For the last month or so, I have been letting my oldest son sit in the front seat of the van during our 10 minute morning commute. Normally, he is in the “way way back” playing on his Ipad or reading a book. Conversation is at a minimum because we basically have to yell at each other and he says “huh” a lot, which annoys me.
This morning, on our drive, Eph asked me about zombies and whether or not I believed that zombies were real.
I countered with the very parental question of, “well, what do you think.”
To which he replied, “I think they can be real.”
From that little tid bit, he and I were able to engage in a very deep and thoughtful conversation about faith.
I explained to him, that because I believe in Jesus and heaven that I didn’t believe there could be zombies. He had a few random thoughts and then he told me that he was worried about a particular friend because they didn’t believe in God.
I explained to him that just because his friend doesn’t believe in Jesus now doesn’t mean that his friend might not ever believe. I told him that he just needs to keep sharing about God and Jesus in a nice way and that he will be planting “mustard seeds.”
He thought that was funny.
I explained that the Bible tells us that a person must have faith of a mustard seed and that mustard seeds are very very tiny. I told him to imagine that everyday when he leaves the house, that he fills his pocket full of mustard seeds and whenever he talks about God, Jesus or believing that he is reaching into his pocket and pulling out a tiny mustard seed and planting in the persons heart.
I caught him running his hand along his pocket, slowing feeling his pretend mustard seeds and contemplating what I had said.
I could tell that he wasn’t 100% sure about how it works but I could tell he was at least seeing the hope that we are given in Christ.
Hope that it only takes a small seed of faith, given from a child to another to change the course of fate.
[and to kill all the zombies]
He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. (Luke 17:6)
I am very strong believer and God has been so good to me. I lost a son in a motorcycle accident a while back and if it wasn’t for God in my life I would not be here today. Thank you so much for this wonderful article. If more people believed our world would be a different place. We all need to keep planting that mustard seed and then pray for those around us.
I love your analogy. I’m filing it away for when my LO is old enough to have these kinds of conversations.
This really touched me because I am a recent believer and have been agnostic or atheist most of my life (I am 40)
I struggle with how to express my feelings and questions about God and also wonder how I am to spread the word.
Thank you for this post.
I enjoyed it and will be taking it with me.
Great job, mama! I love having faith conversations with my oldest. She is only 3, but I can already tell that she is excited to learn more about Jesus!
What a great conversation! Your morning commute sounds like the perfect time to connect with your son!
Is there anything sweeter than seeing your child trust Jesus and desire Him (and desire for others to know Him)? My son is not even 4, so our conversations are not quite so deep, but I am amazed sometimes at his grasp of spiritual things. No wonder Jesus told us to have faith like a child!
I love your look at this – giving such a visual for planting seeds. I don’t know that I would come up with that. I look forward to such conversations with my daughter as she grows!
What a beautiful thing! You are raising that boy right! So sweet how much he cares about others. And a great way to help the little ones understand about Him.
I can’t wait to start faith conversations with my son. (Still working on “mama” and “dada” though).