About “A Message A Day”
“A Message A Day” and “A Story A Day” are St. Clare’s Children and Youth’s New Year’s Resolution for 2012. It means pretty much what it sounds like – every day, we’ll read one story or passage from Scripture. If you’re in upper elementary school or older, we’ll read selections that take us from Genesis all the way through Revelation, giving us God’s “big picture” message.
There are two tracks here – the yellow track and the orange track. We named them this because we’re very inventive, or because in the hard copy versions in your folder, the yellow track is on yellow paper and the orange track is on orange paper. (You decide.) Many days the readings are the same on both tracks, but when they’re different, this is how:
The yellow track is designed with upper elementary to middle school aged kids in mind. We tried to keep these readings a reasonable length. The movie version of these readings would always be PG or G (some stories might have a bit of violence, like David and Goliath or Joshua’s conquest of Jericho, but nothing over the top).
The orange track is designed with middle to high school students in mind. Here, we tried to show how everything under the sun can be found in Scripture. A lot of readings are the same as the yellow track, but this track goes deeper into some of the Bible’s stranger stories, from the love song in Song of Songs to questions of “what was God thinking?” to a few stories that if they were a movie, we probably wouldn’t show in youth group. Some of these readings are definitely PG-13 even in their written form (and would probably be rated higher if they were in visual form!).
How do you know which track you’re on, if you’re on the edge? That’s up to you and your parents. If you’re not sure where “upper elementary school” starts, or you’re not sure which track is right for, say, a 7th grader – that’s because God made us all different, and we aren’t all in the same spiritual place at the same time. Some middle schoolers are ready for more mature themes; some are more comfortable waiting until high school to think about those things. Some 3rd graders are ready to read longer passages, and some 4th graders may find it too challenging right now. That’s ok; that’s why you have choices here. It’s also ok to start on one track and say “I think I’d rather go to the other” partway through, or to go back and forth. We hope you read something every day, and both tracks are set up so that the big story will make sense as you go along, but it’s really all about what works best for you/your family.
All this is a long way of saying that whichever way you’re reading, we’re glad you are, and we’re looking forward to reading our way through 2012 together!
