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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me accept things that happen, even when I don't understand them. Amen!

As Jesus was dying on the cross, people made fun of Him. Even a criminal crucified at the same time yelled, "Save yourself and us!" But another criminal said, "Shut up! We're getting what we deserve, but He didn't do anything wrong." Then he said to Jesus, "Remember me in heaven." Jesus promised, "You'll be there with me today."

Kids like reasons for everything. "Why is this happening?" you demand when things don't go your way, or when something happens that you don't understand. It makes no sense to you that it rained, your parents said no or someone made a decision you don't like. You want an explanation, and you want it now!

In this week's Gospel (Luke 23:35-43), Jesus is dying on the cross. People who know and love Him don't understand why this is happening, and even the people who are suffering right next to Him can tell that He's not a bad guy. One of them even demands an explanation: If Jesus is so awesome and can do miracles, why doesn't He get Himself off the cross?

There aren't always reasons a kid can easily understand for why things happen. It rains because we can't control the weather. Your parents said no for reasons they don't want to explain, or can't explain.

It was the same way with Jesus. He didn't control the actions of the people who hurt Him -- but He controlled His own reaction. When He was arrested and crucified, Jesus chose to sacrifice Himself to show how very much God loves the world. Jesus loves us so much, He didn't even take revenge when He was being killed. He only wanted us to remember the love.

Reasons why things happen can be hard to explain. Sometimes, all a kid can do is accept that they did happen. Otherwise, you'll be miserable! But you can also look at the story of Jesus and the criminals. What was happening to Jesus made no sense to them, but Jesus promised it would someday. The criminal who asked for forgiveness would even go to heaven![[In-content Ad]]

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