Harms Family News

My kids are under the weather, but in spite of their coughs we needed groceries, so yesterday we packed up and headed to the grocery store. Across the street from the grocery store is a small cemetery that has sparked many questions from my new four-year-old. Here was yesterday's conversation: N: Mommy, are people under those? (Pointing to the headstones) Mommy: Well, their bodies are under those, but their spirit, which is the part of you that makes you feel happy, sad, and makes you be able to think and talk, is not in the body any more. N: The bodies stay here and the spirit goes up up up. Mommy: Yes, if you are a Christian your spirit goes up to Heaven. If you are not, then you go to hell. (upon saying this I regretted it, because I think I need to spend more time in prayer before introducing the subject of hell. Salvation needs to come as a result of understanding sinfulness and Christ's role as redeemer, not because we want to avoid the negative of hell. Thankfully, there...

Today, we were in the car and Natalie was listening to some Christian music. She blurted out, "I don't want to go to Heaven!" What? You heard that right. I said a quick prayer for wisdom, turned the music off, and asked why. N: "I don't know, I just don't" M: "Are you afraid ?" N: "I don't know." M: "Are you afraid because you don't want to die?" (For some strange, creepy reason, my child is obsessed with death and dying) N: "Yes, I don't want to die." M: "Well, most people don't want to die, but when we die if Jesus is our saviour, we go to heaven. There are mansions there, which are like beautiful palaces (remember, princess mode here), and Jesus is there and we can see what God looks like." N: "I don't want to go there Mommy! I don't want to die!" I tried hard to assure her that unless God had another plan, she wasn't going to die for a really long time, and when ...