VOLUME 131, NUMBER 20 DISTRIBUTE MAY 16, 2020

Sabbath Is a Happy Day

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Sabbath Is a Happy DayCathlynn Doré Law

S abbath is a happy day, happy day, happy day.”Monty heard his brother, Toby, singing in the

hall. Monty knew today was Sabbath. How will Sabbath be happy today? Monty wondered.

Monty padded downstairs to the kitchen. “Good morning, Monty,” Daddy smiled and

gave Monty a hug. Daddy was putting cereal and bananas on the table. Monty felt happy when Daddy didn’t have to go to work on Sabbath!

Ruby came into the kitchen. “Greek yogurt!” her eyes brightened.

Monty reached for the peach yogurt. He loved peach yogurt!

After breakfast, Monty brushed his teeth and put on his Sabbath clothes.

“Time to load up into the car,” Daddy called.

In the car, Monty buckled his seat belt. He noticed that Mommy had twisted her hair into a bun on her head. She was wearing a long, pretty dress that she only wore on Sabbath. Monty looked around the car. Ruby had neat braids and a flower in her hair. Toby smelled like Daddy’s cologne. Monty was happy when they all went to church looking their best.

When Mr. Bill shook his hand at the door of the church and said, “How are you, young man?” Monty felt happy to be welcomed into God’s church.

Ms. Nora was already in their Sabbath School classroom. Monty’s eyes searched to see what craft

they were making today. It made him happy to cut, color, and paste things that reminded him of his Bible story.

Later Monty opened the hymnal during the opening song for church. He didn’t know all the words to the song, but everyone repeated, “Coming again, coming again, Jesus is coming

again!” He joined in for that part. It made him happy to sing with others about Jesus coming again.

When Mr. Bill asked everyone to kneel for prayer, everyone was quiet. Even though Monty prayed with his family at home, this felt different. Monty was sure that the angels in heaven must be bending their knees too. How very happy his heart felt to hear Mr. Bill talking to God for everyone!

After a yummy lunch, Daddy asked, “Who wants to go for a walk on the lake trail?”

“We do!” everyone shouted. Daddy let Ruby lead the way when they got

to the trailhead. As she crossed the creek, Ruby squealed. Monty and Toby ran to see what she was peering at. Suddenly, her hands darted into the water.

“A frog!” Monty yelled and pointed to what Ruby was holding. Frogs were his favorite! He and Toby took turns petting it. Monty felt like singing as they continued down the trail. “Sabbath is a happy day, happy day, happy day!”

VOLUME 131, NUMBER 20 DISTRIBUTE MAY 16, 2020

(ISSN 0030-6894)Managing Editor: Anita Seymour

Art Direction & Illustration: Kim Justinen, GoodSaltDesign & Layout: Fred WuerstlinCirculation: (800) 545-2449

Published weekly by Pacific Press® Publishing Association, a Seventh-day Adventist publisher, 1350 North Kings Road, Nampa, ID 83687-3193, USA. Single subscription rate in the United States and its possessions: $31.04 for one year. All other countries: $39.04. All prices at US exchange. Periodicals postage paid at Nampa, Idaho. For a change of address, please send both old and new addresses.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Our Little Friend ®, PO Box 5353, Nampa, ID 83653-5353.Bible credits: Scriptures credited to NIrV are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER’S VERSION®. Copyright © 1996, 1998 Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of Biblica. Scripture quotations marked ICB are from the International Children’s Bible ®, copyright © 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Tommy Nelson. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.Letters and author queries: anita.seymour@pacificpress.com or Our Little Friend ® Editor, PO Box 5353, Nampa, ID 83653-5353. Web pages: www .ourlittlefriend.com; www.adventistbookcenter.com. Credits: Baby Steps (p. 5) is written by Eric Stoffle. The Sabbath School lesson material, including art, on pages 4–6 (except for Baby Steps) is provided by the General Conference Sabbath School Department. Art credits: Pages 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 © Kim Justinen and Justinen Creative Group. Page 3 © Mary Bausman. Copyright © 2020 by Pacific Press® Publishing Association. Printed in the USA.

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Lesson 2 for May 2020Memory Verse: “Let us go to the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122:1, NIV).References: Luke 4:16–22; The Desire of Ages, pp. 236, 237.The Message: We come to church because we love Jesus.

Jesus Goes to ChurchL ittle Jesus likes going to church. (Point to

Jesus.) Little Jesus sings at church. (Sing a song together.) At church, the rabbi reads the Bible scroll. (Make a scroll by rolling up some paper.) Little Jesus likes to hear the rabbi read the Bible scroll.

Jesus comes to the synagogue church. “How big Jesus has grown!” the men whisper. (Tell your child, “Show me how you’ve grown.”) Jesus likes to be at His church. He likes to sing and pray with friends. (Sing a song together and pray.)

Jesus takes the Bible scroll. (Pretend to open a Bible scroll.) Shh! (Hold a fin-ger to your lips and whisper.)

Listening, listening.

The big people listen. The children listen. (Put a finger across your lips.) Shh! Nobody talks. Everyone smiles. (Smile at your child.) Jesus will read the Bible scroll.

Jesus opens the Bible scroll. He finds the place to read. Jesus looks at the people. He smiles at them. (Smile at your child.) “Hear the Word of the Lord,” He says. (Hold a finger to your lips and whisper.) Shh! Listen to Jesus read.

Jesus is reading the Bible scroll. “ ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me,’ ” He

reads (Luke 4:18, NIV).The big people listen. (Point to the big peo-

ple.) The children listen. (Point to the child.) The Bible scroll is telling about Jesus. “This

Parents: Ensure that this Bible story becomes part of your child’s spiritual heritage by reinforcing it at home all week. The Baby Steps story and the “Do and Say” activities will help you.

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is about Me,” Jesus says.

The Bible reading is all finished. Jesus sits down. All the people think about Jesus’ words.

Jesus likes us to hear His story.

He is glad we go to church each Sabbath.Jesus likes to hear us sing and pray. (Sing

a familiar song and pray.) The Bible says, “Let us go to the house of

the Lord” (Psalm 122:1, NIV).

Do and SayStudy these suggestions for something to do each day besides reading the lesson story. Select those that are appropriate for your child’s developmental stage, and repeat them often. The Baby Steps story complements the third suggestion.

• Review the memory verse. Sing the memory verse song if you can.

• Read the Bible story interactively with your child.• Read the Baby Steps story together, and then

talk about your pastor. What is his or her name? What does he or she do all week? Be sure your child knows your pastor on Sabbath.

• Play church or Sabbath School at home with dolls, toy stuffed animals, and so forth. Let your child be the teacher.

• Use a paper plate “steering wheel,” and pretend you are driving to church. Sing “Here Is the Way We Drive to Church.”

Hugs and StoriesIsabel loves Pastor John.She gives him a big hug every

Sabbath.Then Pastor John shakes Mommy’s

hand,And he shakes Daddy’s hand too.Then Pastor John tells good stories,So Isabel sits as quietly as she can.

This Baby Steps story can help teach your child that we go to church because we love Jesus.

Lesson 7 for May 16–22, 2020Memory Verse: “Give praise to the Lord” (1 Chronicles 16:8, NIV).References: Mark 5:21–34; Luke 8:40–48; The Desire of Ages, pp. 342–348.The Message: We praise God for taking good care of us.

Healed at Last!Have you ever been sick for a whole day? Have you ever been sick for two or three days? You probably wanted to get well! The woman in our story today had been sick for a long, long time. She had been sick for 12 years!

J esus and His disciples came across the Sea of Galilee in a boat. A big crowd waited. Jairus

waited with the crowd. His little girl was very sick, and he had come to ask Jesus to heal her.

But Jairus wasn’t the only person who wanted Jesus’ attention. Everyone wanted to be near Jesus. They crowded so closely around Him that He could hardly move.

One woman wanted to see Jesus more than anyone else. She had been sick for a very long time. For 12 years, she had visited doctor after doctor, but no one could help her. Then she had heard that Jesus could heal people. She just had to see Him. She knew He could make her well.

Now there He was, in the middle of the big crowd.

But she was too small, and the crowd was too big. Jesus was passing by. This was her last chance! She reached out and touched just the tiniest bit of the back of His robe.

Instantly, she knew she had been healed! For the first time in 12 years, she felt healthy and well.

But then Jesus stopped. “Who touched Me?” He asked.

One of Jesus’ special friends, Peter, thought it was a strange question. “So many people have been bumping into You in this big crowd,” said Peter.

But Jesus knew that someone special had touched Him. “I know that healing power went out of Me,” He said.

The crowd became very quiet. They looked around.

Then the trembling woman fell at Jesus’ feet. She told Jesus why she had touched Him and that she had been healed. Then she thanked Jesus for making her well.

Jesus smiled a great big smile at her. “I’m so glad!” He said. “You are well because you be-lieved that I could make you well. Go in peace.”

Then the woman knew that she was healed because she believed in Jesus.

Can you imagine how happy she must have been? She worshiped Jesus because He cared for her and healed her. She felt a great love for Jesus. He really did love her! He really was her friend.

Jesus wants to be our friend too.

Hiking With GrandpaRob Robinson

E lizabeth was having so much fun on her vacation at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

“Elizabeth, we’re going to do something today that I think you’ll really enjoy,” Grandpa said. “We’re going to drive down to the forest and go for a hike this afternoon.”

Elizabeth opened her eyes wide with excite-ment. “I’ve never been hiking in the forest before,” she said. “Are we going to see bears?”

“I don’t think we’ll see any bears,” Grandpa ex-plained, “but we may see some cottontail rabbits.”

“That sounds like fun,” Elizabeth said.When they got to the forest, Grandpa opened

up the trunk of his car and took out long walking sticks for Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and him. As he dug around in the car, he pulled out a small walking stick just the right size for Elizabeth.

“It’s just my size!” Elizabeth said. Grandpa led the way down one of the hiking trails. He pointed out different trees and bushes along the way. But Elizabeth didn’t find those too interesting. He showed Mommy and Daddy lots of different kinds of rocks. Elizabeth didn’t find those interesting ei-ther. Then Grandpa pointed to a pile of sticks way up high in a pine tree. Sitting right next to the nest was a long-eared owl. Grandpa took out his binoculars so Elizabeth could see the owl better.

“Whoo-whoo,” Grandpa called to the owl. But the owl just kept right on sleeping. Elizabeth found this very interesting.

As they hiked along the trail, Grandma and Elizabeth kept watching for cottontail rabbits. But then Grandpa stopped suddenly and held his arms out—he wouldn’t let anyone pass him on the

hiking trail. “Shh!” he said. “Everyone freeze!”There in the middle of the hiking trail was a

rattlesnake! Everybody watched the rattlesnake while Grandpa gave directions. “Slowly take a step backward,” he said. And slowly, everyone took one step backward.

“Slowly take another step backward” Grandpa said. And everyone slowly took another step backward. As they slowly stepped backward, the rattlesnake slithered off into the tall grass that grew along the trail.

“I think we’ve done enough hiking,” Elizabeth said. Everyone laughed and headed back to the car.

As they were driving back home, Elizabeth said, “I’m glad God made the owls, and I’m glad He made all the trees in the forest ’cause I like all those things. I know He made snakes—even though I don’t like them. But I’m glad He always cares for me!”

Kindergarten Lesson Message: We praise God for taking good care of us.

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Parents: Daily lesson activities can be found in the Kindergarten Bible Study Guide (quarterly). The page 7 story will help you help your child apply the lesson story to his or her life. 77

Cooper Goes

Camping

Jane Landreth

Cooper sighed as he snuggled deep inside his sleeping bag. He was so very sleepy, but he

couldn’t sleep. The day had been too exciting. His family had driven to the mountains where they were going camping for a few days.

When they finally got there, Cooper had helped Daddy set up the tent. Then they hiked along the narrow, curving trail to find sticks to burn in a campfire. Then Cooper and Daddy had walked down to the little stream close to their camp.

“This is a nice place to camp,” Cooper heard Mommy say. He couldn’t see her, but he knew she and Daddy were sitting beside the campfire outside the tent. “But can you imagine if we were camping for forty years?”

Cooper crawled out of his sleeping bag and

unzipped the flap of the tent. “I can’t sleep, Mommy,” he called softly.

“Come here,” said Daddy, patting the log he was sitting on. “You can sit with us until you get sleepy.”

Mommy slid over so Cooper could sit down be-tween them. The mountain air was cool, but Cooper felt warm nestled between Mommy and Daddy. He watched the dancing flames in the campfire cast shad-ows on the tent.

“I heard you talking, Mommy,” said Cooper. “Who went camping for forty years?”

“The Israelites,” Mommy answered. “We read about them in your Sabbath School lesson not long ago.”

“How did they eat?” Cooper wanted to know. “They would need a lot of food for forty years. Did they carry backpacks? They would have to be awfully big backpacks.”

Daddy laughed. “No big backpacks, Cooper,” he answered. “God provided them with food to eat and water to drink. He gave them a cloud to shade them in the daytime and a pillar of fire to give them light at night. God took very good care of them.”

“I’m glad God takes care of us too,” said Cooper, as he looked up at the twinkling stars in the wide, black sky.

“I feel so close to God when I see His creation,” said Mommy quietly. “Just look at all those stars.”

They sat for a while and looked up at the twin-kling stars. Soon Cooper’s eyelids felt heavy. He felt Daddy’s strong arms lifting him and carrying him to the tent. Daddy put him back into his sleeping bag and zipped it around him. Cooper drifted off to sleep, thinking about all of God’s creation.

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