just explained, would you please consent to be my wife? With God’s help, I’ll love and take good care of you and be a good husband to you, and be a good father to our foster children.”

Each of the young ladies answered in her own words that she would be very happy to marry the sincere young man God had provided to be the fulfillment of her desire to marry and raise foster children as a ministry for the LORD. Then the young man had placed a beautiful engagement ring on her finger!

The rest of the family, having realized that part of their group was missing had turned their horses around and stopped, but they were still close enough to hear and witness the sweet proposals and answers. Then they cheered and fast walked their horses to go back there and congratulate the happy couples. Christi and Hanna were glad they had finally gotten to hear some of what those two couples talked about.

This time when Greg read from the book, “Choose Your Examples,” he started by explaining, “I’ll give you time to read some of these verses silently so you’ll know better what the Bible says before you hear what he or the boys say.

Karen and William’s next Bible Study lesson started with some of the miracles Jesus did after his Sermon on the Mount. First he read aloud to them Matthew 4:17,23, … Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” … And Jesus went around Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people.

Then William had them read Matthew 8:1-4 silently, and he explained, “The illness of leprosy was terrible for people, and nobody was supposed to touch a person who had it. But Jesus did touch him when he healed this man. Then he told the man, ‘Go show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.’ Now read verses 5-13. and tell me your thoughts about them.”

One boy mentioned, “The centurion in these verses wasn’t even a Jew, but Jesus offered to go with him to heal the servant.”

“Right,” Gary continued, “it showed how compassionate Jesus was.”

Another boy noted, “The man knew he wasn’t worthy to have Jesus come to his house, but believed Jesus could just say the word and the servant would be healed.”

“That part was incredible!” exclaimed Sam. “I can see why Jesus commended the man for such a great faith and healed the servant just the way the man had said.”

William stated, “Excellent job, boys. Next do the same with verses, 14-17.”

A boy observed, “This time Jesus healed by touching the hand of Peter’s mother in law.”

“Exactly,” Carlos went on, “and later that day he cast out spirits with his word and healed all that were sick. It doesn’t say how he healed them, or how many there were, but I imagine it was a lot.”

Evan added, “I liked verse 17, and looked up the reference in Isaiah 53. Parts of verses 4 and 5 say, Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows… and with his stripes we are healed. The other parts of that chapter tell how the people would reject Jesus.”

“Yes,” agreed William, “that part is sad. Now read verses 18-27. Here is an interesting event and another miracle.”

A boy commented, “It was interesting how Jesus answered those who said they would follow him. He made it clear it would not be easy to follow him.”

“Yes, and I liked the way Jesus slept through the storm and the disciples had to wake him up since they were so scared!” Carlos declared.

 

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Gary tacked on, “Yes, and then he asked them why they were so afraid and basically answered his own question by saying they had little faith.”

“The best part,” remarked a boy, “was in 26b,27, how Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm and then how astonished the men were.”

William stressed, “I can imagine we would be also, even though we know now he did things like that! Read to the end of the chapter.”

One boy admitted, “I would have been scared of those men, if I had been one of the disciples.”

“But Jesus wasn’t afraid,” said Evan. “He told the demons to go where they had requested and they did, but all the pigs were lost in the sea.”

Sam suggested, “Maybe that’s why the people who came from the city begged him to leave.”

“Probably,” William concurred, “and they might have been scared of Jesus and whatever else he might do. Nothing is said here about them being glad the two men were healed. We’ll look at chapter nine at our next meeting, so please read it. See you then.”

“The end of this section,” stated Greg.

Levi declared, “Matthew chapter 8 had many exciting parts in it! I especially like the way he healed so many people in it!

“So do I,” agreed Cory, “and there’s a verse that says Jesus is the same today, and that’s why he can work through us as we follow his leading when we are ministering to others.”

Max nodded, “Right, and the verse is Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.”

“Good job Max,” Daniel applauded. “And I like the way Gary talked about Jesus’ compassion.”

Kevin went on, “Exactly, and we need to do everything we do for him with his love and compassion.”

In their apartment, Brad and Irene were talking one evening about the ranch houses. Irene mentioned, “It will be a good thing we will have two weeks to get the ranch house ready and live in it before any girls are assigned to us.”

“I agree, and I’m sure it will seem huge to us compared to this compact little apartment,” agreed Brad.

Irene nodded and stated, “Exactly my thoughts too. Plus it’s good for us to continue to use the stairs to get up here, rather than the elevator. We’ll keep in better shape and be ready for the stairs at the ranch house. I am enjoying this cute little place with just the two of us. It doesn’t take much time to get it cleaned up and it’s not even hard to keep it this way.”

“For sure, but I can imagine that four young teenage girls will fill the ranch house up so that it won’t seem so big, and they will make a lot more work for keeping it clean!” Brad declared.

Irene replied, “You’re right about that, but Mom gave me some great ideas she had used as her four girls moved into their house on the ranch. I’m glad Mom told us about the way Candy and Evan had spent time with her parents observing and taking notes before their girls were assigned. So we did the same thing. Mom made each task easy to learn and fun to do. Then each girl got to teach the next one who was assigned what they had learned.”

“Brilliant!” Brad exclaimed. “Your foster mother is an amazing woman!”

Irene admitted, “I agree, and I hope I can be as good a mother as she and her foster mother are. I’ve learned a lot from both of them.”

“I think you will, Dearest,” stated Brad. “I learned a lot from your dad also, and from other dads on the ranch. I wrote it all down in this notebook and I study them from time to time.”

“What a good idea, Honey, and I thank you for the compliment,” responded Irene. “I'm very impressed with all the things you’ve done to prepare yourself for growing as a believer and for marriage and parenting. I think the classes we’ve been taking on the web to prepare us to be foster parents and get our license have also been very good.”

“I think so too, and I thank you for the compliments also,” Brad concurred. “I’m also pleased about the way you have learned so quickly about editing. We’ll be ready when the time comes for us to move to the ranch. And in the meantime we’ve been doing fun things together, and going to places as a couple like some people do when they’re dating.”

Irene nodded, “Exactly, and I think those things have helped draw us closer together. And besides, I like the times we get to study the Bible together.”

“Absolutely!” Brad emphasized, “On top of all we’ve already said, I especially like the times with just the two of us talking, cuddling, kissing, and celebrating our love!”

Irene smiled and went into his arms, happy for the many times they got to do just as he had said.

 

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During another time together with the Spencer family Jose commented, “I like the way my parents prepared me to be ready to go out and be on my own as soon as I turn nineteen.”

“I feel the same way about mine,” stated Lisa, “What did your parents do?”

He answered, “First and most importantly, they taught me to rely on Jesus, seek his will and do it. Next they helped me learn how to budget money and stay out of debt. Dad taught me all about vehicle care and maintenance. He said it should always be ready to go. Then he taught me how to drive and be careful. I’ve started saving to buy a used six passenger van, including the insurance, license plates, fuel and upkeep.

“Those are very important things,” agreed Lisa. “My dad taught me basic car care also, and how to drive, but I’m hoping I can avoid needing to drive. I was much more interested in learning how to be a homemaker, wife, and parent. So Mom went into detail about those things and we girls got lots of practice.”

Jose nodded his agreement and then went on, “Mom taught us boys enough that we can get along if we would stay single, but you already know my desires.”

“Yes, and I’m so glad we both want to be foster parents to four girls on Mercy Valley Ranch!” Lisa exclaimed. “Mom even let me take over her job of running the household, delegating tasks, planning menus, writing shopping lists, baking, cooking, etc. for a week so I could see if I really would want to do this much work with four new foster girls on top of it. I admit, it is a lot of work, especially at the first, before the girls learn how to do their tasks. But I think this ministry is definitely worth all the effort.”

“Well, my dear Lisa,” stated Jose, “I learned many things from my mom also, and you can delegate some tasks for me to do when I get home from my job at Discount Mart each day.”

Lisa blushed and remarked, “Thank you, dearest Jose, I’m glad we are engaged and can use endearing names now.”

“Same here!” Jose declared. “Pretty soon we’ll be able to plan our wedding and figure out where to live until the next house is finished.

Lisa asked, “Would you like to write some of your ideas for our wedding and bring them with you the next time you come for a family activity?”

“Sure,” he answered, “I should have time to get them ready by then.”

She smiled at him, “Great, I’ll look forward to hearing them.”

Oralie read the next part of “Choose Your Examples” to the boys in her big family on the farm.

Karen’s lesson at the ranch was about Matthew chapter 9. The girl’s homework had been to read the chapter, so she had them tell what they had noticed or thought about the various happenings.

Candy summarized the first eight verses, “After Jesus came back to his own city, he healed a sick man who was lying on a bed by forgiving him. Some people thought he was blaspheming, so Jesus showed them he had the power to forgive sins by telling the man to get up and take his bed to his house. When the man did that, the people finally gave glory to God.”

A girl said, “in verse 9, Jesus called Matthew, a tax collector, to follow him and he did.”

“Yeah,” added Kim, “and when Jesus ate with many sinners the Pharisees were disgusted about it, but Jesus said in verse 12b, Those who are whole don’t need a doctor, but those who are sick do need one.”

Another girl went on, “In verses 14-17, Jesus answered that the reason his disciples didn't fast was because he was with them, but later when he was gone they would fast. He also told them it does not work to patch clothes with new material or put new wine into old bottles.”

“In verses 18-21,” Sara described, “a father came to ask Jesus to come heal his only daughter. On the way he was interrupted by another needy woman. He took the time to heal her on the way.”

June added, “Then when he reached the father’s house they told him the girl was already dead. But he said she is not dead, and he took her by the hand and she got up. Jesus fame spread all over.”

A third girl told how Jesus had healed two blind men.

The other girl said, “Then he cast out a devil and the man who had been dumb was able to talk.”

“Good Job, girls,” Karen commended them. “Now lets read verses 35-38 out loud together, And Jesus continued going to the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they were scattered like sheep having no shepherd. He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.’ Your homework this week is to make that last verse a prayer one time every day. We’ll talk about Matthew chapter 10 and 11 next time.”

“That was the end of this short section of the book.” said Oralie. Then the boys shared some of the comments they had written while she was reading.

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Daniel commented, “I like hearing about the miracles Jesus did while he lived on this earth.”

“I do also,” continued Cory, “Jesus did so many incredible things. I often wonder why more people didn’t believe in him.”

Kevin went on “I wonder if it was because some of his teachings were hard to understand and many times he did things that angered the leaders.”

“But he kept at it anyway,” stated Levi, “and that’s why we keep at our missionary work at school too.”

Max concluded, “Exactly, and I think that last scripture verse is a good one for us to pray every day also. I wish there were more laborers for the harvest in the schools.”

“Those are all good points, boys,” Greg commended them.

Lisa and Ellie were in their home, making wedding plans so they could share them later with Jose and Hugo.

Lisa confided, “I’m so thrilled with the way our ‘courtships’ have gone, and I already love Jose so much that I wish we could be married tomorrow, instead of waiting.”

“I feel the same way,” Ellie admitted. “but I’m a little nervous about some of it.”

“It will all be fine after we ask Mom about those parts,” Lisa encouraged. “I’ve been thinking of possibilities. Jose mentioned making wedding plans the last time we rode together. Maybe we could have a double wedding in early May so we’ll have time to get used to being married before the fourth house on the ranch is finished and while you and Hugo wait for a house on the farm.”

Ellie exclaimed, “This is going to be such fun! We get to plan a double wedding and we can have it right after our birthdays since they are very close together.”

“I think so too,” agreed Lisa, “and we can use our creativity to make it very nice but not very expensive so both couples can save money to buy things we’ll need on the ranch and farm.”

Ellie concurred, “I agreed with Irene about people on the farm and ranch not having much money to spend on gifts, and our weddings would double the expense for them. All four of us have good jobs right now and we’re saving all but the tithe to buy supplies for an apartment and then to buy needed items for the farm or ranch.”

“Mom and I talked about how it might work on the ranch,” Lisa explained. “She said that she and Dad and their family will move to the downstairs of the fourth house, since much of Mom’s teaching will be with the new girls, so they and the rest of the girls will go to the lower game room in the first new house. Since she will have more classes to teach, she will not enough time to do the gardening. So I can take over and be paid wages for our mother’s gardening job and Vera’s also on the lower level. Vera is having a harder time with gardening as she gets older. Consequently Jose and I might get to have Mom and Dad’s house on the lower level of houses because my job will be on the lower level.”

Ellie responded, “This sounds perfect for Mom and for you also. You always did enjoy helping Mom with the gardening tasks. Hugo is going to talk to his dad about a house for us on the farm. I haven’t heard yet what he found out.”

“It’s all right,” reasoned Lisa, “we don’t need to know about it yet, but we can talk some more about the wedding. We could have it here on the ranch.”

“By all means,” Ellie concurred, “we could have a spring wedding, early in May like you said.

“For sure,” and Lisa went on, “and we could have it outside on the lawn by the big house on the lower level of the ranch, if the weather will cooperate. If not, we can have it in the lower game room. We don’t need to have very many people come.”

Ellie went on, “True, and you told me you had found out that you and Jose have your birthdays on the same day at the end of April. And I just found out last time Hugo was here that his birthday is one day before mine the first week in May.”

“Therefore, as I look at this calendar,” added Lisa, “we could choose the first Friday evening in May, which is just after all of our birthdays, and then our anniversaries won’t be on one of our birthdays.”

“Good planning,” stated Ellie, “I would like to have separate days for celebrations like those.”

The next time Jose and Hugo came to the ranch for a family activity, the whole family gathered in the game room while Ellie and Lisa shared these ideas with the family and their husbands-to-be. Jose and Hugo also explained their ideas and they were also incorporated into the wedding plans. Everyone realized the time would fly, so they all worked together to make the plans happen.

After a shopping trip that resulted in matching dresses for each set of twins, the Foster family chose the song, “Happiness Is the Lord” for a family ministry time in the park or mall, depending on the weather. They would wear their new dresses and Hope and Joy would sing a duet for verse one. Tina and Lina

 

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would do verse two, and April and May would sing verse 3. Then altogether the family would sing the chorus.

At the end of each verse the ones who just finished singing would take turns saying the following scripture verses by heart with great expression.

For stanza one, 1 John 4:14, We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

Proverbs 8:35, For whoever finds me, (wisdom,) finds life and shall obtain favor of the LORD. I think the same is true of finding Jesus.

For stanza two, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away, all things have become new.

Titus 2:11, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,...

For stanza three, 1John 2:12, I write to you, …, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.

Matthew 7:14, Because narrow is the gate and narrow is the way which leads to life… life means Heaven here.

For the chorus Sherry would state, “Jesus said in John 15:11, These things I have spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full.”

Roy would say, “In Ephesians 3:17a, a preacher named Paul prayed, That Jesus may dwell in your hearts by faith…”

They would end by singing the chorus, “He Is Lord,” and all of them would quote a paraphrase of Acts 2:36b together. God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. Then Roy would ask if anyone had questions. When all questions had been answered he would invite them, “Please accept Jesus as your Savior and have the same happiness we sang about today.”

A new small group had begun in another city, but for some reason it had about double the amount of people in it and for some unknown reason, almost half of those people were unbelievers. The facilitators had the people introduce themselves telling as usual, their names, where they work, and also how long they’ve been attending the church. This was how they found out about the unbelievers and who they were. The others made them feel welcome and were very friendly.

After the meeting some believers stayed to talk and pray about what would be the best way to handle this oversized group. It was decided they should divide into two groups. The believers chose another believing couple to help the facilitators for the part of the group with the unbelievers in it, and another couple to facilitate the other part of the group.

Both groups did well that year and all the believers rejoiced to learn that the unbelievers had had the chance to ask questions and get answers in a nonthreatening atmosphere. Before long, all of them had prayed and asked Jesus to be their Savior. The group continued as a new believers group after that point, where they learned how to live for and serve Jesus.

God had worked out everything for good. The believers would have liked to know how those unbelievers got into the group in the first place, but they never figured it out. They were disappointed that they couldn’t make it happen again!

It was Greg's turn to read the next section of “Choose Your Examples.” He began, “This will be a very good Bible study for us this evening because it will keep us looking up similar scriptures.”

William was discussing Matthew chapters 10 and 11 with the boys. First he instructed, “Look at verses 2-4, where you will see a list of the names of his twelve disciples. Verses one and five tell us Jesus gave them power to heal and to cast out unclean spirits. Read those two verses and use your center reference to find two other places where it tells about this same happening. See if you can find other details we should know.”

In a few minutes Hugo remarked, “I looked up Mark 6:7 and it said Jesus called the twelve to him and began to send them out in pairs.”

Pedro added, “Luke 9:1 is about the same as Matthew 10:1, but verse two in Luke says Jesus sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”

“Thank you, boys,” William said, “those are two important details we need to know. Why do you think they’re important?”

One of the other boys answered, “Because it’s usually better to work in pairs when you go to minister, and we need to know what he said to preach, and to heal the sick.”

“Yes,” agreed William, “The next verses in Matthew 10 include Jesus telling them where to go, what to take, what to do, and some things that might happen. Then in chapter 11, Jesus talks about John the Baptist and then Jesus rebukes the people listening right then and the ones in other cities for not repenting

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when they saw the works Jesus did. The verses I want us to concentrate on today are 27-30. Luis, would you please read verse 27 aloud?”

Luis answered, “Yes, it says, All things are delivered to me by my Father. No man knows the Son except the Father, and no man knows the Father except the Son, and the ones to whom the Son will reveal the Father.”

Jose shared, “I found a center reference that goes with this verse. John 1:18 says, No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, … has declared him.”

“It’s a good verse,” William observed, “thank you, Jose. Plus it reminds me of two other verses. Jesus said to his disciples in John 14:7 and 9b, that if you had known me you’d have known my Father also and from now on you do know him and have seen him. He who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Another boy mentioned, “It would have been neat to be able to see Jesus face to face, but at least we have many things he said and did to read about in the Bible.”

“Yes, indeed,” William agreed. “And in a way what we have is even better than what they had, because the New Testament has all the details they didn’t understand at that time. Now read verses 28-30 to yourselves.”

In closing William suggested, “If you talk to anyone at school who’s having a hard life, you might use verses 28-30 to encourage them and open a door to witness. Be sure to tell them it was Jesus who said, “ Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Then you can tell them the Good News about how much Jesus loves them and what he has already done for them and that he longs to save them and help them with their hard lives."

“The end of this section,” finished Greg. “But if you think they’re being abused, you might suggest that they go see social services.”

“Good idea,” and Max commented, “This lesson was almost like one of the sword drills we had in third grade at the church school, only today, we didn’t read the scriptures aloud when we found them.”

“It was fun, and the sword drills are also a nice memory of that good school,” stated Levi.

Cory went on, “Yes, and I think those last verses in chapter 11 would take some explaining to city kids who know nothing about the old-fashioned use of oxen to pull farm machinery.”

“For sure,” agreed Kevin, “I’m glad we looked up that information on the web one day and learned so much about it.”

Daniel added, “This farm has been a very good place for us to grow up because we’ve learned so many things that they don’t teach in the schools.”

“I think so too,” stated Oralie, “and I got to learn many of them right along with the rest of you.”

It was already the first Friday in May, so the families helped to move belongings into the two bedroom apartment Hugo and Ellie, and Jose and Lisa had found to share and had rented on Saturday of the week before. First they had checked with the landlords to be sure their plan was OK with them, because they wanted to share one apartment, so they could save more money to buy the things they would need for their foster homes on the farm and ranch. The young people kept enough clothes at their family homes to make it through the week at work and the nice ones they already owned for the wedding.

The couples and other people who would be involved in the ceremony had worked some extra time so they would be ready. Ted Blake had helped his family and the two couples get ready for the songs they would sing. The wedding party had practiced on the lawn and in the game room on Thursday evening that week, so they would all know where to stand.

The weather was just right for an outside wedding on Friday evening just after supper. The lawn had been mowed the day before and there were spring flowers blooming near the big house. The snow covered mountains added their splendor to the festive occasion. The horses even came over to the fence of the pasture and watched what all the people were doing. Christi was busy taking photographs while Hanna took videos of the ceremony. They would get duplicates made to give to the happy couples as keepsakes.

Of course Pastor Don officiated this double wedding and his family members were honored guests, along with all the friends and the families of the brides and grooms from the farm and ranch. Lisa had also called Irene and Brad to invite them to the wedding, since Irene was a friend of Lisa and Ellie. Jose and Hugo made sure to invite Pedro and Luis to the wedding, and they were glad to see their foster brothers so happy.

Karen, the mother of the brides, was the matron of honor, and Felix, the father of the grooms was the best man. The couples had no other attendants, and all members of the wedding party were dressed in their favorite church clothes. Jeff was the father of the brides, so he proudly escorted his two girls at the

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same time to where Pastor Don was standing near the blooming flowers and to their grooms, who were waiting there for them.

Music was provided by a portable stereo system. Instead of the wedding march, it played “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” while Ted and Julie Blake and the quadruplets sang the second and fourth verses in four-part harmony. The lyrics of those verses review how God’s whole creation tells us to rejoice in God, whose love reigns over us. We sing as we march onward in triumph. And the scripture it goes with is 1 Chronicles 29:11,13, Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. For all that is in heaven and in the earth is yours. The kingdom is yours and you are exalted as head above all. Now therefore, our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name.

Don read the scripture that went with the song after it was sung. And then he taught about the importance of marriage and the value of this ministry of mercy they would be doing for foster children on the farm and on the ranch. Then he read some scriptures that go with the next song. Ephesians 5:17, … do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Romans 15:5, Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded to each other according to Christ Jesus. Deuteronomy 6:7a,… you shall teach (God’s words) diligently to your children.

Then the couples sang the hymn, “Happy the Home When God is There.” Ted had helped them learn it in four-part harmony. Here’s a summary of some of the lyrics. Homes are happy when God is in them and everyone is full of love. They do God’s will in a united and prayerful way. The children will hear of God’s fame from their parents, who tell them things from God’s Word. These lyrics go very well with the mission of mercy on the ranch and farm.

Right after the couples exchanged wedding rings, and had their first kiss, they and the whole audience sang the chorus about being one in the bond of love. It goes well with 1 John 4:7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Then Pastor Don pronounced the couples husbands and wives and introduced them to the audience.

Instead of a traditional reception and gifts, each family who attended the wedding was asked to bring a handmade card including prayers or blessings from each member of the family. These cards were only from farm families to the grooms and from ranch families to the brides. The cards would continue to be a pleasant memory to each of the couples for many years.

Right after the wedding, Jose and Lisa moved right into the apartment with two bedrooms in Pine City where they had Friday and Saturday nights alone for their honeymoon. Hugo and Ellie went to a quiet hotel in a nearby city for their honeymoon on Friday and Saturday nights and then joined their former roommates in the apartment where they used the second bedroom.

The couples shared the apartment until houses were available for them on the ranch and the farm. Both couples went to observe their foster parents the farm or ranch as they parented their new foster children. They wrote many things in their notebooks, so they could review them as needed.

If there had been a news article about them, it might have said, “Roommates dated roommates, had a double wedding, and now both couples share a two bedroom apartment with new roommates, who are now their spouses!”

Since the weather was nice, a family in Pine City went and bought a large sculpture of a girl sitting on a bench reading from the Holy Bible. It was to be painted by the buyer. They could paint it by hand, or use spray paint, and then put their choice of a matte or gloss finish on it.

The family lived in an apartment building in the city and had to leave it outside. It was too big and heavy to carry up the stairs. It wouldn't fit in the elevator and they had no room in their apartment for it anyway.

After painting it they would have to decide where to put it in the city. If they decided to have it be outside, it would need a special finish to protect it from the sun and weather. They talked about the entry way of their church, outside of a Bible book store, or outside in a park that had other sculptures.

Everybody in the family enjoyed taking turns painting the sculpture and each one had opportunities to talk to people who stopped to watch and ask questions.

One person asked, “Why are you going to all this work and expense when you can’t even keep it here?”

The person painting it answered, “Our family chose this activity as a possibility of getting people in another place interested in reading the Bible for themselves.”

Another person inquired, “What’s so important about the Bible?”

“The Bible tells all about God’s creation, the sins of the people he created, and God’s plan to redeem them,” replied the painter, after he had put down his paint brush so he could give them his full attention.

 

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Many of these conversations continued with other questions and the answers led to a full explanation of the Good News and an invitation for the ones asking to accept Jesus as their Savior. Some of them did and the family rejoiced about each one.

When the statue was finished the family decided the best place for it would be outside a Bible book store where people could go inside to buy a Bible or ask questions of the clerks.

Oralie read the next part of “Choose Your Examples.” Before starting, she stated, “Boys, I’m glad you have your Bibles notebooks, and a pen so you can write references and your comments or questions as you listen.”

Karen and William chose some topics and verses in Matthew 12-15 that they thought their students could relate to and use in their lives at school or on the ranch or farm.

Karen began, “Today we’ll read and talk about some more things Jesus said and did in the book of Matthew. Find chapterrrr 12, verses 34b-36 and follow along as I read them. We’ve read them before, but see if you can find something to help you control your tongues. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things. An evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. Therefore know that men shall give account for every idle word they shall speak, in the day of judgment.”

Lisa shared, “The last verse you read is a good warning. If we always remember about being accountable for what we say then maybe we’ll be more careful.”

“Yes,” added Stella, “and if we fill our hearts with good thoughts, we will have good things to talk about, instead of evil ones.”

“Good ideas, girls,” and Karen smiled. “Now, in chapter 13 find the parable of the sower and how Jesus explained it. Remember that we studied it some months ago. It’s good to review this story once in a while so we remember to keep the soil of our minds in good preparation so we can yield a good harvest. There are several other parables in this chapter, but we won’t talk about them today. In Matthew 14 Jesus did several miracles. See if you can find them by looking at the headings that come before the verses.”

Ellie said, “Verses 15-21 tell about Jesus feeding five thousand men besides women and children with five loaves and two fishes.”

“That was amazing!” stated Liz. “And in verses 22-27, Jesus sent the disciples in the boat to go to the other side of the sea. He went to pray and later during a bad storm he went to join them by walking on the water.”

Hanna went on, “The disciples were amazed and he also stilled the storm. Then in Verses 34-36 many sick people were healed just by touching the hem of Jesus garments.”

“I noticed,” inserted Nan, “the center reference for verse 36 has Matthew 9:20,21 where the woman who had a disease was healed just by touching the hem of Jesus garment. We read about it when we studied that chapter.”

Karen commended, “Thank you for that reminder, Nan. Now we’ll skip over to verses 18-20 in chapter 15. Read them and write your own summary in your notebooks.”

When they had finished, she asked Christi to read what she had written. She read, “The things people say come from the heart and they can corrupt a person. Terrible things can come out of the heart.”

Emma observed, “That goes very well with the verses we read in chapter 12 again today.”

“Yes it does,” agreed Karen, “now read verses 29-39 and notice that they’re similar to the happenings in chapter 14.”

When they had finished reading, Karen continued, “My summary for those verses is that Jesus healed many who were lame, blind, dumb, and crippled in some way. He also fed four thousand men, plus women and children with seven loaves and a few little fish.”

The girls nodded, and Karen concluded, “I think it’s immensely interesting to study things Jesus said and did. I’m glad we have the Bible so we can read about so many of them.” In closing they sang all four verses of the hymn, “More About Jesus.” The lyrics tell of wanting to know Jesus more and show more of his grace and love.

When Oralie finished she said, “The end of this section.”

Cory commented, “I think Karen put all these chapters together in this lesson because they had many similar teachings and miracles.”

“I think so too,” stated Kevin, “and I agree with her about being glad for being able to have the Bible.”

Max continued, “Yeah, I sometimes wish I could have been with the disciples to get to see and know Jesus face to face like they did. But then I realize I couldn’t be here now, if I had been there then.”

“For sure,” Daniel concurred, “we can’t be in two places at once.”

 

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Levi laughed. “It is an interesting thought, though. And it would make an interesting fiction story if someone had enough imagination to write it.”

They all agreed. Then later in the evening, Cory read the thoughts he had written about what each of the girls had said during the lesson. Then he wrote that it would be interesting to meet them and learn how old they were, but he’d have to wait until the next ranch graduation / going-away party for that.

 

Chapter12

Psalm 68:3, Let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God; yes, let them exceedingly rejoice.

Anita chuckled and Don asked, “What are you thinking about, my dear wife?”

She answered, “How we had no clue about the double wedding you recently performed on the ranch.”

Don nodded, “It is humorous how we get no clues from most of the families on the ranch and farm, since they keep sitting with their families in the church services.”

“Well, it seems to be working very well for them to do things with the families instead of the usual kind of dating,” added Anita.

“Right,” he agreed, “and I’m very glad the two couples came together to ask me to officiate their wedding. It was pleasant to listen to the way God had worked out all the details so they could spend a lot of time getting to know each other and be able to have their wedding near all their birthdays and then move to Pine City to live in an apartment while they wait for houses on the farm and ranch.

Anita went on, “I’m sure it was pleasant for you, and I'm glad you told me all those details, because it’s good to know that the LORD was leading all of them all that time”

“Indeed,” and Don remembered, “we knew about Brad and Irene, because Brad came and told me about his plan.”

“Yes,” responded Anita, “and then they told us their experience, and it made another extraordinary love story.

“I agree,” said Don, “and their wedding was very different since everyone was on horseback for it. From where I was sitting on my horse, I could see that Timothy and Mary enjoyed being on horses for attending that wedding.”

Anita stated, “I'm sure they did, and I’m glad they both enjoy going to weddings. I also noticed that both of the last weddings on the ranch were very simple and inexpensive for everyone. This last wedding was much more beautiful since it was outside with God’s creation providing abundant, springtime decorations, and everyone was dressed in nice church type clothes.”

“Definitely, plus the weather was much warmer,” Don observed.

Anita noted, “Positively, and therefore it was much more comfortable for everyone.”

“For sure,” and then Don tacked on, “I liked the way all three couples asked for no presents since they realize the farm and ranch families do not have much extra money.”

Anita concluded, “Instead of presents, I think the written blessings, prayers, and wishes will be wonderful memories for the couples. They are very meaningful.”

One day during lunch Cory commented to his ministry partner, “Van, we’ve talked off and on about our careers. Did I ever tell you why I chose what I did?

Van replied, “I remember one time you said it was because your dad had that kind of a job when you were in a wheelchair and it made it easier for him to help take care of you.”

“Right,” agreed Cory, “and that’s what gave me the idea of the lifestyle ministry I would like to have. I would like to marry a woman who is a believer and who also desires to raise abused foster girls on the ranch near the farm where I live. A home based business would be the best way for me to be able to help her with them.”

Van remarked, “What a big commitment that would be! Why do you wish to live on a ranch?”

“It’s not a cattle ranch,” Cory clarified, “it’s a very special ranch, which used to be a dude ranch, but the owners changed it into a group of Caring Foster Homes for abused girls. They have thirty-two of the most wonderful horses you can imagine. Most girls have a big desire to be able to ride a horse. Horses are very good therapy for people with problems of many kinds.”

Next Van asked, “Have you ever ridden a horse?”

 

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“Indeed,” answered Cory, “my whole family and I get to go to that ranch on alternating weekends to ride the horses or do other fun things like hiking or rowing flat-bottomed boats on the lake. Would you like to go with us some weekend?”

“I sure would, if you will teach me how to ride,” Van responded.

Cory stated, “I’ll be glad to, Van, along with teaching you the rules you have to agree to follow and how to care for the horses before and after the ride, and then how to clean up the saddle and other things.”

“It sounds like a lot to learn, but I’d like to try it,” Van concluded.

So Van became a regular guest of the Iverson family and soon enjoyed horses and the ranch as much as they did.

Greg read the next part of “Choose Your Examples” to his five boys after supper and chores were finished. Before he started he remarked, “This will be a good sword drill for you guys on the subject of forgiveness.”

After the lesson on Matthew 12-15, Karen and William had decided that for the next few lessons, they would choose verses from one of the Gospels and have the class find parallel passages in the other Gospels or cross-references that would go with the teaching.

This day William had them look up Matthew 18:21,22 and read it aloud with him. Peter came and asked, “Lord, how often shall I forgive my brother who sins against me, until seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I say not until seven times, but until seventy times seven.”

Carlos exclaimed, “Wow! It would equal 490 times! I’d lose track, but I think that’s what Jesus had in mind. Don’t bother to keep track, just keep forgiving.”

“Precisely,” agreed William, “but I also think if a person continues to sin against you it would be good to avoid that person if you can. So now let’s look at the center references and in our concordances to see what we can find that goes with these verses.”

One of the other boys found Luke 17:3,4 and read, “ Take heed to yourselves, if your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day and says to you ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

Evan noticed, “In Matthew, Jesus didn’t mention the brother repenting like he did this time, he just said to forgive him.”

“True,” acknowledged another boy, “but it’s easier to forgive if he repents.”

“I agree,” then Gary observed, “I found Luke 11:4a, which is part of the Lord’s Prayer and says, forgive us our sins as we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”

Another of the boys mentioned, “After the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, Jesus added verses 14 and 15, For if you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive men their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins.”

Sam remarked, “Here are two more verses to go with that thought, in Mark 11:25,26, When you stand praying, forgive, if you have something against anyone, so your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your sins. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your sins.”

“Good work boys!” William exclaimed. “Your verses and comments point out how important it is to forgive. Now go back to Matthew 18 and read verses 23-35 silently. Then write in your notebooks how you think these verses could go with the others we read today.”

The last of the other four boys shared his, “A king forgave one of his servants his huge debt, but the man wouldn’t forgive his fellow servant a small debt, so the king withdrew his forgiveness and had the first one tormented until he would pay. Jesus said that’s what will happen to us if we don’t forgive other’s sins against us.”

“Correct,” William concurred, “it emphasizes how important forgiveness is. The person who refuses to forgive someone’s sin against them will feel tormented and without peace, unless or until he or she takes care of forgiving like Jesus said to do.”

All the boys nodded and were thankful they had already taken care of things in their past lives that needed to be forgiven and they would remember to continue forgiving others who would sin against them in the future.

In closing William had them read in unison, Colossians 3:12-14, Put on … mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and forgive one another, if anyone has a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you so also you must forgive. And above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfectness.

Greg concluded, “This is an excellent way to finish this lesson.”

“I think so too,”agreed Levi, “and they would be good verses for me to memorize and then review often.”

Kevin nodded, “Ditto, because they would help me to deal with and forgive difficult people at school.”

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“I agree,” and then Max inserted, “You were right, Dad, this was a great sword drill and it was mainly in the Gospels. It kept me busy trying to keep up.”

“Yes,” added Cory, “and I like the way the teachers on the farm and the ranch make their lessons so interesting and keep the students involved and thinking.”

Daniel stated, “I agree, and I like the way you and Mom read these lessons to us with such good expression that it almost feels like we are right there in the room with them.”

“Thank you, Daniel,” responded Greg, “and I enjoy listening to all the comments you guys make at the end of the lessons.”

For the week of the Fourth of July, Vern and Lora, along with Frank and Becky pulled their little trailers to the Big Creek Lakes Recreation Area in northwestern Colorado. They found camping sites in the campground and both families had good meetings that evening.

Vern commented at bedtime, “It was a long drive to this place, but there were some pretty places along the way.”

“You’re right, Dear,” agreed Lora, “and I’m glad both families were able to find places to camp since we had no reservations.”

Vern added, “Same here, and I’m glad it worked well to leave home early enough to get here in time to have a good meeting this evening. I pray everyone will come back tomorrow.”

The next day, it was a cool day and rain threatened, but they took lunch and rain gear and went on the hike to Upper Big Creek Lake and Big Creek Falls. It was a nice smooth trail, not even very steep for hiking. There were lots of evergreen trees on both sides of the trail, and they only felt a few drops of rain.

“Look,” and Frank pointed, “a sign points the way to the falls.”

The group had just reached the junction of that trail, which follows Big Creek, but doesn’t get very close to the creek until it turns to go over to the creek.

Becky exclaimed loudly over the roar of the water, “This is a spectacular view of the falls! It has a lot of water plunging down from about 40 feet above.”

Vern pointed and everyone looked. All of them were thrilled to see a water ouzel, also known as the American dipper. They could even see the place where it’s nest was located near the falls. Both parent birds were bringing food to the baby birds in the nest. They even got to see one of the parents go under water in the creek to catch a juicy morsel. They eat insects and their larvae, small fish and fish eggs.

That evening they had another good meeting where one person decided to accept Jesus. The next day they took their trailers and drove to an area south of Gould, Colorado where they set up the screen tent, close to both trailers so they could go inside to keep away from the mosquitoes. Lora and Becky had a chance to sketch the stream and the mountains, while the men researched books and maps to find roads to drive on for the next few days.

The families got to see other wildlife on the other days they were in the area whether hiking, driving on the dirt roads, or from the screen tent. They saw a big cinnamon colored bear running fast down the road. In another place they saw a porcupine waddling slowly over to a tree to climb it. They also saw what they thought might be a mink or a pine martin. They saw a beautiful doe wading in the stream, and heard a chorus of coyotes on one evening. They also saw chipmunks, ground squirrels, and gray squirrels and later a herd of elk.

On one hike they found some aspen trees with twisted trunks. One even had a place where Vern proceeded to sit, because it was like a chair. Lora quickly took a picture of him thinking that Mindy would enjoy seeing her dad having fun.

The camping sites in this area were few and far between, so it was not conducive for having meetings. But it was a very beautiful and quiet place, and they all felt rested and renewed from this trip. They were also thankful for the one person who had accepted Jesus at the other camping area.

Oralie called to the boys, “Hurry with your chores today, because I get to read the next part of ‘Choose Your Examples.’ It’s a good one. I think you’ll like it.”

Karen and William’s next lesson started with Matthew 19:26b, With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

After reading it aloud Karen mentioned,” Jesus said this after talking about how hard it is for rich people to get into heaven. Are there any verses in the center reference or concordance that could go with this verse?”

June stated, “Luke 1:37 says it in an opposite way, For with God nothing shall be impossible. The angel said that to Mary when he told her she would give birth to Jesus.”

 

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“That’s a good one,” one of the girls said, “and Luke 18:27 is in a parallel passage to the one in Matthew, but it is stated a little differently, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

Sara continued, “Yes, and in Mark 9:23 Jesus said to the man who wanted his son healed, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

“I like that verse,” another girl remarked, “In Mark 10:27 I found another parallel passage for the Matthew verse and it has an added phrase. Jesus said, With men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible.”

Kim proposed, “Right, and here’s one in Genesis 18:14 and although it doesn’t use the word ‘possible,’ I think it could go with these. When Abraham and Sarah doubted they could have a child when they were so old, the LORD replied, Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. And that’s exactly what happened!”

“I like it!” Candy declared. “Since your verse works so well, I’ll read part of a prayer in Jeremiah 32:17. Ah Lord God! Behold, you have made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you. The verses go on to mention the LORD’s loving kindness, signs, and wonders in the land of Egypt, and how he gave the land of Israel to his people. Then in verse 27, the LORD answered Jeremiah, Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?”

“Those are great verses,” said one of the other girls, “I think Romans 4:20,21 would go with Kim’s verse. It says, Abraham didn’t stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. He was fully persuaded that God was able to perform what he had promised.”

“Thank you, girls,” commended Karen. “you’ve found some very good verses, and they can help to build up our faith in our great LORD of the possible. Let’s finish our study time by singing the song, ‘Ah, Lord God,’ since it uses the scripture Candy read a few minutes ago in Jeremiah 32:17.”

Oralie finished, “And this is the end of this part. What did you think about it?”

“Exactly what you said, Mom,” stated Cory, “it was a good one and I liked it.”

The rest of the boys nodded their agreement and Levi added, “I liked the way four of the girls kept finding cross-references that said almost the same thing as the verse in Matthew.”

“Precisely,” agreed Kevin, “and then two of them found scriptures in the Old Testament proving that there is nothing too hard for God.”

Max continued, “Yep, and the two verses in Romans tell why Abraham was able to keep believing.”

“And, I like that song, ‘Ah, Lord God.’ May we sing it now?” asked Daniel.

“Of course,” answered Oralie. So they did.

The two newly married couples did very well with both of them in the one apartment in Pine City. Hugo mentioned, “This plan saved us a lot of money we could use to buy many of the things we will need for our big families on the farm and on the ranch.”

Jose agreed, “I think that since we were already all friends and had been roommates on the farm or ranch helped us to adjust to being married, even though we were not living alone as couples.”

“Right,” Lisa went on, “and it also helped that both couples ate breakfast at different times, since Hugo had to hurry to the farm to be at work earlier than the rest of us.”

Ellie stated, “Yes, and riding the city bus has worked well for the rest of us. Hugo was able to find a good used six-passenger van to drive from here to the farm and we can also use it for our family when we move.”

“Plus,” inserted Jose, “I’m glad we have all completed the training for raising abused foster kids, and have gotten our licenses.”

“Absolutely!” Hugo exclaimed. “We don’t have a firm date for when we’ll get to move to the farm or you two will get to move to the ranch.”

Ellie added, “Correct, but at least we are now ready for whenever it will be.”

“I’m glad we have the important things taken care of, because it’s a good feeling to know we are ready,” Lisa concurred.

Jose mentioned, “It’s a good thing I have a job in the city that continues after our move to the ranch to raise four foster girls. I think my job at Discount Mart will continue to be a good one. I’ve already gotten one raise and they are a good company.”

A couple days later, Felix called to tell them about some surprising plans on the farm for Felix and Sunny that also involved Hugo and Ellie.

Felix greeted, “Hi, Hugo, turn on the speaker of your phone, so everyone there can hear this.”

“OK, Dad, the speaker is on and all four of us are listening to you,” responded Hugo.

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So Felix continued, “Vera’s brother is older than Vera is, so he and his wife would like to resign from the farm and move to Pine City where they can find easier jobs. They asked me if Sunny and I would like to take over their job of overseeing the farm. Of course we are thrilled and grateful to be asked, so we gladly consented.

Hugo exclaimed, “Wow! This is very surprising news!

“Yes, and there’s more to come,” stated Felix. “They gave Sunny and me a crash course on how to do their job and now they have already moved, leaving all their furniture in the house. So Sunny and I are the new managers, but we can feel free to call them with any questions.”

Jose pondered, “It sounds like a very big responsibility, but the two of you are smart enough to handle it.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jose,” and then Felix went on, “they hired people to clean up their house and we just finished moving into the big house with our new foster boys. Sunny can use the piano in the farm house and it is a three-bedroom house, so we can continue to raise four foster boys, along with the work of overseeing the farm.”

Hugo commented, “it sounds like both of you are going to be extra busy.”

“I’m sure we will be!” Felix declared. “Now here is the rest of the news. This will provide a house for you and Ellie, because you can live in the vacated house. Furthermore I will hire you, Hugo and Ellie, immediately with full time wages like the rest of the farm workers. This will give you jobs on the farm to pay for the rent of the house and for living there to raise four foster boys.”

“This news is amazing and unbelievable!” Hugo almost shouted. “Plus it has all happened way sooner than I could have imagined.”

“I agree,” said Felix, “but it is true and would the four of you come clean the other house tomorrow, since we have four boys who need our help to get settled? And if you would bring your belongings, you can move right in there and have two weeks to get settled before your foster boys start being assigned.”

Hugo emphasized, “Thanks, Dad, we’ll see you tomorrow. Bye for now.” Then he asked, “Jose and Lisa would you please come help us clean that house and get our things moved there.”

They nodded and Jose reasoned, “Of course we will, that’s what friends are for!”

“And this just proved why it is so good to be ready,” Lisa noted.

“For sure,” inserted Ellie, “on top of that, it’s a good thing we told our boss at work, ‘we might need to quit without notice.’ I’m glad they understood and said it would be OK.”

Lisa nodded emphatically, and just before they left the next day, Lisa gave Ellie a bundle of her own clothes that she knew Ellie liked since they were both the same size. Ellie was pleased that she would be able to take them to her new home on the farm to use for church and for going special places.

Since she would be moving to the farm, Ellie gave Lisa the things she had bought for the apartment since the house on the farm came fully furnished and equipped. Lisa was happy to have those things because she could continue to use them in the apartment and in the ranch house when she and Jose would get to move there.

It was Greg’s turn to read the next section of “Choose Your Examples.” He commented, “Boys, I think you’ll be busy with your pens and notebooks writing all the scripture references today.”

William and Karen used Matthew 20:20-28 and the similar passage in Mark 10:35-45, with their study groups with other verses to teach about being servants.

William began by having them sing together the song, “Servant of All.” Then he had half the group read the passage in Mark and the other half read the one in Matthew.

“Now,” he instructed, “write a summary for those verses in your notebooks.” When they had finished he had a volunteer read his.

Luis read, “In Matthew it said that James and John’s mother requested that her boys would get to sit on Jesus right and left hand in his kingdom. Jesus told her it was God’s place to do that. The other ten disciples were angry about the request, but Jesus told all twelve of them, they were not to be like the world. Rather they should be like Jesus who came to serve…”

One of the boys commented, “It was almost the same in Mark, so it must be a parallel passage.”

William replied, “You’re right. Good summary, Luis. Now, let’s look up some other verses that speak about being servants.” He handed out slips of paper with references written on them. “Look up your verse or verses and be ready to read and or comment.”

Jose observed, “John 13:16 and 15:20 have parts that are identical where Jesus said, ‘The servant is not greater than his master,’ so we can’t expect better treatment than Jesus got.”

Another boy read, “Philippians 2:7, Jesus made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”

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The next boy remarked, “I like the last part of Galatians 5:13 that says to serve one another in love.”

Hugo noted, “Luke 22:26,27 follow another argument among the disciples about who would be the greatest. Jesus told them he was among them as one that serves.”

Pedro read, “1 Peter 4:10 says, Every man has received a gift, therefore minister or serve it to each other as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

Next William read Matthew 23:10-12, Don’t be called masters because one is your Master, even Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be abased, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. See if you can find some more verses about being humble.

Hugo mentioned, “Philippians 2:8 comes right after 7, which we already heard. It says that Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.”

Luis commented, “James 4:6b, and 10 say, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble… Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

Another boy said, “1 Peter 5:5,6 says almost the same thing.”

Jose added, “Yes, and Luke 14:11 says the same as Matthew 23:12.”

“I have a long one,” Pedro concluded, “in Isaiah 57:15. For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell in the high and holy place with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

William smiled at them all and complimented them. “Thank you boys for your good work today. I hope we will all remember to be humble servants for our Lord Jesus.”

Then they sang the song, “Servant of All” together again. They left quietly, thinking about how to be servants.

Greg told them, “This is the end of this section.”

Levi commented, “William sure kept those guys busy in this lesson, and therefore he kept us busy too.”

“Without a doubt,” and Daniel went on, “There were several scripture verses that would be good for me to memorize and put into practice.”

Kevin nodded. “Ditto for me, and I’m glad we get to learn some of the same things as the rest of them on the farm and on the ranch.”

Max declared, “We are triple blessed, because we have what we learned in the church school, and in this family, and from these lessons too!”

“So true, Max,” agreed Cory, “we can be grateful for so much!”

Vera was driving herself and Unice to Pine City to do their grocery shopping after they would have a time of ministry in the park or in some other store where they liked to just look at things on display but they usually didn’t buy anything.

While she was riding, Unice took this opportunity to express her feelings. “Vera, I’m still happy that I’m single and I like being a veterinarian and also a family nurse practitioner.”

“And I’m glad you are happy and like your jobs, because I don’t know what we’d do without you!” Vera exclaimed.

Unice responded, “Thank you, Vera, it’s nice to feel needed. And besides, I’m glad I get to live and work full-time at Mercy Valley Ranch, because it’s such a beautiful, wonderful place.”

“You’re welcome,” replied Vera. “It surely is a beautiful place. I’ve always felt privileged to be able to live there.”

Unice continued, “Plus, I think that you are part of what makes it such a wonderful place because of your kindness and hospitality.”

“Thank you, Unice,” said Vera and admitted, “I thank the LORD for the gift of hospitality and his help to make me kind.”

Unice added, “You’re welcome. The LORD is so good! And his goodness has come to me, through you and Oscar. I no longer feel pressured for time. I enjoy my lifestyle and I’m grateful for the many times I get to work on my autobiography. Plus, I really like my enlarged cabin. My foster parents are so happy for me.”

“Those are very good things for me to hear!” Vera declared. “How is your autobiography progressing?”

Unice explained, “It’s slow, but I get to add new things as they happen once in a while. I’m not in a hurry to complete it, because I wouldn’t want to leave out some important happening by getting in a hurry.”

“”That makes good sense,” agreed Vera. “I'm looking forward to reading your autobiography when you do get it finished.”

“I'm glad, and I’ll try to make it interesting,” and then Unice added, “It was nice to have time today to tell you some of my thoughts and about how grateful I am for everything.”

Vera responded, “Thank you for sharing with me.”

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Then they continued conversing about other topics until they got to the park where they walked along the path praying for the people they saw, and looking for an opportunity to minister to someone. This day they just prayed, but some days they did get to help someone.

Later they went to the grocery store, where they both shopped for the things on their separate lists but using the same cart. Today another lady shopper had observed them shopping and asked how they kept their things separated.

Unice explained, “I just put my things in this small upper section, since I’m single and don’t need much room.”

Vera went on, “Right, and I use the rest of the space to get what I need for my big family of six people.”

“Wow, what a large family! It must keep you very busy.” The lady was walking along with them now and asked, “But why do you do it this way? Wouldn’t it be quicker and easier to just use two carts?”

So Vera and Unice took turns telling the lady about their church and ministry times with two or more in a team, so they could tell others about the Good News if they wanted to listen.

“How fascinating,” stated the woman, “but what are the good news? Most of the news I hear are just bad.”

Unice suggested, “If you have time, we could all go to the coffee shop and buy something to drink. They have tables where we could sit and tell you about the Good News.”

“Sure,” she agreed, “I have time if you two do.”

So they went there, and Vera and Unice bought herbal tea, and the lady bought coffee. Then she was told about Jesus and all he had done to make the Good News possible. They answered her questions and invited her to ask Jesus to be her Savior. After her sincere prayer, she was filled with joy and peace and consented read the little booklet, and meet them at the church on the weekend so she could give the little card to the pastor.

Oralie was ready to read the next section of “Choose Your Examples” right after everyone helped with supper clean-up and their other chores.

Karen taught half of a lesson to the girls titled, “Who I am Because of Jesus, and How to Live.” She had each of the girls look up a verse and write in their notebooks the way they would personalize it as a prayer by starting with “Thank You.”

Karen gave them an example first, “Thank you, Jesus, that I am a new creature in you, Galatians 6:15c.” Then she gave out verses on little slips of paper and let them have time to follow her directions.

Lisa was first, “Thank you, Jesus, that I have been adopted and can say, Abba, Father, Romans 8:15b.”

“Thank you, Lord,” Christi went on, “for Romans 6:11b, because it says, I am alive to God through Jesus.”

Next a girl said, “And I thank you, Jesus, that I am a child of God, 1 John 3:2a.”

“Thank you, Jesus,” Hanna prayed, “for making me free, Galatians 5:1a.”

Ellie added, “Thank you Father, that you have put me into the kingdom of your dear Son, Colossians 1:13b.”

“Thank you, Jesus,” Stella went on to pray, “because you are the Good Shepherd and you gave your life for the sheep, John 10:11, then no one can pluck me out of your hand, John 10:28.”

Nan continued, “Thank you that God has sealed me and given me the down payment of the Spirit in my heart, 2 Corinthians 1:22.”

Emma added, “Thank you for making me complete in Jesus who is the head of all principality and power, Colossians 2:10.”

“Thank you, Jesus,” prayed Liz, “that you have given me all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of you. Therefore I have exceeding great and precious promises so I can partake of the divine nature, 2 Peter 1:3,4a.”

Karen complimented them, “What a good job each of you did by personalizing the verse and then praying it with such sincerity. Next week I’ll have a printed page with these verses on it plus another section with more verses about how we should live because of what Jesus has done for us. I’ll see you next time.”

William did a similar lesson on the farm.

Oralie stated, “This is all there is of this section.”

Daniel noted, “It was very short, but it had many thoughts in it.”

“I agree,” added Levi, “and I noticed that many of the scriptures only had a part of a verse.”

Cory remarked, “Yes, and I like the way the girls followed Karen’s directions and then she complimented them for doing a good job.”

 

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“I like her compliment too,” Kevin agreed. “I think students continue to try hard when they find out they are doing a good job that pleases the teachers.”

“Definitely,” stated Max, “and I like the way Dad and Mom let us know when we do well on something.”

They all agreed and thanked their parents individually.

Riley and Amelia had asked her parents Ernest and Connie Clay to come with their foster girl, Tanya, to lunch on a Sunday. Connie had answered, “We’d love to, if you will let us bring our half of the meal. Tanya wants to learn how to cook already, so we can bring the main dish and a dessert.”

When they arrived Riley welcomed them in stating, “Whatever you cooked smells delicious! I can hardly wait to taste it!”

Tanya smiled with the pleasure of knowing she had helped to cook what they had brought with them.

Then Amelia asked, “Tanya, would you like to come with me to help with the twins, who are just waking up from their naps?”

“Yes, I was hoping I would get to help you with the twins,” she answered. “They’re so cute, and I have finally gotten so I can tell them apart.”

Amelia said, “Good for you. Mark and Luke are already out here and they have ‘new’ trucks we bought at a thrift store to show their grandma and grandpa.”

In a little while, everyone was seated at the table and Riley prayed, “Father in Heaven, thank you for this time we can spend with some of the rest of our family. And thank you for the delicious food we will eat. Bless it to our bodies and bless our time of fellowship, in Jesus name, Amen.”

The food was all delicious and many compliments were given to all the cooks. Tanya liked watching the children as they ate. They were learning how to eat without making as much of a mess as they used to do, when they were younger.

The conversation was enjoyable at the table. Then the ladies worked in the kitchen to put away the leftovers and clean up the dishes, while the men were pleased to entertain and be entertained by the children in the living room.

Before Oralie read the next part of “Choose Your Examples,” she set up two large monitors on the big desk and put chairs where the boys could see the lesson and read the prayer together. Then she explained. “Boys, I’ll read the first paragraph to you and then we’ll read the prayer together out loud.”

At the next lesson Karen handed out the page she had printed out and explained, “This page is the followup for last week’s lesson. It has the verses you personalized and also contains the second half of the lesson. I was going to divide the ‘help me’ section into verses for each of you girls to read like we did last week. But I decided it would be more meaningful if we’d read it aloud together as a prayer. So please read it silently a time or two and then we’ll read it together. After giving them enough time to read it silently, they prayed it out loud together.

Father in heaven, because of what Jesus has done for us, please help me have all diligence to add to my faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and love, because if these things are in me, they make me fruitful in the knowledge of Jesus, as 2 Peter 1:5-8 says.

Since I have received Jesus please enable me to walk in him, rooted and built up in him and

established in the faith as I have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving, Colossians 2:6,7.

Help me to put on mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with, and forgiving one another, like Jesus forgave me. And above all these things help me put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. Help me let the peace of God rule in my heart, … and make me thankful, Colossians 3:12-15.

Make the word of Jesus dwell in me richly in all wisdom, … and may I sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with grace in my heart to the Lord. And whatever I do in word or deed, please help me to do it all in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father by him. Plus, help me to do all I do, heartily as to the Lord, and not to men, as it says in Colossians 3:16,17,23.

When they finished, they all said Amen. Then the girls made comments about things they had prayed.

One girl observed, “The first paragraph has a good list of virtues we should earnestly try to add to our lives.”

“Definitely,” and Sara went on, “I noticed another good list of virtues in the third paragraph, that we all need to use in every situation.”

“Yes,” Candy noted, “and the second and third paragraphs both have places reminding us to be thankful.”

Another girl continued, “I agree, so being thankful is important since it was repeated, and it’s also in the fourth paragraph again.”

 

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“Right,” said Kim and then remarked, “Paul wrote Colossians and both letters to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 13, he reminds us that all things must be done with love.”

A different girl mentioned, “Yes, and I like the idea of God’s peace ruling in my heart.”

“So do I,” agreed June, “and I like the reminder to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We do that at church and sometimes in this group.”

The last girl concluded, “It sounds like doing everything in Jesus name and doing it as best we can for him, is very important.”

“I agree,” Karen replied, “and remember we pray the verses on this page asking God to help us and we live our lives by faith, knowing as I paraphrase Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Jesus who gives me strength. So don’t expect yourselves to do all these things perfectly all the time. The Christian life is a process of reaching for goals like the ones on this page and doing the best we can with Jesus helping us.”

William did a similar lesson on the farm.

And Oralie said, “The end.”

Max stated, “I really like the prayer we read together! Could we read it again?”

The other boys gave a thumb up and Oralie answered, “Of course.”

When they finished Cory requested, “would you please print a copy of the prayer for me? I’d like to pray it for myself at least once a week to remind me and ask for our Father’s help.”

“The same applies for me, agreed, ditto, likewise,” were the requests from the other four boys. Oralie smiled and nodded.

The downstairs of the fourth house was completed by the end of the second week in July. The workers cleaned it all up inside so there was not a speck of construction dust, the windows sparkled, the floor was spotless and all the dressers, desks, closets and cupboards were cleaned and ready for the family to move in and unpack. Even the garage and store room were cleaned. The workers all took pleasure in a job well done and cleaned up.

Ben had told Oscar and Vera at the beginning of the week when it would be ready, and they had informed Jeff, Karen, and family, so they could be packed and ready to move on the weekend.

Karen called Lisa and Jose the same day she found out, and they also got packed. Then on Friday, Jose and Lisa had loaded their belongings into the used six-passenger van they had just bought at the beginning of the week.

Lisa had called Ellie on Tuesday, told her the good news and asked, “Since you two have not been assigned any boys yet, could you come this weekend and help us move Dad and Mom to their new house and then help us clean up their old one so Jose and I can move into it?”

“Of course, Lisa,” answered Ellie, “just like Jose said, that’s what friends and in this case, families are for!”

So the weekend was moving time for two families. It was nice that Hugo and Ellie still had some time left for getting settled in the farm house and were glad to come help the others. First they all went through the new house and verbalized pleasure about the workmanship and how clean it was everywhere.

Karen summed it all up by exclaiming, “It really was just like Ben said it would be! It is move-in ready! They did an excellent job!”

Next they loaded part of the Spencers’ boxes into their van and Hugo and Ellie’s van and everyone helped to unload them and put them in the right rooms. They repeated the process until everything was moved out of that house into the new one. Then everyone took a rest break to visit and drink some apple juice to give them more energy for the other jobs ahead.

Greg read the next part of “Choose Your Examples” after he had played the songs mentioned at the beginning of the lesson.

This time William chose some songs about Jesus power. He found some good songs on an album sung by Pat Boone. First William played a medley including “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name,” and “We have Power in the Name of Jesus.” Both of them go with Philippians 2:9-11. The second song of the medley contains the words “every knee will bow.” When the songs were finished, he asked Jose to read Philippians 2:9-11.

Jose read, “God has given Jesus, a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and in earth and under the earth. And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. These are some of my favorite verses.”

William nodded played a song with words that say one day everyone will say, “Jesus is Lord.” He had some boys read and comment on some other verses that went with the song.

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One boy read Romans 10:9, “If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. This verse tells what I did when I accepted Jesus as my Savior.”

“Same here,” another boy said, “1 Corinthians 8:6 says, But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we are in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we are by him. To me this means there’s only one Father and one Lord Jesus of everything.

“I think so too,” remarked Luis, “In John 20:28, when Thomas saw that Jesus had really risen from the dead, he said to him, ‘ My Lord and my God.’ And I’ll bet he was wishing he hadn’t doubted when the rest told him that Jesus was alive.”

“I agree,” said William and then he played “I’m a Child of the King.” They found some verses to go with the song, after he explained that God is the King.

“I really like this verse,” Hugo shared, “John 1:12, to all who did receive him and believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. It proves to me that I’m a child of the King.”

A boy said, “Yes, and Galatians 3:26 is another good proof verse, For you are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus.”

“Yes it is,” and then Pedro figured out, “In 2 Corinthians 6:18 God, the King, must be speaking. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.

The last boy read, “Romans 8:16, The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God. Since God’s Spirit lives in us believers, he tells us we are God’s children.”

William commended, “Great job, boys. I like the way you read with good expression and made good comments. We have just enough time to listen to the songs again before you leave today.”

The girls on the ranch enjoyed a similar lesson with Karen.

When he finished reading this lesson, Greg said, “The end.

Daniel observed, “This lesson has some very encouraging verses to share with a new believer who might not be sure of his salvation or of who Jesus really is.”

“Right,” agreed Kevin, “it’s almost like two short lessons, and we could use the scriptures for either or both cases.”

Max reflected, “I’m going to memorize some of these verses, and the Holy Spirit will help me remember them when they’re needed.

“Good idea,” Levi concurred. “Plus for the ones we don’t memorize we could write the references and verses on one of those blank pages at the end of our New Testaments.”

“Definitely,” stated Cory. “And I really like those good songs. Could we listen to them again right now?”

They did listen and sang along with the parts they knew.

As it turned out, Jeff and Karen’s former house was also completely cleaned by them and their girls after they had finished packing, so it was also ready for Jose and Lisa to move right in.

Lisa ran up to the new house and shouted, “Thank you all so much for cleaning up your other house! It’s just as clean and ready to be moved into as this one! We appreciate it very much!”

Jeff responded for all of them, “You’re very welcome. Go and enjoy moving in and living there.”

It didn’t take long to unpack Jose and Lisa’s van and put things in the correct rooms. As they were finishing Lisa remarked, “I’m glad we waited to buy the computers and sewing machine until after our move here.”

“We felt the same way,” said Ellie. “Therefore, we only had to move them from the store to our house on the farm. Our house is very nice and we are starting to feel more settled in it.”

“One of the things I like best,” Hugo shared, “is the way I can keep enjoying the used piano that Grandpa and Grandma Mendoza bought for our family.”

Jose cheered. “I’m so glad for you, Hugo! Now you can teach your boys how to play the piano if they want to learn.”

“Exactly,” agreed Hugo, “I have a special memory of practicing while Mom listened from wherever she was working in the house. One day she heard two wrong notes in the last line I had played. She called to me and had me play it over correctly, and then play the whole piece again. When I finished, she came into the room and said it sounded much better. I asked her how she knew the notes were wrong, and she honestly said, ‘I did the same thing when I practiced that piece.’ Then I asked her if she enjoyed practicing. She shared with me how much she enjoyed learning and practicing on the piano because of being able to have a piano in the house, and Dad doing one of her chores for her, to make time for her to practice. Because of what she said, I became more thankful and did a better job of practicing, instead of wishing I could be outside playing with my brothers.”

 

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Jose responded, “What a neat memory for you, and I would imagine you made better progress on the piano because of your better attitude.”

Hugo nodded emphatically, and suggested, “Now let’s all go clean up the apartment in the city so we can get our deposit back.”

“What a good idea!” Jose exclaimed. “Thank you for being so thoughtful and helpful!”

For a change of pace and place, Oralie read the next part of “Choose Your Examples” to the boys as they ate breakfast on a weekend morning.

Karen sent an email to William on the farm. Since we’ve mostly finished with our studies of the first three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, how would it be to start studying parts of John since it is so different from the other three?

When she checked her email the next day, William had already replied, I think it’s a good idea. We can send ideas to each other as we go along, like we’ve been doing so far.

So Karen worked on, and finished her first lesson plan and sent a copy to him. Then she taught John 1:1-34 to her girls’ Bible Study Groups.

First she explained, “Girls, we’re going to study some of the verses in the Gospel of John, so please find the first chapter in that book. Notice that much of this chapter is in black letters. Jesus doesn’t say anything until verse 38, which is after the part we’ll study today. The apostle John is the author. In John 20:30,31 John said, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you might have life through his name. All of us here today believe and we have life now, which we live for Jesus, and we will have eternal life with him. Now read John 1:1-5 aloud with me.”

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in

the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Karen continued, “In an earlier lesson we discussed why ‘Word’ is capitalized here and verse 14 explains it clearly, And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Most commentators agree that the Word is Jesus, God’s Son, and therefore everything was created through him. Now that I’ve explained what I think the first three verses and 14 mean, who’d like to tell us what you think verses 4 and 5 mean?”

Lisa admitted, “Those verses are hard to explain, but I think Jesus as the Word, had life in him, and his life here on earth gave light to the people on earth. To me darkness can mean sin causing blindness to the truth, so it couldn’t grasp what the light was.”

“I think so too, Lisa,” then Karen asked, “who’d like to read verses 6-8?”

Nan raised her hand and then read, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness to bear witness of the Light, so all men might believe through him. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.”

Karen said, “Thank you, Nan, now who’ll give a summary of those verses?”

Hanna tried, “God sent John the Baptist to tell about the Light, so all people could believe. Since Light is capitalized, I assume it means Jesus in these verses. The author makes it clear that John was not the Light, but he was a person who would inform others about the Light.”

“Good job, Hanna,” and then Karen asked for a volunteer to read next, and someone to tell what the verses mean.

Emma read verses 9-11, “That was the true Light, which lights every man who comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.”

Christi stated, “I think those verses mean that Jesus was the true Light, and he gives light to all people. He came into the world that first Christmas, but the world didn’t know him even though he had made it himself, and it didn’t receive him.”

“I agree, Christi,” responded Karen and then she chose another reader and commentator.

Liz read verses 12,13, “ But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Ellie proposed, “The first word in verse 12 is very important because it tells us some people did receive him, and he gave them power to become his sons born of God.”

“For sure,” replied Karen, “and thank God, we’re all in that number! Now please read verses 19-34 silently, and then I’ll tell you my summary of those verses.”

When they were finished Karen summarized, “John was an honest witness and stated he was not the Messiah, but was sent to make his way straight. He said how much greater the Messiah was than he was,

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because he existed before John, who was actually born six months before Jesus was. Jesus existed from eternity, but not in human form. The Holy Spirit descended from heaven and rested on Jesus like a dove. This was a sign given to John to know Jesus was the Son of God. I especially like verses 16-18, so Stella, would you read them aloud for us?”

Stella read John 1:16-18. “And from the fullness (of the Word), we have received grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom, or embrace, of the Father has declared him, or made him known.” Then Stella added, “This was an interesting lesson. Thank you, Karen, for teaching us.”

The rest nodded and added their thanks before leaving. Karen was very pleased. It was a joy to know they understood and appreciated the Bible studies.”

Oralie said, “I like the way this lesson ended.”

Cory commented, “The last paragraph you just read is a good reminder to us to thank our teachers for the lessons they teach. And I thank you, Mom, for reading these lessons to us boys.”

The other boys added their thanks and Kevin went on, “I liked the way Karen went to the end of John to include why the book was written, because it was a good reminder for me.”

“I agree,” and Levi continued, “I’m glad John the Baptist was honest about who he was and who Jesus was.”

“Ditto,” said Daniel, “and that he did the job God sent him to do.”

Max stated, “I liked the way Stella thanked Karen for the lesson.”

Cory nodded, thinking the same thing, and then and wrote in his notebook about the girls in this lesson. “I liked listening to the girls comments and imagining what they would sound like when they read verses. Mom does such a good job of reading with good expression and different voices. It will be very informative when I finally get to meet the girls one at a time.”

The day after the Spencer family moved in, Oscar and Vera came to pray with Jeff and Karen and their girls. Oscar began, “We thank you Father in Heaven that another house is ready to be lived in to carry on the ministry of mercy here on this ranch.”

Vera continued, “We dedicate this new house to you for that purpose and I thank you for the time I was privileged to work with Karen on the gardening. It’s now time for us to hand that work over to Lisa, who has learned so much from her mother and will do well.”

Karen went on, “I agree and thank you for more time to spend teaching the new girls about the Bible and Jesus and continuing to teach the others more about how Jesus wants them to live.”

“Yes,” and Jeff added, “we ask you to please help and guide our whole family as we bring others into the sunshine of your Good News.”

Christi went on to pray, “Yes, and I Thank you that I now understand how important it was for us to move up here to this new house. It will help Mom and also give Lisa a job here on the ranch.”

“I agree,” and Hanna tacked on, “and I thank you that we will be able to run down and visit with Lisa once in a while.”

Oscar concluded, “May your blessing and peace rest on this home and everyone in it.” And everybody said, “Amen.”

The two new girls had listened with interest to this prayer time and thought it was nice even though they didn’t really understand it.

The same day, Oscar and Vera also went and prayed with Jose and Lisa because they had moved into the house vacated by Jeff, Karen, and family.

Oscar began, “Welcome to the ranch. We just came from the Spencer family in the new house. We prayed with them and would like to do the same with you.”

“Thank you,” replied Lisa, “we would like that.” Jose nodded.

So Oscar began, “Our Father in Heaven, We are privileged to have girls graduate, marry godly young men, and come back to be foster parents on the ranch.”

Vera continued, “Thank you that they have lots of energy and the experience of good parents on the farm and ranch, so help them to carry on this ministry of mercy for many years!

“Yes,” Jose went on, “Lisa and I thank you so much for the answers to our many prayers and our desires to serve you in this way, and we claim your promises to be with us and help us every step of the way.”

“Right,” added Lisa, “and I thank you for being able to have a job right here on the ranch doing gardening, which I enjoy, on top of being able to serve you by raising abused foster girls.”

 

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Oscar finished, “Please continue blessing and making the family and gardens flourish. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.”

This is the way Oscar and Vera have done for all the other new families and / or new houses since they changed the dude ranch into a community of Caring Foster Homes. And the LORD does continue blessing, guiding and helping all the families.

Greg told the boys, “I’m going to read the next part of ‘Choose Your Examples.’ It’s a short lesson, but a good idea.”

William and Karen continued their lessons about parts of the Gospel of John. This time they studied John chapter 3, and William had them find verses they thought would be good to memorize so they could use them to tell others the Good News.

One boy suggested, “I think verses 3-14 would be too hard for most kids our ages to understand.”

“True,” Gary went on, “But I think verses 16-18 would be good ones because Jesus said, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. The one who believes on him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

“I agree,” stated another of the boys, “besides, those verses are more familiar. Some kids our ages have probably heard at least the first one before.”

Evan continued, “Yes, and I like what John the Baptist said in verses 23-36, but they wouldn’t mean as much to other kids, except for verses 35 and 36. I’ll read them, The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. He who believes on the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe on the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Sam noticed, “The verses Evan and Gary chose are good ones and since the other ones wouldn’t work for kids our ages, it looks like we’re finished with chapter three. Could we look in chapter four and see if there are some more we could memorize from it?”

“Of course,” agreed William. “Take time to read it now and see what you can find.”

Carlos commented, “This is a very good story, and I think if we’d summarize it and memorize verses 41,42, as a way to end the story, it would be meaningful because those verses say, And many more believed because of Jesus own word, and they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said. But we know that this is indeed the Christ the Savior of the world.’ Then we could ask them if they would like to believe in Jesus.”

“I definitely agree with all you boys!” William declared. “I think you did a very good job today, and your homework is to memorize those

verses and make a summary of the story in chapter four. At our next meeting you can practice sharing the Good News with a partner who isn’t in your family.”

Greg had finished reading so he said, “The end.”

Max remarked, “The idea in this lesson would work especially well for Timothy and me since we are still in eighth grade. Next year we’ll get to use The Life Book like the rest of the kids in high school.”

“Good idea, Max,” stated Kevin, “and the idea is also good for us because we can show kids those verses right in the little books.”

Cory continued, “I agree. William must have taught this lesson before The Life Book was available.”

“Plus,” added Levi, “It would be a good idea for all of us to review or memorize the verses we don’t know and practice with each other so we are ready if we are in a place where we wouldn't use the little book.”

Daniel applauded, “You guys are full of good ideas! Let’s get busy and then practice with each other.”

Tomo, Ami, and their foster girl went to see Yoshi, Sakura, and their children, who were all awake when they arrived. It was fun to watch them play with toys or get down on the floor with them and join in their play. Tomo and Ami were thankful they could still get down and up easily, because that’s where the children usually played.

After a while Kosuke and Aneko also arrived there to visit and play with the children. Since one adult couple or the foster girl took turns playing with the children it left the others free to visit with each other.

Kosuke mentioned, “I’m glad I can train chaplains for all branches of the U S armed forces. Sometimes people will want to choose.”

“I suppose, that choosing might depend on a lot of things,” reasoned Yoshi, “Sometimes they might get to choose which branch they want to continue with. Other times they might be sent wherever they were needed.”

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Sakura added, “From what I remember at the December graduation, that was fine with them also, since they had prayed to only do God’s will. They knew the Lord was in charge of this part also.”

“Exactly,” agreed Kosuke, “Recruiting young men and women for my classes has become a little easier. Many of the ones graduating from the farm and ranch have heard of this as a possibility of training, a place to live and work, and a career they could do for Jesus.”

Aneko continued, “I think it’s a perfect career for them. They like the idea of being a chaplain in any of the armed services of the United States, even though they would spend the two years of training time in the army, since it has a post close to Pine City.”

At this point, Kosuke and Aneko traded places with the adults on the floor so they could have time to converse with Yoshi and Sakura.

Mindy and Julie were talking as Julie drove them home to the ranch from teaching in the church school one day. Mindy remarked, “I like the way the stand-up counter space can be used for science experiments like we did one day to show that water expands when it freezes. First they put their names on a clear plastic glass with a washable maker. Then the students partially filled a clear plastic glass with water and took it over to the stand-up counter and carefully traced the fill line with a washable magic marker. The next day they could see how much the ice had gone above the line they had drawn, after the water had been in the freezer.”

“Yes,” agreed Julie, “hands-on experiments are so much more meaningful than just a demonstration or a video. In third grade we do a related experiment with ice cubes, plain water, sugar water, and salt water to show what happens as ice melts. They learn that the salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes. So the ice cube melted faster with the salt water.”

“What a good experiment!” Mindy declared and went on, “I also like the way we can use those counters for other projects also like art, maps, and balancing exercises.”

“Exactly!” Julie exclaimed. “It’s a nice change from sitting at their desks for so many other things.

Oralie commented, “I’m glad you always bring your Bibles, notebooks and a pen. There are lots of things to write as I read the next part of ‘Choose Your Examples’ to you today.”

Karen and William had their groups look up verses about Jesus as the Son of God, beginning with some in the Gospel of John.

Karen started with John 1:1-4 and 14, which they all read aloud together. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men. … The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Karen explained, “These are important verses, and we have studied them before. As you learned in prior lessons, the Word means the same as Jesus, and he is the only begotten of the Father, which means he is the Son of God. Today I’d like you to look up the scripture I hand to you. Practice it silently and write a comment to share when it’s your turn as we go clockwise around this circle. All of you can follow along as the verses are read, since all of these are in the Gospel of John chapter five.”

She gave them time to follow her directions and then Nan read, “In John 5:17b, Jesus said, ‘ My Father works up to now, and I work.’ He said this to answer the Jews who’d spoken against him healing someone on the Sabbath Day.”

“Yes,” a girl agreed, “since Jesus called God his Father, it means the same as saying Jesus is God’s Son.”

Liz continued, “Right, just like it says in verse 18, Therefore the Jews sought even more to kill him, because he had not only broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”

“Plus,” another girl said, “in verse 19, Jesus said, “ truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do, … the Son does likewise.”

Ellie went on, “True, and verse 20 continues by saying, For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he does himself, and he will show the Son greater works than these, so that you may marvel.” Then she said, “The marvelous things Jesus did were to help people to believe in him, but many of them didn’t believe.”

“For sure,” Lisa concurred, “and that was sad, but Jesus did them anyway, like in verse 21, For as the Father raises up the dead, and restores life to them, the Son also does to the ones he will.”

Another girl nodded and read verse 22, “For the Father does not judge any man, but has committed all judgment to the Son.”

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Then Stella stated, I really like verse 23, because Jesus made it so clear what people should do. It says, All men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. Whoever doesn’t honor the Son also does not honor the Father who sent him.”

“Exactly,” agreed a girl and she added, “verse 24 tells the result of verse 23, because it says, Truly I say to you, he who hears my word, and believes on him who sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death unto life.”

“I like that verse,” Christi stated, “The next two verses go together. I’ll read John 5:25,26, Truly I say to you the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live. For as the Father has life in himself, so also he has given to the Son to have life in himself. I’m glad Jesus made it so clear here.”

“So am I,” then Emma went on to say, “verse 30 is also pretty clear even though it doesn’t use the word Son. It says, I cannot do anything on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me.”

“Good job, girls,” Karen commended them. “The rest of John chapter 5 also contains more verses where Jesus speaks of the Father sending him. Since we’re almost out of time today in this class, you can look up other references you can find in your concordance if you’d like to continue this study on your own. Besides those in John, you can find many more in some of the other books of the Bible. I’ll see you all the next time.”

Oralie said, “This is the end of this section.”

Kevin stated, “I didn’t remember John chapter five having so many verses about Jesus being the Son of God.”

“The same applies for me,” remarked Cory, “this was a good review for me.”

Max observed, “The girls read some very good verses, and they would be good to use to show someone who says he believes the Bible but doesn’t believe that Jesus could be God’s Son.”

“Right,” agreed Daniel, “and since we always carry our New Testaments with us we will know just where to look.”

Levi declared, “We get some very good ideas for us to use by listening to these lessons.”

Cory got the book from his mom and wrote some comments in his notebook about what the girls said in this section.

After their two weeks of getting settled on the farm, Hugo and Ellie were ready to be assigned one boy at a time. They had gotten the counsel of Felix and Sunny and of Gary and Kim, so they decided to have the first two boys be twelve years old and in seventh grade at the middle school. The next two would be eleven years old and be in sixth grade at the middle school. Neither of the first two needed help at school the first few days, because they had been able to stay in the same middle school when they moved to the farm.

But both of them did help the first eleven-year-old, since he had to change middle schools when he moved to the farm. Then he was able to help the last boy who came, who also had to get used to a new school.

Felix and Sunny were very busy with their own new boys and the new jobs they had. Therefore Hugo and Ellie often went to see Gary and Kim when they had questions about their boys. It was very helpful to get ideas from those two, who had recently had boys in middle school. Ellie took Kim’s advice about going to the school once a week for a while to ask the boy’s teachers how they were adapting and how she could help them at home. It turned out to be a very good plan.

Before the boys came to the farm, Hugo and Ellie had talked about rules for their household, and what chores would be appropriate for the boys to have. Then he explained to Ellie the ways Sunny had taught him and his brothers about their chores and how to do them correctly when they came to the farm.

Hugo and Ellie were enough older than their foster boys that it didn’t seem strange for them to call them Dad and Mom. Hugo taught the boys what their chores would be outside on the farm. And Ellie taught them how to do any chores connected with living inside the farm house.

As they had promised, Luis and Pedro came to visit the family often, usually about once a month and the boys liked to hear about things they had done on the farm. Then Luis and Pedro would take turns playing hymns so the family could sing.

When they went to visit with their foster parents, Felix and Sunny, they would do much the same things with their boys. Both families looked forward to their visits.

Greg directed, “Turn the lights on brightly while I read this part of the next lesson from ‘Choose Your Examples’ this evening.”

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On the farm, William started a Bible study lesson about Jesus being the light by doing a review of the lesson they had done earlier on John chapter one.

He instructed, “Look back in your notebooks for the lesson we did on John chapter one. Read your notes and underline the verses that talked about Jesus being the light or that used Light as his name. Be ready to tell me the references.”

After he gave them enough time to follow his instructions, Luis noticed, “John 1:4,5a says, in the Word was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness…”

One boy said, “John 1:6-8 is about John the Baptist being sent to tell about Jesus being the Light.”

“Yes,” Hugo went on, “and John 1:9, which is the next verse says, Jesus was the true Light, which lights every man who comes into the world.”

“Good job, boys,” William stated, “there are some other verses in the gospel of John about Jesus being light. First find John 3:19 and listen as I read it. This is the condemnation, that light (Jesus) has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Notice that I added the word ‘Jesus’ there to clarify the verse. Now Jose, will you please read John 8:12?”

Jose nodded, “John 8:12 says, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’ That verse goes well with verses 4 and 5 in chapter one.”

“Yes it does,” then William asked, “who wants to read John 9:5?”

A boy raised his hand, “In John 9:5 Jesus said, As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Jesus is still in the world by his spirit who lives in believers.”

“Indeed he is,” agreed William and requested, “Pedro would you please read John 12:46?”

“Yes,” replied Pedro, “In John 12:46 Jesus said, I came as a light into the world, so that whoever believes on me should not abide in darkness. This verse means all of us and everyone else who believes in Jesus. I’m so glad he came so we could believe in him.”

The boys all nodded in agreement.

“I agree too,” William stated, “I think all these verses together give us a good picture of Jesus as light. I’ll see you all next time.”

Karen taught a similar lesson on the ranch.

Greg said, “This is the end of this lesson.”

“The scriptures in this lesson remind me of a song,” Kevin commented and looked in the hymnal. “The title is ‘There is Sunshine in my Soul Today,’ and here’s a summary of the first stanza. The sunshine in my soul is brighter than the sun in the sky, because Jesus is the light.”

Cory agreed, “And Ephesians 5:8, tells us how we should live since Jesus is the light in us. For you were sometimes darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so walk as children of light.

Looking over Kevin’s shoulder, Daniel mentioned, “The other stanzas tell of music, springtime, and gladness in my soul.”

Max noticed, “The song goes with both John 8:12 and 9:5 that were read in the lesson. The light of the world is Jesus!”

“Good thinking, Max,” his brother, Levi, congratulated him. And I really like the chorus of this song.” So he sang it.

“Right, so let’s go play it and sing it together!” Oralie urged.

Of course, they all agreed.

Jose and Lisa spent their first two weeks on the ranch getting ready for the girls they would raise. Lisa learned the rest of her job quickly and did very well with the gardening. Jose came home every day with part of the things they needed to buy for the ranch house. He had the list they had made while living in the apartment and he was able to buy most of the things at the Discount Mart just after his work day there ended and before he went home for the evening.

Then they spent part of the evening putting things away, or laundering new bedding for the girl’s bedrooms, or linens for their bathroom. Lisa had written the Spencer family rules in a notebook. So she and Jose went over them and decided what to keep and how to improve some of them. But they made sure part of every evening was kept for personal time together, finding out how the day went, asking and answering questions, and of course affirming their love verbally and in physical ways.

They also included fun activities, or visiting with the Spencer family. Almost every evening they went horseback riding with whatever family was scheduled. They observed how those parents interacted with their girls and often had a chance to ask questions or get suggestions. Jose was especially interested in how to be a good father to teenage girls.

Karen also made a visit during those two weeks to remind Lisa how she needed one parent to volunteer on a rotating basis to help her during Bible Study Group times. Lisa said she’d be glad to do it.

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On one of those days, Pedro and Luis came to visit with them and Pedro asked, “Could we come and meet your foster girls after they get settled? Maybe the first time we could all go horseback riding, so it would seem like a fun activity and not make them nervous.”

“What a great idea, Pedro!” Jose exclaimed. “And then we can all talk as we clean up the tack afterward. Then after the first visit you can come and we can enjoy some family activities in the game room.