Easter

Sometimes when I'm talking to my kids about something I wonder to myself "are they even listening?". But then they do something really great, possibly weeks after the fact, that let me know I'm actually doing an okay job as a mom.

The other day my oldest son brought home his latest publishing project from school. It was titled Easter and he started off reading about an egg hunt and finding lots of candy. But then he switched over to talking about how Easter isn't about candy or some magical bunny but actually about Jesus and the sacrifice he made for us.

I was so impressed! Not only does he know the story but he's not embarrassed or afraid to write about it, write about it, or just admit it. I'm so proud of him for being strong about it. It might seem like just some ordinary thing to most people but I think in our society talking about religious or God can be a frightening thing for some. These days when people say they're a Christian they had some kind of disclaimer to the end. Do you know what I mean? The ol' "I'm a Christian, but you know..." routine. I mean, just because we're Christians doesn't mean we're weird, or boring, or extremists. We just believe in something and we're proud of it. And I'm really glad my son is showing that kind of strength.

To See or Not To See...

Recently my 7 1/2 year old son was looking for one of his toys in my bedroom and came across a small jar of his baby teeth. As I explained to him that I'm his tooth fairy he looked up at me with this sweet innocent face and asked me "does Dad know?" You can read more about that in my personal blog here: http://courtneyb11.blogspot.com. It was all very sweet and I felt sad that that "magic" of the tooth fairy and Santa and all those fantastic fictional characters is supposed to last a long time. I felt bad for him, like I had been tricking him all along...In a way I had, but only with the intentions of making something ordinary into something special. After we talked I told him he's now part of the "secret society" so to speak, he's part of making that magic now...For his little brothers and little cousins. And although he still believes in Santa and even little Leprechauns, it won't be long before he realizes that they too are legendary characters made up from actions of real people long long ago.

However, something else came to mind that is now somewhat worrisome to me. If all the things he's learned about but couldn't see these past few years, what will he think about Jesus Christ? I mean, chances are he won't even think of it that way since he's grown up with the foundation of the Lord in his life but what if he starts to question things and I don't have all the answers? I will be excited when he begins to have questions about the story of Jesus and start his own personal journey of discovery but I can only hope that in his heart he will hear the Lord and know the truth.