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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me rest when I can, and work when I need to! Amen.

The Apostles came back from teaching people about Jesus. It had been a long trip, and they were tired. "Let's go rest by ourselves," Jesus said. But lots of people followed them. Jesus felt sorry for those who wanted to learn from Him: They seemed like sheep without a shepherd to lead them. So He sat down and started teaching them about God.

It's summer! If your family is taking a vacation, you're probably all excited. A funny thing can happen with vacations, though: You have tons of fun, but when it's over, you're a little relieved to be back home. All that excitement has made you want your regular routine again!

This week's Gospel (Mark 6:30-34) is like that. The Apostles have been traveling, teaching hundreds of people about God, just as Jesus has been doing.

They've all met a lot of nice people (and some not-so-nice ones), but they're tired. Like you want to just lay on the sofa and text your friends for a while, they want to just be by themselves and rest.

After a vacation, you probably don't get much time to hang out and do nothing. All the things you left behind when you went away are still waiting for you: summer reading, dog-walking, projects your parents want help finishing.

Jesus and the Apostles had the same experience: They tried to rest, but being "back home" just meant the people there wanted to learn about God, too. They had to jump right back into their regular routine of teaching and healing people.

Resting up is good. Everyone needs a vacation. But, whether you're a kid, an adult, an Apostle or even Jesus, there's always more work to do![[In-content Ad]]

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