I gave the kids a writing assignment today, and their answers were so very different from each other that I just had to share.
I had the kids write about what they would ask God if they could ask Him anything they wanted. Anything at all… nothing was off limits here.
I think I expected to read questions on what happened to the dinosaurs, or how it was possible to feed thousands with just a few fish. Maybe I expected questions about when Jesus would return, or why bad things happen to good people. I guess, in my mind, those are standard kid questions.
But my kids always surprise me.
Benjamin wrote that he would ask God two questions. First, what happened to the colonists at Roanoke? And second, who exactly was it that fired the first shot at Lexington and Concord?
Does it boggle your mind as much as it boggled mine? Those are his questions!
He said, “These are two of history’s most interesting mysteries and I want to know the answers. I mean, the people at Roanoke just vanished. Gone. And that gunshot started a war, but nobody knows who fired it.”
I have to say, I never imagined I would get anything like that for this assignment.
Yeva’s was closer to what I expected. She said she would ask where God came from. She said, “He was just there. He made everything, but how was He just there? And how does He know everything? He created everything, but how? How is that possible?”
Those are tough questions to answer. She’s been asking them for a long time.
I don’t know how God was just there, but He was. If you’re wondering how I handle those questions, I just keep talking about it. I talk about God. I read the Bible with my kids. We discuss Jesus like we discuss the weather – both are real, relevant, important, and life changing.
And I also make sure to always ask Yeva, “Do you believe He was there and that He created it all?” Because whether we know how or not, what is important is that we believe. She believes.
Anyways… I guess from both kids what it all boils down to is answering history’s greatest mysteries. Benjamin doesn’t question where God came from, but he does need to know who fired the shot heard around the world. Yeva doesn’t care about Roanoke, but she needs to know how God can know even her deepest, innermost thoughts… and how He came to be.
The kids don’t know it yet, but tomorrow they will be writing about what they think Heaven will be like. That should be interesting, don’t you think?
Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29 ESV 🕊💕
Amen.