Where is my Treasure?

    I have been thinking lately about the Pope.  He came to Philadelphia this month.  Everybody was so excited about him coming.  They made him into a Rock Star!  I was confused about that.  They closed down highways for him.  They got all these police sent to Philadelphia for his safety.  He got a lot of people excited about him coming here.  

     Then I saw this photo on the internet.  I made me feel so sad.  It reminded me of our Theme in L2L this year.

       Look at the Pope.  He is wearing beautiful clothes.   He is sitting on a Golden Throne.  Look at the kids in the other picture.  They are so skinny.  Sorry one of them is Naked, but that is because he doesn't even own clothes. 

Source:  http://www.worldconvention.org/resources/profiles/ghana/

     Jesus said to a rich man in the Bible, "Go and sell everything you have, and give it to the poor" (Mark 10:21).  I have thought about this verse more this month than any other time in my life.  

When I see photos like this, it makes me kind of mad, and sad, also.  But then,  I think about all the things that I have, and how I hoard them, and don't like to give them away.  So I shouldn't be mad at the Pope for not giving to the poor.

Source:  Dayspring.net

     And so I am thinking more about how to help the poor.  This summer, I worked on my small business by taking out the trash of some of my elderly neighbors.  I made good money doing that.  I saved some, spent some, and gave some.  I have 3 banks in my room, one for Spending, Giving, and Saving.

Source:  The Children's Bible Online

     I give to all kinds of organizations, even though I am only a kid. 

 I give some to my congregation in the church plate every Sunday.

  But my favorite thing to do is to give to the poor people.  I sent money to Harding to a thing called Smiles for Christ.  They go to Honduras and help disabled, mentally delayed kids each summer.  I was able to give them lots of my profits from a Lemonade Stand I had in July at the Soccer field across the street.  

This is the School in Honduras where I send money to help

Source:  MarandaHowthorn.net

Treasured Traditions in our Home: Rosh Hashanah

We have TONS of Traditions in my family, 

but we started a very different tradition this year.  

We loved doing it so much, my parents say we are going to

make it an annual Tradition!  

We read about the Jewish Holiday of Rosh Hashanah.  

Then we acted it out in a dinner.  

We even fasted the day and night before the feast we made.  

We definitely are not Jewish, but we wanted to learn more about Jewish Holidays 

since we read through the whole Old Testament this year. 

I thought it was cool, because Jesus and his apostles all would have 

celebrated this Feast many times in their lives. 

I think it would be good for all Christians to do this! 

It made me think about so many things! 

Like when we were making the feast---the unleavened bread.

This is taken every Sunday at our Church, 

but do people really know what it means, and why we take it?

Jewish kids would have known, because in the Feast, 

the father tells the history of the Jewish People!

We had Grape Juice instead of wine at our dinner.
The wine/Grape Juice reminded me of Jesus's blood that
was shed on the cross.  It also reminded me of the
Last Supper!

My Dad pours the Fruit of the Vine for our Feast
It was kind of fancy, because the Jews made a big deal
out of drinking it.  We put it in fancy glasses. 

We made fish with lemons (on the grill), and unleavened bread.
I spilled the fish juice on the floor before our feast began.
That smelled bad!
But it was quickly cleaned up, no harm done!

We did not eat the head or the eyes on this guy!

These were little fish we ate.  

Our table for Rosh Hashanah.
We had Apples to dip into Honey, just like in the Old Testament
That was their Dessert!  

I never dipped apples into Honey before, but it was Good!

At sundown, we "broke our fast" and had a Feast

I have never fasted before this day.  The food really tasted good
to all of us after our fast.  The flavors came out more. 

My Dad and Mom wore Jewish caps and Veils like
the Jewish parents did

I blew the Shofar a lot, it was fun!
The Shofar is supposed to be a Ram's Horn, but this hollow stick was the best thing I could find. 

I was glad that Roasted Chicken was a
Jewish Feast Food, and not just Fish!

We ate by candle light and read the scriptures that they
read in the Old Testament times

I was breaking the bread 

Here is a website that gives a lot of information about this Feast:

http://www.aish.com/h/hh/rh/

I learned so much from having this Dinner!

Next year we are going to invite some of our Elders to join us

for Rosh Hashanah.

First Blog Post: A Treasured Event **Explanation of Blog Purpose

Hi!

Just wanted to let you know that I am glad you are reading my blog.

 This is my second year in Lads to Leaders, and my 

Second year to write a blog about 

my times in L2L

  

Our Theme for 2015/2016 is 

 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

 I want you to know that

 I treasure my time in Lads to Leaders (L2L).

Note:  If you would like to read the blog in 

the order that it was written, please start at 

the last post written way back on 4/18/15 and select

 "Newer Post" after reading each post.

The posts are in reverse order, with newest posts first.

 This could be confusing, so just know that this is the last 

official Lad to Leader's post.  I will be adding future posts, but

they are for my personal blog, and not always to do with 

Lads 

to Leaders. 

A Good Friend is a Rare Treasure

                                    Do You Have Good Friends?

I mean, really good friends!  I think a good friend is like a Life raft. 

They will help when you are stressed.

My Grandma says, to have a friend, I must be a friend

I  Helped Alexa Bake a Cake

I like to cook and bake with my friends.
A lot of my friends are girls... From church.
We have a lot more girls than boys there, but that is O.K.

Being a friend sometimes means letting others do stuff I
really wanted to do

I let Alexa ice the cake, because she never had iced a cake before.

Her mom doesn't let her do that. 

It turned out yummy

Friends help each other: 

We planted flowers at a Nursing Home, and 

my friends helped me by telling me where to dig the holes
it was so hot and fun at the same time

May  3rd 2015 we planted flowers at the patio at the Nursing home.

My friends and I showed TEAMWORK!

 Let no one seek his own good, 

but that of his neighbor.

-I Cor. 10:24

It was pretty hot, but the flowers were so
colorful and the old people loved it,
so sweating so much was not so bad.

All of the Youth came and helped out

Even little Garret worked in the Garden

We got it all cleaned up after making a big mess

Mrs. Evans and Miss Too Ha are
hard workers 

It was hard work, but worth it! 

Afterward, we had Luncheon with 2 church friends and we visited and played 

Proverbs 27:17

Iron sharpens iron, 
one man sharpens another.

Source: heartlight.org

Becoming a Leader: Treasuring the Journey

     This month my projects are 

Banner, 

Poster, 

and 

Know the Books.  

It took a bit of work to do my poster because I 
wanted it to be very good.

 I decided to speed things up so I can take some time off in December from all the Projects, so I am doing 3 projects instead of my goal of just 2 a month.  

 It's kind of fun, if you really think about it.  Sometimes it takes up a lot of time, but in summer, there is tons of time anyways, so it's all good.  

Here I am studying my Know the Books.
It has taken me 3 weeks, but I almost have them down!

And my POSTER: 

I am busy getting my poster ready

Art is one of my talents, and favorite things.  I am glad there are so many events that have Art as the focus in L2L.  

Putting the finishing touches on my Poster

I had to research, cut, draw, glue, and tape to
get it right. 

Then I outlined everything in Black

I had some gumdrops
to get me through it.
I chewed them up and blew bubbles
while I worked. 

My dad said he hoped the Dentist would not mind my technique to stay "FOCUSED."  

Don't worry, I will brush my teeth extra good tonight!!

Discovering the Treasure Worth Everything

     Today we took all the summer decorations down in and out of the house.  It was a lot of work, because we put out dozens of Flags and Red, White and Blue stuff for the Summer Months.  My parents are VERY Patriotic! 

After that, I worked on my Audio Presentation for L2L. 

I have to do (finish) 2 projects each month, or I will NEVER get everything done in time to turn them in.  It is really not that hard. L2L is helping me to learn that I can push myself and do even more than I thought!   The audio only took about 1 hour total time to make.  I wrote some of it yesterday and just finished editing today.  

My mom and I recorded it.  That's what takes so long.  You have to speak clearly and there can be no noise in the background.  I had to repeat my Audio Recording about 21 times, but FINALLY it was good. 

I am putting the words down here below to show you how little words are actually fitting into 30 seconds of time.  Anyone can do this event.  It is the easiest one I have done so far.  My dad says that next year, he wants me to challenge EVERY kid in our L2L to do the Audio Event.  He says he wants me to Teach them how to do it.   I think it is a great idea!   Everyone should enter this event.  It is no trouble and fun! 

Here are the actual words to my Audio, you can hear it on the Links on this Web site on the Home Page if you want to. 

"More joy.

More adventure.

More purpose.

More is something we all want.

What if the only way to find more is give Jesus all that you have?

Discover the Treasure worth everything.

Jesus has everything you need.

Matthew 6:21 says, 

'For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.'

How about you, do you know Jesus?"

Here is my Audio Presentation for the 2016 Competition