From the heart of a 6-year-old...

This past week, I was having a discussion with my 1st graders about losing loved ones.
I shared with them about Alethia Joy, and many of them seemed to remember hearing the news last year after it happened. (All of my students were at our school last year in kindergarten, so I saw them at lunchtime and throughout the day.)
We talked about how hard and sad it is to say good-bye to someone we love and how much we miss them.
As our talk continued, these little ones said things like, "I want to pray that you have another baby, Mrs. Myers."
Another one chimed in, "I'm going to pray that you have 6!" I could feel my heart bubble over with joy at the child-like faith I was witnessing.

Then our conversation turned to thoughts of Heaven. We spoke of seeing many of our loved ones in Heaven and how wonderful it will be to see our Saviour Jesus too!

One little brown-eyed girl piped up and, to my surprise, said, "I want to die right now!" My first thought was.. oh my goodness, how morbid! But her tone of voice wasn't one of depression and sadness of any sort. Rather, it was quite the opposite. She had a big smile on her face and was joyful in proclaiming her thoughts. [Though I've only had these students in my class for 13 days, I have already been able to tell that this little girl would easily win the awards for "most encouraging," "most joyful," and "most caring friend." ]
My first response to her proclamation was something to the effect of "well, we need to remember that God has put us here on earth right now, and so we shouldn't really want to die, but we should be thankful for each day that God has given us to live."
But she wasn't thinking about wanting to end her life here on earth...her mind was focused on the eternal life to come.

As I contemplated this conversation throughout the next few hours and then days, I realized that she possesses the attitude that we should have, in many ways.
No, not the desire to end our lives. I truly believe that God is the giver of the gift of life (James 1:17, Psalm 139:13, Psalm 22:10) and is also the only One who should take it away.
It's the hope of eternal life that this little 6-year-old girl brought to my attention.
So often our minds are focused on only earthly things...the trials, difficulties, heartaches, as well as the day to day joys consume our hearts and minds. At least I know this is so true for me.

But we have been commanded to "set our mind[s] on things above, not on the things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:1-2)
May we live our lives in light of the hope of the bright future ahead that God has promised for those who have put their faith in Christ Jesus.
I can't wait to finally be able to see my Savior and hold my babies.

It was so sweet and special to see a "deeper" side of this group of 1st graders who I have already come to love. I am so thankful that I teach at a Christian school where we can have the freedom and opportunity to talk about the things of the Lord and the truth of God's Word.

And I love how sometimes the Lord uses 6-year-olds to help me realize how much I need to focus my mind on Him.