Sun Kissed Boy #1. He's imaginative, creative, and inquisitive. He asks question. LOTS of questions. He wants to absorb everything. His questions can be considered typical of a ten year-old. When he was into comic books, he asked about the history of Spiderman, Superman, Hulk, etc. When he was watching the Miami Heat playoffs, he asked about the players, what were their stats, did they play for other teams before, etc.
I'm used to the questions. I'm used to pulling up Google to answer some most of the them. But here's one not easily found on search engines. Here's one I wasn't prepared to hear from a ten year-old, much less prepared to answer.
Before I tell you the question, a little history. SKB #1 is going through a stage where he's afraid of sleeping alone in his room. After all, there's boogie men in his closet and goblins under the bed. Having gone through the same at his age, the other night, I explained to him how normal the fear is and it is something he will outgrow. During that conversation, I reassured him he was safe. He had mommy and daddy to keep him safe. But most important, he had God to watch over him and keep him safe.
He paused and digested what I had said.
SKB#1: Mom, you know how all those people died at the Batman movie shooting?
Me: Yes.
SKB#1: You know how all those people died on 9/11?
Me: Yes.
SKB#1: Why wasn't God watching over them?
Color me stunned.
My answer? "Uuuuhhhhh". I kid, even tough that was going through my mind at first. I was honest and told him that I didn't really know. That there are questions related to our surroundings and the roll that God plays that we don't always know or understand. That we may never know or understand. That that's when faith comes in.
Even though the question stomped me, I am grateful to have a boy that is so thoughtful.
This is a conversation I want to revisit with him. So I am curious, how would YOU have answered his question?
