I went to AWANA training all day today. I had to meet the other ladies at church this morning at 6:30 and I am really not used to being up at that time. The sun was just coming up when I left my house. It was really beautiful. Now, it is almost 8 and I am pretty much beat. Before I hit the sack I wanted to share something that I heard today.

The first is a story from one of the instructors. He is a college professor and teaches Christian Ethics so he gave a lecture today on teaching ethics to children. He is also a geologist and likes to explore caves with some of the college students. He said that one thing the students always like to do when they get into the cave is turn off the light to see what happens. What happens is very obvious- it gets very, very dark. There is absolutely no light.

One time, after they turned off the light he was waving his hand in front of his face and he could just barely see it. There was no light anywhere in the cave so he knew someone must have some light somewhere. They all searched through their bags and one student found a flashlight inside his bag that had a glow-in-the-dark sticker on it. That cave was so dark that the sticker gave off enough light inside the bag that they eventually could even make their way around the cave.

The darker the world gets and the more hopeless it seems, the less light it takes to make a difference. One little dim light can light up everything around you and make a huge difference. So, shine your light as bright as you can when the world seems dark. Even if you are only able to give off a little light, it will show the way to someone lost in the darkness.

In the front yard at our house lives a family of ponies. My daughter talks to them in the mornings while she is waiting for the school bus. They eat the little red berries that grow on the bushes. The smallest pony (Becky) likes Lillian to pick her up and she whispers in Lillians ear that she loves her and is hungry so Lillian shows her where the lowest bunch of berries are. There is also a baby pony named Jessica. The moms name is Miss Tina and is a unicorn. She is shy and likes to stay behind the tree. Every morning Lillian takes the time to pet them and speak very kindly to them and hold the smallest like a baby as long as she wants. They are very good and very quiet ponies and never make any messes. They aren't our pets (I don't think) but they are my favorite animals that we have.