And so, as if that wasn't enough, we had visitors at the church that day and one family had an 8 year old little boy. As he watched the testimony of my two little boys and the others being baptised that day, he approached his mother about how he could be saved! How great to share later with my boys that their first act of obedience was also one of the first opportunities of sharing the gospel because of their outward testimony! Well, the mom sat down after the service with her child and one of our church leaders. They feasted together on the glory of the gospel as this sweet little boy's eyes were being opened and the Holy Spirit continued drawing his heart to the greatest story ever told. The mom asked for some good literature to use for them to continue the conversation at home and I tucked the request in the back of my mind so I could give her a list of books I would recommend beyond what we gave her that day. If you have older children, don't you remember when the Lord first began working on your first child and he/she came with questions? Were you like me and had been on missions trips, had evangelism training, and had done plenty of witnessing...but this little child from your womb left you speechless? I had even worked for years with younger aged children but for some reason found talking to my own child brought new meaning to sharing the gospel.
So, Monday came and in the mail that day arrived a new book for me to review. Yes, you know what I am going to say here :) The Lord brought me the book Answering Your Kid's Toughest Questions by Jessica Thompson and Elyse Fitzpatrick! I had a few other books I was ready to recommend, but was so excited to dig into this one and see what it had to offer in light of Sunday's happenings.
I was not disappointed! Answering Your Kid's Toughest Questions is a great tool to use right along with one of my other favorite parenting books: Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick. Give Them Grace is one of the best discipling/parenting books on how to bring your kids to the knowledge of the gospel through your day to day parenting. Anyway...I could get off on a tangent about that. Look up the book and order it if you have kids! :)
This new book by Mrs. Fitzpatrick and her daughter is another great tool and fantastic resource to have on hand. Kids do ask tough questions and the Bible is the answer key. This book, though, does some of the ground work for you by providing the scripture that supports the answers to the questions (in correct context, by the way) and then giving great examples of how to explain them to your children. Not only that, the authors lovingly give sections within each chapter that lay out appropriate explanations for Preschool aged children, ages 5-10, and beyond. This is a great feature in helping the parent realize what the child may or may not understand at the various ages. The sections are complex yet simple enough that you can read through them, do a little background study, and then feel prepared and knowledgeable enough about the concept to discuss it with the child. The book covers subjects like:
- What is Sin?
- Why do people die?
- Who is Satan? What is Hell?
- Why do people get divorced?
- Why does the Bible say that? Difficult Bible stories.
- Sexual Sin
- Natural Disasters
- War
- Terrorism
- And of course-The Good News!
Paul David Tripp said, " I love this book! I will recommend it again and again. It is street-level theology for children that drips with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Parents, read it, live with it, share it daily with your children, and not only will they learn and grow, you will, too."
{I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review}
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