"I can't hear you reading, Zippy," mommy said.  Zippy was whispering when it was her turn to read the book.  Zippy was a shy little girl, but at home, she usually would talk and play loudly.  In fact, she could be quite silly.  Mommy knew Zippy was a very good reader.  But, when it was time to read together, Zippy would get very serious and very quiet.  

One day, Zippy tagged along at big brother's Adventurer Club meeting.  They earned their reading award by reading books to therapy dogs.  Even Zippy wanted to read aloud to the dogs!  Mommy thanked God for a new idea!​

Zippy has been reading aloud to Sparkles and Britney for many months now.  Sometimes both piggies listen at the same time.  Sometimes Zippy even teaches them her geography lesson or tells them the alphabet.  Sparkles and Britney always sit very still and listen nicely.  

Zippy isn't afraid to read aloud to people anymore.  She reads with Mommy.  She reads with Poppy.  She reads with Grandma.  It's fun to read together!  

In Revelation 1:3, the prophet John writes, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near."  Prophecy means message.  The Bible contains God's messages to us.  When we read or listen to God's messages, we receive a special blessing.  It is almost time for Jesus to come back.  Let's practice our reading skills, so we can read the Bible and discover God's messages to us.

Do you like blowing bubbles?  Shiloh and Zippy LOVE bubbles.  We blow bubbles inside over the carpet and outside everywhere.  One day, Shiloh and Zippy explored bubbles in different ways.  

They blew little bubbles and big bubbles.  They made bubbles fly slowly.  They made bubbles fly fast.  They made bubbles swirl all around.  Shiloh mastered the art of blowing just right to get the most bubbles out of one breath. ​

Zippy discovered that you can use long grass blades as bubble wands.  Just pinch the ends close together and swirl the grass in some bubble solution.  ​

They even made bubble mountains!  Bubble mountains are made when you blow lots of bubbles on top of each other.  They had a special bubble blower that helped them do that.  Shiloh made the biggest bubble mountain of all!  ​

Sometimes we get bored because we don't imagine or try all the possibilities.  One of the best ways to have fun is to explore something in a new positive way.  You might discover a new game or a new favorite toy.

Jesus said in Matthew 13:54 about teaching truth in old and new ways, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."  Discover the fun and insights God wants to share with you as you study and play with "old" things in "new" ways.

Mommy and Shiloh discovered that those eggs were from the Milkweed Leaf Beetle.  This bug looks sort of like a giant ladybug, but it doesn't have circle spots.  Just as their name indicates, these bugs claim milkweed as their primary food source for their larva.  And they are some ugly looking larva.  Mommy noticed these beetles hanging out on the milkweed plants a couple of weeks earlier.  They were mating.  Now they were laying eggs.  Can you spot the Milkweed Leaf Beetle in these two pictures?

Unfortunately, we don't have enough milkweed to share with the Milkweed Leaf Beetle larvae if we want to raise Monarch butterflies, so Mommy removed the eggs and fed them to our quail.  She left the beetle because it doesn't seem to do any damage to the plant.  It's the larvae that greedily eat up many leaves.

Milkweed has many pests that want to eat it.  We are watching our milkweed plants carefully.  We keep them by the front door, so we can inspect them whenever we come or go from the house.  We are guarding our milkweed for the Monarch butterflies.  They will come from afar in late summer to lay eggs on the milkweed.  We want to make sure there will be leaves available to the newborn caterpillars to eat when they arrive.

Protecting our milkweed plants from pests reminds me of a warning Jesus gave in Matthew 24:42-44: "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (NKJV).  Jesus is coming back to this earth very soon.  He wants us to watch and wait for Him.  But, we must be careful.  The devil wants to steal our hearts away from Jesus.  Guard your heart with prayer, Bible study, and obedience.  When you find the devil planting the greedy eggs of covetousness, pluck them out right away.  Our sweet Jesus is worth the wait!