Tonight Ellie told us the secret she has been keeping for quite a while.
She warned us that we might get angry with her and she was nervous about telling us… We have been wondering about this secret for a while and were even a little concerned. But its no use pushing Ellie on that stuff.
So tonight we began talking and it turns out she isn’t sure whether she really believes in God. She had been teased at school about going to church and believing in God and it caused her to think. It was probably the first ‘opposition’ she has encountered and it obviously rattled her.
So we had a great conversation around the dinner table tonight, discussing how we see God, why we believe and the struggles that go with it.
She is an incredibly articulate and passionate little 7 year old. Some days I get goose bumps listening to her present her thoughts and argue for her point of view. Even if I disagree I am impressed with her passion!
Awesome! I think children are the best theologians! I’ve got three awesome ones at my house that I am often inspired by!
I was recalling just today, how my son Noah once blew right past the usher at church and exclaimed “Where’s Jesus!?”. I want that kind of faith!
Although I hope my kids think, that kind of “secret” would scare me a bit. Cool she’s working through these things.
And a great opportunity for her to learn trust in mum and dad that they won’t get angry over such things.
I didn’t know the Hamilton Family “went to Church”?!?
What a sweet girl…
I’m so pleased the ‘questions’ have hit early. So many kids who grow up ‘Christian’ accept it all blindly till they leave home and then have a crisis of faith from which it can be difficult to recover.
Early ‘doubts’ are good because they can generally be resolved satisfactorily (even if the answer’s just ‘well, God’s big and we’re little and we don’t know’) and amalgamated into our faith long term.
Questions are good, much better than no thinking, ‘cos, to be frank, Christian faith is terribly hard, and for such a little person to grasp that it is the grace of God at work. Her family handled it so well 🙂
Hi mate
Just had a similar conversation with my 7 year old Sophie who said that she has had to defend Jesus to some of her school mates who laugh at her and say Jesus is still dead. I told her that Jesus has promised her that if she isn’t ashamed of her now then he won’t be ashamed of her in the age to come. Her eyes widened – amazed that he might have predicted that that sort of thing might happen!
Amen. Questioning is not wrong. Our questions lead us to answers and a strong faith, grounded and real.
This is exciting