He Is Not Real

One of the things I love about children is their imagination. I love watching them make up plays, dances, songs and games. I am often amazed at what they are able to come up with. Just the other day the kiddos were playing and there was quite the bit of running, yelling, and overall excitement surrounding their game...so I asked what they were doing. The response, "we are slaves, and we overheard our owner saying that he was going to separate us and sell some of us. We want to stay a family, so we are running away to Chicago. I have to go mom, or I will miss the train. Bye!" And off she went. I loved it!

Although their creativity is great, it is hard for them sometimes to determine what is real and what is not. Almost every time we watch a movie or a show, someone will ask, "is this real life?" We talk about how you can see things that help you know if it is real or not, but sometimes it is really tough to tell. Sometimes what is not real or true is made to look real, these lead to great discussions.

Recently we went to the museum with a group. We were enjoying our day and looking at the great displays around us. An 11 year old boy started telling me about the study he was doing with Mythology. He became so excited and was describing his favorite god, Triton. He was going on and on, it was pretty cute. Finally, after several minutes of his animated descriptions, I said, "you know he is not real, right?" His enthusiasm seemed to drain right out of him as he looked at me and said, "yah, I know." I felt like I had just popped his bubble. I was saddened and I wanted to tell him about the real God with just as much enthusiasm as he shared with me.

We focus quite a bit in our home on what is real and what is not. The majority of our focus is on helping our children see that what the Bible says is real and that Jesus is real. Our world today is filled with messages of how God is just a myth, much like the gods of mythology. Society is working hard to teach our children that the Bible is just a book. It is very important to us that our children know the truth and be able to defend the truth. We want them to have a strong "trunk" that keeps them upright when the winds of the world come blowing their way.

I truly love my children, I love their imagination, and I love when they are excited about learning, however, I love them too much to allow them to grow up deciding truth for themselves or having some professor decide it for them. The truth is the truth and no matter what society says, what is REAL does not change!