1st Grade...conversations about God

My Mom and I have had the discussion about the differences between growing up in Durango and growing up in the midwest. I can tell you that for most of my entire life I thought everyone believed the same thing I did in terms of faith. I thought that everyone knew that Jesus died on the cross. There was no discussion about it. Most of my community or the people in my life were Lutheran or Catholic, we all went to CCD, had our first communion and had confirmation, we believed in the sacraments and knew that this guy Jesus paid for all of our sin on the cross.

It never ever crossed my mind that there was another way. My faith did not teach me that God wants a personal relationship with me through prayer and reading the Bible and serving and loving others. My Catholic faith did not help me to understand the tender heart of God, but I knew he did some things that were good and that God had my back...I had that foundation and God drew me to him as I grew older.

For my children, life will look a little different. We are raising them to know that the God who created the universe also created them for a plan and a purpose. That when God created them inside my body, he did it with more love than they could ever imagine. That he loves them so much he wants to hear from them on a regular basis, that he loves them so much, he wants to hear them sing to him, that he loves them so much he wants them to know his word in the Bible. We want our kids to know that not only does God love them but they NEED God in their lives.

This year Grace asked Jesus into her heart. She understands that sin seperated us from God and Jesus died on the cross so we could have this deeper better relationship with God. I could not be more thrilled that she "gets it" at such a tender young age.

Grace is going to a public school this year as well and here is where the spiritual climate is a little different in Durango. She has only been in school two years and in those two years she has talked to kids about their faith. Innocent conversations of a 1st grade little girl.

She has asked them if they believe in God, she has had conversations with other kids who tell her that they believe "Mother Nature" made them and that they don't believe what she believes. One of her sweetest friends when Grace asked her if she believed in God told her, "not so much".

Recently she asked me if she could take her Bible to show and tell. She has a cute purple bible with rhinestone flap and she loves to read it and look up things(on occasion). I told her that would be fine with me. She just needed to let her teacher know that she wanted to show it at show and tell. A couple minutes later she came back to me and said that she forgot she can't bring her bible to class because another boy in class asked to show his Bible in class and the teacher told him no because not everyone believed in Jesus.

So... I took a deep breath and told Grace I would pray about what to do and that in the meantime she could take her Bible to school and read it at recess if she liked.

The next day she came home and told me she asked her friend Zia if she believed in God. Zia told her yes and told her that another name for God is "Jehovah". Then she asked Zia if she wanted to join her outside and they could read her Bible together. They did... and when I asked her what she read... she said, "Genesis," very matter of factly. (It was kinda cute)

So on one side of this situation I am very aware my daughter, at a very early age is being told by her teachers and other classmates that not everyone believes what she believes.

On the flip side, she has a family at home grounded in their faith encouraging her, She is also blessed with a family at church encouraging and reinforcing to her that what she believes is truth.

One of the greatest gifts given to my precious daughter is to "teach". Partly because she wants to tell you what she knows... but also because she is like her father, patient and bold about her knowledge of things. My prayer is that God will begin to instill in my daughter a heart for loving the kids in her school and "teaching" them what she knows about God. That she would plant the smallest seeds in the hearts of kids who think otherwise and that as she grows up she have a bold confidence in how GREAT our God is. No matter WHAT other people say.

Please pray with me for the kids in Durango who believe and love Christ. That they are raised up to be bold and honest about thier faith and that we as parents have wisdom and discernment to guide them and encourage them and teach them all the goodness of God.

PS. I am formulating an email conversation with the principal of Grace's school (who is Christian)to get her perspective on allowing Grace to "show and tell" her Bible. God gave Grace a boldness... but thankfully he gave his mother a little boldness too! :)