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Ken and Amy were excited. They were going to Nancy's birthday party. Nancy lived next door. It was her fifth birthday.

"Hurry, Amy," said Ken, "or we will be late."

"I am coming," called Amy. "Please wait for me."

Ken and Amy ran across to Nancy's yard.

They joined the other children who were already playing games.

Soon it was time to go inside. Nancy's mother brought out the birthday cake . It had five candles on it.

"Ooh," said Ken. "It is chocolate! My favorite!"

The children began to sing:

Her friends encouraged to blow out all the five . "Try to blow out all five at once," said Amy.

Nancy took a big breath and blew hard. One, two, three, four, five—all the went out. The children cheered.

"I wish birthdays came more than once a year," said , looking at the gifts that were piled on the table. "It seems so long to wait."

"I had two birthdays this year," said Amy, "my regular birthday and my special birthday."

"How can anyone have two birthdays in one year?" asked one of the girls.

"I have two birthdays because I have been born twice," said Amy. "My first birthday was the kind everyone has. But I had another birthday this year when I was born into God's family."

"What do you mean, Amy?" asked , surprised.

Amy answered, "When you are born the first time, you are born into your parents' family. But the Lord Jesus said that you must be 'born again' if you want to be in God's family. So when I took as my Savior, I was born into God's family. Now I have two birthdays.

"You can be in God's family, too, , if you want to."

"But don't I have to wait until I am older?" asked.

"No," said Amy. "My mother said that when you are old enough to know that you have done wrong things, and if you are sorry for doing wrong, then you are old enough to ask to forgive your sins and be your Savior."

"Well," said slowly, "I know that I have done wrong things, and I am sorry. But what do I have to do to get into God's family?"

"All you have to do is to accept God's gift that He wants to give to you," explained Amy. "That gift is who died on the cross for our sins. is God's best gift to us."

exclaimed, "I want to take God's best gift today! Then I will have two birthdays. But are you sure that if I take as my Savior I will be in God's family?"

Amy smiled as she answered. "Yes, , it says so in the Bible. My mother helped me learn the Bible verse, John 1:12. It says: 'As many as received Him [that means Jesus], to them gave He power to become the sons [or children] of God.' This means that every person who receives Jesus as their Savior becomes a child of God and a member of God's family."

"I would like to take Jesus as my Savior right now," said .

The other children were very quiet as prayed: "Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned. I am sorry for the wrong things I have done. Thank You for loving me so much and for dying on the cross for my sins. Please come into my heart and be my Savior."

paused for a moment and said, "Thank you, , for the best gift of all. Now I have two birthdays. I am in Your family!"

The children were so excited that they sang again, "Happy Birthday to you!"

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Learn this verse so you can say it:

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