"And then we'll go home and DIE!!"

A typical summer day in the life of Megan...I wake up...go to work. I love my job, I get to hang out with two cute kids. But sometimes, I'm just hungry for "adult" conversation, which is why I was taken aback a few weeks ago at work.

Sophie and Nathan :)

I was sitting at the pool with Nathan and Sophie. Sophie (7) was still in the water and Nathan (10) was sitting next to me, eating a snack. He really wanted to go home but Sophie was still having a good time. It was about 3 o'clock, which meant I only had an hour left and wanted to stay a bit longer. I told Nathan we'd leave around 3:15 and he goes,

"And then...we'll go home and DIE!"

I laughed. Typical Nathan, to get a little crazy and make a comment that is so out of this world. I told him that he could do whatever he wanted for the last thirty minutes I'd be there and he surprised me with this response...

"Well, you know, I don't really think when we die that we'll be nothing. Like, does that even make sense? I think we go somewhere. I don't know where but we don't just die and end up  as dust...right?"

Wait, come again? Huh? Is there water in my ears? Did I just hear you correctly?
I was almost shocked into silence, when I looked over and realized he was waiting for an answer.

"Well, uhm, I can tell you what I believe."

Beach trip!

Now, many would think that this is the first time I've talked religion with my nanny kids. But the week before, religion came up in the car on our way down to the beach. The kids were asking me about high school and asked me if I dated in high school. I mentioned that, yes, I did have a boyfriend in high school and they asked more about him and why we weren't still together. While I didn't really want to go into specifics, I wanted to see if either of the kids had ever been to a church, so I said "we didn't see eye to eye when it came to religion." Nathan surprised me, asking if "we" (as in him and his family) are religious. I asked if he had ever been to church and he said, yes, with his grandparents. And then Sophie changed the topic to something random about our stomachs being our hearts. Yes, typical conversation with these little ones.

But back to the pool scene. We continued to have a fifteen minute discussion, based off of what I believe will happen after we die and other main principles of my faith.  One thing that he felt passionate about was that death brings a new life and won't be the end.  However, he felt that those who were responsible for 9/11 would not live again.  I told him that I thought God still loved those people and shared with him about agency. I used a little analogy, saying that when I ask Sophie and Nathan not to fight, they have their agency to listen to me or ignore me. Regardless of their choice, I still love them and want to be with them.  I told him that God feels the same way and He wants us to make the right choice so we can live with Him again.

Crazy. A boy of 10, still a child, could sit with me and ask questions and listen to my opinions about religion. Maybe he'll never think about it again. Maybe nothing I said made sense and he was just being polite. But if there were more people out there who humbled themselves down and took two seconds out of their busy lives to ask themselves what is the meaning of this life, maybe the gospel would take off. Maybe people would be quick to learn and slow to anger. Maybe people would be kind, genuine human beings. Maybe there wouldn't be wars or rumor of wars and horrible Mother Nature related incidents. 

Amazing how a simple day at the pool can turn into a powerful day that brought me to tears and made me realize how thankful I am that I grew up in this beautiful gospel, that brings trust, faith and hope to those who need it.