Unexpected Conversation...

I had an unexpected and sad conversation with my oldest son last night. 

While I was preparing dinner, I turned on the TV to watch the evening news. I don't normally watch the news with the little ones around. But since they were upstairs playing, I decided to catch up on my current events. After a few minutes, Joshua came downstairs with his library book and sat in his favorite chair to read. He looked at the television screen which was showing a clip of the president at a campaign rally. This is the conversation that followed:

J: Did you know that Barack Obama says it's okay for doctors to take a baby out of a mommy's tummy and kill it?

Me: [shocked, but trying to stay calm] Who told you that, honey?

J: My friend at school. It's true, Mommy. Doctors kill babies.

Me: What do you think about that?

J: [sadly] It's wrong.

Me: Why do you think it's wrong?

J: [shrug]

Me: What does the Bible say?

J: Thou shalt not murder.

Me: You're right. And who created us?

J: God.

Me: That's right. And the Bible tells us that God knew us even before we were in our mommy's tummy. He knows everything about us...every hair on our head and all the days of our life. From the moment a baby starts to grow in a mommy's tummy, it is a child of God. He gave it life and it's not for us to take away.

J: Why do they do that?

Me: It happens when the baby is not wanted...when a mommy thinks she can't or doesn't want to have the baby.

J: [horrified] You mean the mommies tell the doctors to do it?

Me: Yes, honey. It's very sad...for the mommy and the baby.

J: Why can't they just have the baby and give it to someone else? Like Rachel?

Joshua innocently asked a few more questions. Questions with answers that he is not ready for. Together we agreed that he didn't need to know anything more about it. We agreed that he had enough information. We agreed to pray...for mothers making painful decisions, for babies, for doctors, for our nation.

I wasn't ready for a conversation like this. I wasn't prepared to talk about this with my six-year-old. And I was surprised by what bothered Joshua the most...that a mother would not want her own child. Based on his reaction, I could tell that never had occurred to him before.

I saw and felt Joshua's sadness. It was as if I was watching part of his innocence be stripped away.

I'm heart broken and I'm angry. Not angry at the little boy who shared this information, but angry...furious at the enemy. The enemy who lies, telling a woman in crisis that there is no other way. The enemy who delights in death and pain and grief. The enemy who attempts to corrupt the innocence of my of precious son.

But what the enemy used to inflict harm, God used to remind me of the responsibility He has given me as a parent. 

I must know why I believe what I believe. 

I must be able to explain those beliefs to my children. 

I must be able to open His Word and show my children the foundation of my beliefs. 

I must be prepared. 

And when something comes my way that catches me off guard, I must prayerfully ask the Lord to give me words.

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21