Teachable Moments

We had planned on being with Ron's parents in Northeastern Ohio until today, but we got a phone call about an hour after we arrived there on Sunday that Ron would have to come back early for a funeral. The boys were disappointed and I was not thrilled either, but there are sacrifices that come with being a Pastoral family.

So we are back and today Ron had the funeral and the kids (all 4) and I made a quick trip to town to run some errands (or as Eli put is we made a run to Miss Erin's). As we were coming home, right before the light in Ney, I pulled off to the side of the road and turned Psalty off.

The boys immediately asked what was wrong. As I pointed out the approaching row of cars with little flags on them, I had the opportunity to explain what a funeral is. What daddy was doing today and even where Mrs. Bernice was today. They had questions and the line was pretty long, so I answered as best I could. We had just passed the cemetery where they were headed, so they knew where they were going. Daddy was in the hearse, but I didn't realize until they were all passed that the boys didn't even see him. They wanted to know if Mrs. Bernice was in the car with daddy, and if she was in Heaven with Jesus - what was going in the ground. Why did some of the people in the cars look sad? Did Mrs. Bernice have any kids? As the questions slowed and the line got passed us, I pull back onto the road and continued up to the post office.

I went in to check the mail and got back to the van, wondering if any of the 3 of them had understood anything we had just talked about. To my great surprise, while I was getting the mail, they had prayed, not for Mrs. Bernice, but for her daughter, because she lost her mommy. Wow, they got it.

What a teachable moment. What an awesome opportunity Jesus gave me to share with my boys about eternity. They knew that Mrs. Bernice was OK now. She has no more pain, but her daughter who is not in Heaven, yet - she still needs our prayers because she misses her mommy.

Thank you Jesus, for allowing us to come back a day early so that I could show the boys more of you!