Life Lessons for Anxious Kids | Tree Street Kids DevotionalSample

Moving to a New Place

Jack stuffed a wayward sock into his duffel bag. He wondered if anyone would notice if he packed Henrietta, his pet chicken. But she was staying on the farm with Grandma and Grandpa. Jack was moving to the suburbs, approximately 2.37 bazillion miles away from the best hayloft fort, best farmhouse, and best fried chicken ever. (Not that he’d ever mention that in front of Henrietta.) 

His mom popped into his room. “Almost finished packing?” 

“I can’t move,” Jack said. “I can’t find the sock that matches the one I packed.”

His mom gave her famous head-tilted-eyebrow-raised-seriously? look. 

“Okay, but I can’t leave Henrietta . . . Grandma and Grandpa . . . and my fort! They don’t have that stuff in the suburbs.”

Jack’s mom sat on the edge of the bed and patted the empty spot next to her. When Jack sat too, she put her arm around him. “Do you remember the story of Abram, or Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel?”

Jack shrugged, not really in the mood for Bible stories, but said: “Abraham lived in Haran. He had a nice home with lots of family and sheep and cows, maybe even a pet chicken. Then God came to him and told him to pack up everything and everyone and--move.” That last word was hard to say.

“Why did he go?” Mom asked.

“Because God promised Abraham a special land, which was probably even farther away than the suburbs. And He promised He would be with Abraham all the way.”

Mom hugged Jack. “Yep, and God promises to be with you all the way too--hey, look what I found.” 

Jack felt his mom peel something off the back of his shirt. 

She held up the lost sock.

Jack smiled as he took it from her. “Thanks, Mom.” He hopped off the bed and shoved the sock into his bag. “Moving is still going to be really hard, but at least we don’t have to walk across the desert.” 

Have you ever had to move? It can be really scary leaving everything you know--your house, your neighborhood, your school, your friends--and go somewhere new. But you know what you have in common with Jack . . . and with Abraham? You believe in the same God, and you can trust Him just like they did. God makes the same promise to be with you!

Words to hold on to when you’re somewhere new: “By faith Abraham . . . obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”