---

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me understand that it's okay to be excited about good things! Amen.

John the Baptist was teaching that Jesus would be coming soon when he saw Jesus walking toward him. "There He is -- the Lamb of God!" John said. "He's the person I was talking about. I saw the Holy Spirit come to Him from heaven like a dove, and God said, 'He's the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. He is the Son of God.'"

How often do grownups tell you to slow down when you're excited? Whether you're jumping up and down in excitement or talking a hundred miles an hour, it seems like some adults want you to be calm and peaceful -- even if you're excited and joyful!

In this week's Gospel (John 1:29-34), it's easy to imagine John the Baptist acting like an excited kid. He's been telling people about Jesus, getting them ready for Jesus to start teaching about God -- and then Jesus appears, right at that moment!

If you read what John says in the Gospel story, you can tell he might have been talking a hundred miles an hour himself. After all, he had so much to say: that Jesus had arrived, that he was the guy John had told everyone about, that Jesus was sent by God, that God the Father had called Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit had come down from heaven to Jesus.

Just like when you get excited, John wanted to tell the entire story all at once. You can even imagine him jumping up and down as he said it.

Of course, the reason you get excited enough to talk fast and jump around is that something good is happening. That's why John did that, too. A promise had come true: After John dedicated his life to getting people ready for God to come to earth as a person, it had happened.

Jesus was here. The only proper way for John to handle that was to jump up and down and tell everyone, as fast as he could![[In-content Ad]]

---