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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, teach me to ask for help in planning, so I don't get over-scheduled and I have some down-time! Amen.

Walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw Simon Peter and Andrew fishing. "Come with me, and I'll make you fishers of people," Jesus called. Then He saw James and John, and called them. All the men left their fishing nets and followed Jesus.

Down-time is really important. Kids can get over-scheduled with school, homework, clubs, sports, music lessons, Scouting, family obligations, birthday parties and more - and that's a good way to get stressed-out and unhappy!

Along with scheduling all your work and fun, it's absolutely necessary to include some time to just hang out and do nothing. Sometimes, you have to pick one thing over another, too, and realize you just can't do every single thing.

In this week's Gospel (Mark 1:14-20), Jesus' first followers learn that they can't do everything, either.

When Jesus meets Peter, Andrew, James and John, they're all fishermen, working hard to catch fish on the Sea of Galilee. To do that, they have to leave early in the morning and spend the whole day out on their boats.

Then, along comes Jesus, and invites them to follow Him. The Bible doesn't talk much about their scheduling problems, but you can imagine that it was a lot like when you try to get to a Scout meeting, make it to a team practice and still get your homework done, all in one night: Something's got to give. You just can't do it all.

For the Apostles, following Jesus meant giving up fishing. They couldn't fish all day and be out with Jesus all day, too! They seemed to realize that pretty quickly, because the Gospel story says, "They dropped their nets and followed Him."

The Apostles decided what was most important - Jesus - and put their focus there. Kids can do that, too - and also include some down-time on that list![[In-content Ad]]

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