I was standing at the kitchen counter pouring cereal into my kids' bowls and congratulating myself on my excellent display of coordination at Too:Early o'clock. Coffee was a wish yet to be granted and I was caught in that hateful place between sleep and awake. My body was vertical and propped against the counter, but my mind kept insisting I go curl up in my nice warm bed. It began.
Connor - "Mom, did you know that God gives us the strength to love our enemies?"
I blinked at him. "Uh-huh."
Benen - "Mom, why would God want us to love our enemies? They're bad."
Me - "Uh, 'cause the Bible tells us to."
Benen - "Hm. Mom, what will happen if we don't do what God tells us in the Bible?"
Me - "You will make God very sad."
Benen thinks for a minute. - "Yeah, but what will God DO to us?"
Me (hedging)- "Uhhh...... he'll be very disappointed and sad."
Benen - "Mom, will he damn us?"
Me (eyes pop open) - "What? What did you say?"
Benen - "I saaaa-iiid, will he damn us?"
Oh. My. You try explaining heaven and eternity to your son before 8:00 a.m. Without the help of caffeine.
I managed to get it out of him where he had heard the phrase. I explained that we don't use that word in our house and then went on to tell him about salvation. Kind of. It was a very simplified version because, well, he's four. And I hadn't had my first cup of coffee and not all my synapses were firing yet.
8 comments:
you told this story so well (and maybe because it's 6:27 am and I feel the same way as you were) that I actually gasped out loud when I read the "will He damn us?" comment- as though I was right there in the kitchen with you, bleary eyed and wishing for slumber. Well written, and awesome job at answering through the cobwebs of the morning.
While I toyally hear ya on the morning fogginess...I just LOVE that Benen is thinking about such things at his age, first thing in the morning!
That really freaks my brains out! *winks*
Kids are so much more attentive than we give them credit for. Very cool that he trying to figure this out. =)
His Girl - Thanks. I felt my heart leap to my throat when he said that. I had to ask twice to make sure I heard him right. ;-)
Becky - That kid absorbs more than I realize. I love that he's inquisitive. But the way his mind works is SO FUNNY! He keeps me laughing and on my toes. I'm never sure what's going to come out of his mouth next.
Deb - Yeah. Sometimes it's scary. I have Benen stories coming out the wazoo. He's just so entertaining.
You did much better than I would have, but since I'm a heathen I direct all religious questions to my wife.
As you know, I totally understand. Before coffee trying to figure out if I should shave my legs is something akin to rocket science.
At least he used the word in the "Biblical" sense. And that is a pretty deep question for a kid his age. Me thinks you're doing something right!
Man! If you can handle that so early without even coffee, I would like to hire you to come to my house in the middle of the day and answer MY children! I'll provide you with all the coffee it takes!
Too funny.
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