Children's Book Festival - The Greene

Topsy Turvy Friendship

“All that the Law says can be summed up in the command to love others as much as you love yourself.” – Galatians 5:14

When Jesus was a young man, He had many friends and followers, but he also talked to and ate dinner with people who weren’t very well thought of by others. Jesus didn’t care if people were rich or poor. He didn’t care if they had on the best clothes or wore their hair in a certain way. He loved everyone.

Did you know that God loves and accepts you as you are? It might seem like we should try to be really good and do everything right before God would love us. But the God of the universe wants to have a relationship with YOU!

Have you accepted God’s Son, Jesus Christ, as your Savior? As a Christian, you’ll want to love people just like Christ did. The apostle John wrote, “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 3:23).

Do you turn your nose up at kids who don’t have the ‘right’ clothes or look like you? As Christians, let’s not turn people away, but treat everyone with as much love as we can. Let’s love like Jesus did – even if it does seem topsy-turvy!

Topsy Turvy Time Tip: With your parent’s permission, find someone you don’t normally talk to and find out more about them. Look for opportunities to share about your faith in Jesus. You might end up with a new friend!

Life without Christ is topsy turvy! ™
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Thank you to Jill for publishing these devotionals on CWAHM.com. Click HERE!

Easter Hidden Picture Puzzle/Coloring Page

A special treat! A hidden picture puzzle and coloring page for Easter by Liz Ball. To order books with her hidden picture puzzles or other books (like Topsy Turvy Land) from Hidden Pictures Publishing, click HERE. Enjoy!

*Click on the picture, then print! It will print out full size ready to be colored. If that doesn't work with your printer, right click on the picture, and then 'save picture as...' and then you can print it out using your photo program.

Valentine's Day Hidden Picture Puzzle

A special treat! A hidden picture puzzle for Valentine's Day by Liz Ball. To order books with her hidden picture puzzles or other books (like Topsy Turvy Land!) from Hidden Pictures Publishing, click HERE. Enjoy!

*Click on the picture, then print! It will print out full size ready to be colored. If that doesn't work with your printer, right click on the picture, and then 'save picture as...' and then you can print it out using your photo program.

Hidden Picture Puzzle

Example from - Hidden Treasures: Summer Fun by Liz Ball: $5.95
ISBN #0967815940

You Are Never Alone

Read John 14:26 cev:

But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.

Do you remember a time when Mom or Dad dropped you off some place? How did you feel? Maybe you ran after your parent crying, “Don’t go!”

When Jesus walked on earth, He had a group of men who helped Him called disciples. As the time came for Jesus to go back to Heaven, the disciples did not want to see Him go. Jesus loved them and told them He they would not be alone.

Jesus said, “I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you” (John 14:16 cev).

God sent the Holy Spirit, not just to be with the disciples, but to live inside them. If you love Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives inside you, too, so you never need to feel lonely. Even if you somehow ended up by yourself in the middle of nowhere, you would not be alone. That might seem topsy-turvy, but it’s true!

Topsy Turvy Tip: The next time you feel lonely, remember – God sent the Holy Spirit just for you!

Life without Christ is Topsy Turvy!™

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Do I Have to Love Them?

Read Luke 6:35 CEV:

Love your enemies and be good to them. Lend without expecting to be paid back. Then you will get a great reward, and you will be the true children of God in heaven. He is good even to people who are unthankful and cruel.

Has anyone ever been mean to you? Sometimes kids call each other unkind names, or make fun of each other. Maybe you’ve had someone talk about you behind your back. That hurts, doesn’t it?

When someone treats you unfairly, we usually want to treat him the same way. If you find out your friend told a lie about you, you might be tempted to make something up about her!
But guess what? Jesus says we are to love them. What? That seems topsy-turvy, doesn’t it? If kids are mean to you, you’re supposed to be good to them.

It’s easy to love people who treat you well, but of course, not so easy to love mean people. But with Jesus’ help, you can do it. He loves ALL people, and we try our best to be like Jesus.

Christ’s love is the greatest in the world. If you get angry, and act like the other person, you’ll feel lousy. Wouldn’t you rather do what Jesus tells you to do?

Topsy Turvy Tip: The next time someone treats you unfairly, ask God to help you to be kind anyway, and pray for him or her. You’ll love like Jesus loves!

Life without Christ is Topsy Turvy!™
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First in Line

Read Mark 9:35 (NKJV):

And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

Have you ever gone to an amusement park hoping to hop on your favorite ride, only to find a long line of people waiting? Now imagine you’ve spotted some friends already in line. Would you try to cut ahead of others to shorten your wait?

Once, Jesus’ disciples argued over which disciple would be the greatest. Jesus responded to them by saying, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all. He will be the one to care for all” (Mark 9:35 nlv).

According to Jesus, you don’t become great by wanting to be first. You achieve it by your willingness to be last. You don’t try to get others to serve you. You serve them! Now that’s topsy-turvy, isn’t it?

Think about it. Whether in line at a park or at school, it’s fun to be first, but doesn’t feel so good when someone pushes in front of you. If you cut in line, how do you think that makes others look at you? What if you tried to talk to them about how much Jesus loves them after you cut in line? Something tells me they might not want to hear it!

Topsy Turvy Tip: Let’s treat others with kindness and respect. Ask God to help you put someone else first today. It may not always be easy or the fun thing to do, but it’s the best thing to do.

Life without Christ is Topsy Turvy!™

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Father's Day Coloring Page/Hidden Picture Puzzle

Visit Topsy Turvy Land to print out a hidden picture puzzle to solve and then color from Liz Ball, Hidden Pictures Publishing.

Click HERE!

St. Patrick's Day Hidden Picture Puzzle

A special treat! A hidden picture puzzle for St. Patrick's Day by Liz Ball. To order books with her hidden picture puzzles or other books (like Topsy Turvy Land!) from Hidden Pictures Publishing, click HERE. Enjoy!

*Click on the picture, then print! It will print out full size ready to be colored. If that doesn't work with your printer, right click on the picture, and then 'save picture as...' and then you can print it out using your photo program.

Would you like to know more about St. Patrick? Click HERE to visit History.com to read all about him.