Kid DEES Growing Fruit

 
“I see fruit!” are the words I speak when I see my grandkids doing things that are right, good, and beneficial for themselves and others. Fruit is something that is produced. When we have Christ in our lives we need to be producing all the right qualities to be able to see Christ-like produce growing in our lives. Fruit that comes in the form of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and more.

Being kind to your brother or sister is good fruit. Doing what mom and dad ask you to do is good fruit. Cleaning your room without being asked is good fruit. Giving up your place in a line at school for someone else is good fruit. Having a good attitude is good fruit. Telling the truth is good fruit.

To visualize the idea of growing fruit, draw yourself a tree on a large piece of paper. Every time you see the kind of fruit growing we are talking about here put a sticker on your tree. If you’d ask your mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa or

whomever I’m sure they would be happy to let you know when you have done something that leads to good fruit.

Just because we get lots of stickers on our tree we have to beware of the fact that bad fruit can show up as well. If you are kind to your sister one minute and later are mean to her that adds bad fruit to your crop. When that which is bad is allowed to stay with the good fruit it soon spreads its rotten-ness to the good to the point that the whole bowl or tree can wind up ruined.

Learn to recognize fruit that has gone bad and deal with it, don’t let it continue on where it affects other areas of your life. Don’t waste your time trying to examine other people’s fruit and what they are growing. Stay in your own field and take responsibility for that which you are producing in yourself.

It’s important you don’t let someone else put up a fruit stand near yours by allowing what they do to affect your outcome. Their bad fruit of anger doesn’t have to become a part of your crop. It can if you allow it, so beware.

Be a fruit inspector taking charge of your own fruit-stand, producing for Christ that which is good, all natural, and truly organic and pesticide or sin free.

They call me grandma




© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture Dees #40--Onion Layers

As you grow up in life you will notice that people are often made of all sorts of layers. God starts us out in life with a spiritual heart that is tender and sweet. As we grow up we tend to add our own layers. When we get into school we think we need to add a layer that impresses other kids. Later we find ourselves adding a layer that hides what we don’t want others to see about us like our short temper or our grumpiness.

Eventually over time we have several different layers we have used to cover ourselves up. The layers we add won’t last forever like the picture I drew on my onion. After awhile it fell off.


We may fool a lot of people but we don’t fool God. He is the one who sees past those different layers. Sooner or later one layer at a time He gets down to who we really are and we need to do the same. The best thing to do is to never start adding them in the first place.

The layer we put on to try and get other kids to like us needs to go. The layer of disguises we put on to hide who we are needs to go. The layers of wrong attitudes and bad choices need to go.


You are as unique as the snowflakes that carry their own designs. Don’t try to cover that up by adding what you think needs to be in order to copy someone else.


Dear Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for taking the time to show us who we can be when we allow You in our lives. You bring out the special things we carry in our hearts. May we always remember “being ourselves” isn’t an invitation to do and be whatever we want. No, it’s a blessing to be the child You created us to be by Your Design. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!”


© 2010 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Picture DEES #39 Crumpled Piece of Paper

When we come to God most of us look like a crumpled piece of paper full of wrinkles, flukes, and flaws and past scars, mistakes, and poor judgment. What a wonderful blessing to us that God sees that crumpled heart in us and He doesn’t toss it aside. No, He takes it. He saves it and stretches it out into something of great beauty.

This is a process that doesn’t instantly happen the minute we come to Christ. Its something that takes time and cooperation on our part as God restores our heart to what it needs to be in Christ. How much He can stretch and straighten out our spiritual heart depends on how much we lend a hand.

It’s important to realize that crumpled paper (our spiritual heart) seems to have a memory of its own. It will want to go back to the way it was before Christ but we have to work together with God to avoid that from happening. Once stretched and straightened out God begins to write a love letter on it directly over those flukes and flaws, scars, mistakes, and poor judgments we’ve made in life.

We don’t have to stay that crumpled up piece of paper the world tosses aside. We can go to Christ and restore what once was crumpled or what can become crumpled in the future.

Like the paper we use in school is worth recycling so is our heart and Christ is the perfect place to go to, to get the job done.

They Call Me, Grandma


© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

Story #1 Jesus at the temple

Luke 2:40-52

If you have your own Bible open it to Luke 2, if you don’t then go to the Biblegate link provided above to Luke 2 and read the story. We are going to look at how Jesus’ behaved in order to be like Him and follow in His footsteps.

Focusing on how He behaved during this time, how he handled the situation we see He was obedient to His parents and His Heavenly Father. He was wise. The Spirit of God was obvious in His life. He showed kindness and understanding towards His mom and to those asking Him questions.Is there any other characteristics of Christ that you see in this story? If so list them here:





Jesus’ parents had taken him, at the age of 12, on their annual trip to the temple in Jerusalem during the feast of the Passover. After the Feast everyone went home but Jesus, He went to the temple to listen to the teachers and ask them questions. People there were simply amazed at His understanding and His answers that He himself was giving.

What "words of wisdom" could you give to some one who asked you?


Has anyone offered you words of wisdom? __________ What should we be doing with the words of knowledge offered by Christ?



Jesus didn’t appear to be obedient to His parents but He was, how?


Christ showed kindness and understanding towards his parents. Do you always show that kind of behavior towards your parents? ___________ What are things you can do to improve this?


After finding Jesus, He didn’t make a big fuss as He went home with them. He was amazed that His parents didn’t check the temple first figuring He had to be there. If you were ever separated from your parents would running down to the church be a place you would choose?



Finally Jesus’ parents realized He was missing and after three days found him at the temple. He was surprised that the temple wasn’t the first place they looked. He had to be. about his Father’s business even at the age of 12. A priority that we may not have accepted at such an early ages but still a need that needs to be in our lives. We need that characteristic of Christ to be about our heavenly Father’s business no matter what our age. We may never be able to astonish people or amaze them with our wisdom but we can still be about our Father’s business.
What Father are we talking about here that Jesus was doing business for? ___________

As a young child what are things that you can do for God?



Take the behavior of Jesus you learned about today and apply it to your life. Occasionally you will need to stop long enough to look at what you just did and ask, “What behavior of Christ was that?” If you can’t name it then you probably shouldn’t have done it. Stop and pray asking the Lord to help you with this difficult area in your life.