By Barbara Rainey
First posted on EverThineHome.com
“What is hair made from?”
“Do lizards go to heaven?”
“Why do we stop at red lights?”
“Who’s your mom’s mom?”
“Why do I have to tell Jesus what I did wrong when He already knows?”
In our house with six kids, a menagerie of outside pets, and two often exhausted parents, our kids’ questions kept us on our toes and sometimes pushed me to the edge. Questions ranged from cute to confounding.
And I bet you, too, deal with more than one child asking questions at the same time. And always, it seems, when mom is busy with other tasks.
Nothing like trying to finish preparing dinner and explaining where babies come from! Or juggling laundry and a sibling’s homework and answering the question, “How small are the people on the radio?” Or talking on the phone taking care of something important, and hearing that little voice asking, “Why did the fox kill our baby chickens?”
Phew. And it didn’t stop at bedtime: “Does God sleep?” … “What does His bedroom look like?” … “Is He really real?”
It always seemed the lights-out hour was delayed because that’s when my kids wanted to talk. No doubt it was often a delay tactic, but I also knew they asked questions because they saw I was focused on them as I tucked in each one for the night and prayed for them.
My kids were smart. They knew I was distracted much of the other time during the day. So I tried to patiently answer a few questions at bedtime. Even one honest answer of one question from each of my six made for a long, drawn-out bedtime many nights.
Was it even worth the time? Why did this matter in my home? Does this matter in your home?
One of my favorite writers, Edith Schaeffer, said the family is a perpetual relay of truth. Perpetual. What a great word for the race of parenting!
When you engage your children’s questions you are participating in a relay of life.
As their first and most important teacher, you are helping them learn about every subject related to God’s world. But most importantly you are teaching them about God Himself by what you say and how you live.
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