Deep Questions

Case has a pretty analyzing mind.  He ask questions and thinks about your answer for awhile.  Then he asks another question.  You can see the wheels turning in his head when you give him an answer.

Some questions are just funny to watch him process.  Like the other night when he asked what happens to the snow cone once he eats it.  Josh and I explained to him how it turns into pee.
He was amused, but quiet.  After about a minute, he asked what happens to the food you eat.  I wish I had asked him what he thought happened to it.  I'm pretty sure he wasn't surprised when we said it turns into poop.  He was amazed with the idea how your food and drink gives your body energy, and the waste turns into pee and poop.  Okay, I'm pretty sure he could care less about the energy part.  He was enthralled with the bathroom talk.  What four-year-old boy isn't?

Other questions are difficult to answer.  Not because we don't know the answers.  Those questions are easier in a way.  If I don't know the explanation, I'll tell him I don't know it, but we could look up the answer.  Right now the difficult ones are the ones that show that slowly his innocence is slipping away.  He's learning about death and sin.  It started with learning about Jesus dying on the cross.  The story is in our children's bible book, and they learned about it in his bible class.

Here's just a sampling:
"Why did Jesus die?"
"Does everybody die?"
"Does everybody go to Heaven after they die?  What about bad people?"
"What about kids?  Do they always go to Heaven?"
(I'm not kidding.  C thinks about the simple explanation we give him, thinks about it, and goes further with the questioning.)
Do kids - do I -  need to get baptized and have my sins washed away?

Sigh.  I try to stay calm and answer honestly.  Though I feel sad that he is realizing that the world isn't perfect, I'm glad he is asking us questions.  I think about that when I get scared when I hear some of his questions.  When he is 15, I hope he is still asking us questions.

On Sunday during communion, I realized how thankful I am for Jesus' sacrifice.  It reminded me of Josh's communion talk he gave right after Case was born.  I'm thankful, not just for me, but for my kids' sake, too.  They'll need that cleansing blood one day, and right now, they already need that Hope as they are realizing that the world isn't perfect.