Q and A

I’m seven. I know things. Mom says that you shouldn’t say the word gosh, but Mickey Mouse says it. I’m a first grader now. Diego was my favorite a couple years ago, but not anymore. Diego’s for babies…I don’t watch it unless it’s on. I’m learning to read. Sponge Bob is the funniest thing ever, but my parents never let me watch it. I’m a fast runner. I could be as fast as The Flash, but he’s not real so we’ll never know. I know about God. I’ve known God since I was a baby. I know Jesus loves the little children, that this is the day that the Lord has made, and I never want to be lazy like a rooster. I know puppets are fake, but they crack me up anyway.


I have questions you’ve never thought about having the answers to. Why are some words said the same but spelled different like right and write or two, to, and too? My grandparents like to watch me play sports. They came to my school play last year. How come they don’t come to church. When I ask they maybe, but that’s the same thing my parents say when I ask for drums. I heard Jesus said through him all things are possible. Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden until they listened to a snake and ate an apple from a special tree. Grandpa seems proud of me when he hears I sang a song at church. How come he didn’t come to see me? If I get in trouble at church, Granny shakes her head and gives me that look like I need to do better. If it’s so important, why doesn’t she come with us? My Sunday school teacher says that if we have faith in God and ask forgiveness of our sins, we can go to Heaven someday. Does that mean my Uncle isn’t going to Heaven unless he says he’s sorry to God?

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I’m thirty-seven. I have some of the same questions. My family knows better. They know the path to Heaven. Why are they not choosing to take it? How do I help knock down those walls that are beginning to make themselves clear in my child’s eyes? Why are they pushing my child to go to church every step of the way, yet always have to work, have a headache, have a million things to do that prevents them from going themselves? What do I tell my child if he asks if Granny is going to Heaven? Why does Mickey Mouse say “gosh”, when “my goodness” sounds so much better?

Next time maybe I’ll say this: Did you know that when you believe, repent, and are baptized into Christ, you are like a new born baby? It’s funny to think of Grandpa as a baby isn’t it? That’s kind of a scary thing for a Grandpa or Granny, to start a new life after all these years. Remember your first day at the new school and how frightening that was? I think I know what to do….we just keep trying. We keep asking, keep praying, and keep showing them the kind of person they could be with a little faith in God. Who knows, maybe they will come the next time we ask or the next time or the next….