She was scared. She knew she wanted to do it, but her little mind conjured up a horrifying picture of what would happen when she did. In the end, she wanted Jesus in her heart more than she feared the consequences. She bowed her head, closed her eyes and began to pray,

Jesus, please come into my heart… but please, please… come in carefully!

She was so relieved when she said ‘amen’ and her heart was still in one piece! The little girl had envisioned a full sized man trying to fit in her tiny heart! No wonder she was afraid!

Children are concrete thinkers. They have a hard time comprehending something they can’t see, feel and touch. This fact can make teaching our kids about faith a bit challenging!

A young boy refused to accept Jesus as his Savior. His parents were befuddled. After some gentle questioning, their son finally revealed the problem,

I want to go to heaven, I just don’t want to go right now!

He had heard that when you accept Jesus you get go to heaven, but no one explained the time line. He assumed it meant he would go to heaven right away!

The boys’ parents did some ‘investigative’ work to discover what kept their son from accepting Christ. They didn’t pressure him to make a decision. Instead, they became students of their child. They asked him questions and listened carefully to his answers. It was during one of those conversations that the obstacle came out.

Brad and I have been intentional about weaving spiritual conversations into our kid’s daily life. I’ve discovered I’m not nearly as good a listener as I thought I was! It’s so tempting to jump in with my own opinion or to seize the chance to tell them what they should do or think.

By God’s grace I’m learning to speak less, listen more and pray for insight into my children’s heart and mind as we talk. If I hear ideas about God or Jesus that might need some correction I try not to “react”. Instead, I look for a teachable moment to address the issue (it may be right away, it may take a few days).

There is no substitute for talking with your kids! If you’re like me, your kids will teach you as much as you teach them! It’s such an amazing adventure! I encourage you to use the Table Talk questions we post on dg4kids.com. Click on the calendar and find one question per week to help you jumpstart table conversations!