Heaven

Son #3, my 8 yr old,  comes to me 15 minutes after being put to bed. Says he has a question. I tell him to get in my lap where the best answers are.

He snuggles up & with tears forming in his eyes, tells me he wants to go to heaven but he doesn't want to die. I ask him what made him start thinking on all this.

Son#3: "Well, I mean, I wanna go but I don't wanna die one day. I'm scared to die."

Me: "What if I told you I was scared of dying too?"

Son#3: "But you're a mom. Mom's aren't scared!"

 Me: "Oh there's plenty that scare moms. But, our job is to protect you so you live a long, healthy life 

and you don't have to worry about things like dying until you're an old, gray grandpa."

Son#3: "What happens if I die and I'm still just a kid?" 

(Tears keep leaking out one by one after each question & I kiss my finger as I wipe away each tear. He's trying to keep a small smile, bless his heart.)

Me: "I'm pretty sure it's automatic you get to be in heaven with Jesus. He likes little kids a lot. He even talks about that in the Bible."

Son#3: "Well, what about if I have a friend & he dies and goes to uh, the...(points & whispers) the place down there. You know H--E--BLANK--L. What happens to him?"

Me: "I think it's a place no one wants to stay & it's pretty hot. I promise you don't need to think about any of this just yet baby."

Son#3: "So what happens if I die when I'm old?"

Me: "Well, at some point you're going to be old enough to understand what God's asking of you in the Bible. And if you want to do what He asks of you to do to get to heaven, then I believe you're good. But that's all up to God. He loves every single person, even when we aren't making good choices. And he shows mercy a lot. Just like I will ALWAYS love you, even if you don't make a good choice. It's going to all be fine, I promise. You need to just keep being exactly who He created you to be. Grayson, with your big, giant, caring heart. Just you. Nobody else. And what do I tell you when you leave for school EVERY day??"

Son#3: "MAKE GOOD CHOICES!"

(last tear wiped)

Me: "Baby, I want you to know, you can come & sit on my lap when you're any age, and you can always come & ask me ANY question, about ANYTHING.  I may not have the answer but I will always love you, and we can always talk about it no matter what it is baby."

Son#3: "Okay Mommy. Hey Mommy?"

Me: "Yeah baby?"

Son#3: "Can I get that app we were talking about for the iPad now?"

Sigh!