Some Deep Thinking

Yesterday, Nathan's Sunday school teacher called to talk to me. When I first got the call, all I could think was "Oh no! What did he do now?!" However, this was a pretty neat call. Apparently on Sunday, she made the comment that God made everything, so Nathan asked her if God made the devil. She told him yes, to which he asked how God could make something evil when he has nothing to do with anything evil.

Wow! Not to shabby reasoning for a five year old, huh?

Then, last night the boys and I were saying prayers (Dad was at movie night with the teens), and we were praying for some people who have cancer. After we were done praying, David asked, "Why do we pray for people to be healed? If they die, they get to go to heaven, and heaven is where we all want to be. So wouldn't it be better if we just let them go there?"

Man! Tough questions from the boys these days. We spent a little while talking about heaven and talking about the human desire to be with the people we love, and how hard it is to balance the two.

I love it when my boys ask questions like this because I am able to see how some of the things they are learning from us, in Bible class, in worship, in chapel and at Bible time at school are sinking into their ever-growing brains. I love that they are already trying to flesh through some difficult questions. I am scared to death of what they will ask next and pray everyday that God fills me with the answers to guide them to those answers. I also pray that there will never come a day that they don't ask questions or quit seeking the truth to those questions.

Some days I wonder if I am effective as a parent. There are those days where they spend the whole day fighting with each other, arguing with me, or just being plain ol' naughty. However, these moments where they share the most insightful thoughts about our God or ask a question that lets me know they are working on building a foundation for their spiritual growth help me to realize that we are making a little headway in the greatest responsibility that we have as parents. It also makes more sense about why Nathan has been praying for me so much lately!