First of all, when answering a child’s question, remember:
-Children usually want simpler answers than we give them.
-Children may not be asking the question we think they are asking.
-Children love answering their own questions.
-There is no bad question.
-It is okay not to have an answer right away..
-It is also okay to say that some questions just don’t have answers, at least not right now.
ESPECIALLY – remember that children love answering their own questions.
However, this is another one of those questions that I would not let my child answer.
We want to protect our...
First of all, when answering a child’s question, remember:
-Children usually want simpler answers than we give them.
-Children may not be asking the question we think they are asking.
-Children love answering their own questions.
-There is no bad question.
-It is okay not to have an answer right away..
-It is also okay to say that some questions just don’t have answers, at least not right now.
ESPECIALLY – remember that children love answering their own questions.
However, this is one of those questions that I would not let my child answer first!
I would immediately, lovingly, say,...
Children’s Question: What is God? Who is God?
First of all, when answering a child’s question, remember:
-Children usually want simpler answers than we give them.
-Children may not be asking the question we think they are asking.
-Children love answering their own questions.
-There is no bad question.
-It is okay not to have an answer right away..
-It is also okay to say that some questions just don’t have answers, at least not right now.
ESPECIALLY – remember that children love answering their own questions.
So, if a child asks me “What is God? Who is God?” or...
Who is God? What is heaven like? What happens when someone dies? How do I love someone who is mean to me? Children have all sorts of questions, including all sorts of faith questions. In the next weeks, I’m going to share some ideas about how you might answer these faith questions. But, first of all, I want to share some ideas about answering children’s questions in general.
Children usually want simpler answers than we give them. I remember going into a long, detailed explanation with my boys, only to have them say (when they were a bit older), “Mom,...
Who is my neighbour? a young lawyer asked Jesus. What the lawyer wanted was a definitive definition. Give me the exact description of who a neighbour is and then I’ll know who I have to love, since you tell me, Jesus, that I am to love my neighbour as I love myself. Give me the specifics, Jesus, and then I’ll know who I have to love, and I can avoid spending energy on those I don’t have to love. The young lawyer (a student in Jewish law) thought he had it all figured out.
That is until Jesus told the...
Waiting. Watching. Praying.
That is what Holy Week is about. I just can’t bring myself to do anything that is celebratory or fun on these days, especially on Good Friday. Even if the sun is shining, Good Friday always seems a sombre day to me. It may be called “Good” – which is actually derived from “God’s” Friday, in the same way that “God be with you” became “good-bye.” But though it is called “good,” God’s Friday always feels just like that – a day that I need to give to God, in worship, in prayer, in waiting.
But then...
It is natural for us as parents to want to protect our children from the sadness, tragedy and grief of life. We’d rather they not know about the harsh realities that humans face, until they are just a bit older. The knowledge of death is one of those things that we’d rather protect them from knowing about. But then it happens – a pet dies, a grandparent dies, a friend’s parent or tragically a student in the school. Suddenly we are faced with their questions about death and existence, questions that we are still trying to figure out ourselves as adults....
What will my children’s future be like? It is a question that we all ponder as parents/grandparents, sometimes with hope, sometimes with fear. Yet, I believe that we have much more to do with shaping that future than we might sometimes feel we have. This week, to wrap up this series, I’m thinking about inspiration for our young people.
Our youngest has been busy applying to and then auditioning for Bachelor of Music piano performance programs. He is blessed to be sitting with two offers from universities – and he has to decide by the end of this week which...
by Alan D. Wolfelt (Companion Press, 2013)
What do I say to a child whose pet has just died? How do I talk to a teen whose friend was killed in a car collision? What words are there to answer the questions of a toddler whose mother won’t be coming home? This book by Dr. Alan Wolfelt, who has studied and taught about grief for decades, is an amazing collection of questions and answers about how to talk with children and teens about death, suicide, funerals, homicide, cremation and other end-of-life matters. It is divided up according to age group...
What will my children’s future be like? It is a question that we all ponder as parents, sometimes with hope, sometimes with fear. Yet, I believe that we have much more to do with shaping that future than we might sometimes feel we have. This week, I want to talk about Civil Discourse….. how we speak and discuss with each other. And I want to start with this story:
I was walking my oldest into school (many years ago now – but not that long). My youngest was with me – a 4 year old and a 6 year old. ...