Be Brave

Joshua 1:9--"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Our Bible Point in Vacation Bible School yesterday was "Jesus gives us the power to be brave."
A song I taught the children was "Wherever You Go" that uses the verse above as the text. These words, straight from the Lord, are put into a child's song and if taken to heart, can be what brings that child through troubled times in his life. So many children at VBS have already seen trouble--abuse, apathy, neglect, abandonment and anger--all of these, and the child has not yet reached puberty. I pray that we take this verse to heart and remember it. The Lord mentioned three different times in verses 6-9 to "be strong and (very) courageous." Do you suppose he meant it?

I used the back of an old 1881 book entitled "Ready and Willing" as the base of this work. It has a beautifully decorated cover and I left the binding with the title attached. I added an elaborate Victorian door plate, a copy of an old postcard, an already splotched piece of German text, a rusty old key stamped "be brave," rusty chicken wire, buttons, a ribbon and a piece of old cloth measuring tape. I highlighted a leaf on the plate with antique gold paint.