So the other night I escaped to the only quiet place in the house to read…Edie’s room.  Go figure.

However, it didn’t take long before Edie realized that I was missing and came looking for me.  When she discovered what I was up to, she climbed in next to me and asked that I not make any noise because she needed to concentrate on reading her Bible.  Sometimes she is so cute I just want to squeeze her ’til her eyes bulge.

Then several minutes later I hear a camera clicking from the doorway.  I guess Ken happened to pass by Edie’s room, and even he couldn’t pass on documenting the cuteness of the moment.  Oh well, so much for trying to escape for some alone time.

On a side note, my book club just had it’s third gathering yesterday, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the turn out.  We’ve got a great group of ladies coming each month, and I really think we are learning a lot from the books and our spirited debates that follow.  Again, I want to invite anyone who would like to participate and join us each month.  For more info, contact me on FB, and I can send you to the group’s page.

I’ve mentioned before that Edie and I have a very specific tucking in ritual at night.  We read a book, turn off the lamp, say our prayers, and then snuggle for a minute or two before saying goodnight.  Although I am normally exhausted from chasing kids all day, this snuggling time has become one of my favorite times of the day.  It’s when we do some of our best talking. 

I feel like most of our conversations during the day are just questions that we ask and answer each other.   Important questions about the day we had or things we did, but nothing too deep or philosophical.  It’s like she saves those questions for bedtime.  I have a theory as to why this is, and it mostly has to do with putting off going to sleep another minute or two.  But nevertheless, it is one of the few times we both have each others’ undivided attention, and therefore, do some of our best talking.

Lately the conversations have been pretty deep (well, as deep as you can go with a four year old), and we’ve started talking about what it means to be a follower of Christ.  It started one evening by her asking, “Who is God?” and over the past week has gone a little deeper each night.  Now, I know she is only four and can only understand a very limited amount when it comes to committing your life to Christ.  But on the other hand, I am thrilled by her curiosity and don’t want to put her off because I think she’s too young to grasp it.  So I find myself trying to explain some really difficult concepts even for adults in kindergarten language. 

We’ve talked about why we need God and how much He loves her.  And a couple of nights ago, we covered who Jesus is and why He came to earth, but last night’s topic of conversation was the Bible.  I took the approach that the Bible is God’s word (I know, brilliant), and it tells us how to follow Him…just like I have rules for Edie to follow that keep her safe, God has rules for us to keep us safe and close to Him.  

So her response was, “What are some of God’s rules?”  I thought that was a pretty logical question and was excited with where this conversation was going.  

I begin explaining the Golden Rule and then started going down the list of ten commandments…a very watered down version, mind you, especially when we came to “Thou shalt not commit adultery” because let’s face it, I’m not really ready for that talk yet.  One thing at a time, please!  

So we get to the one about stealing.  And in all honesty, that’s not really a sin we’ve ever talked about before.  Lying, she gets.  Obeying her mother and father, easy peasy to explain, but stealing isn’t really common among four year olds and was a new concept to her.  So I start to explain that when we go into a store, we have to pay for things before we can bring them home (that is unless you are Aladdin and can’t afford it, then it’s ok…I’m kidding!  Don’t get me started on the mixed messages in kid’s movies these days!).  Then I give another example of playing at a friend’s house and taking a toy home without telling the friend.  And that’s where I lost her.

“Do you understand?” I ask her pleased with myself for doing such a good job of putting things on her level. 

“Uh huh,” she says.  “It’s like if I lose my tooth, and then put it somewhere, and someone takes it, but doesn’t tell me, and then I don’t know where it is….that’s stealing.” 

“Well, not exactly.” 

“No, no, no.  I mean, my tooth comes out of my mouth, and I put it on my dresser.  And then I can’t find it.” 

“Edie!  Stealing has nothing to do with your teeth!” 

 I think I’ve got to find a different approach.