When is that perfect moment to start teaching young children about real life? This picture-perfect world that I grew up in suddenly began to shows its flaws as I got older… You know what I’m talking about. You find out that your distant family member left his wife to be with another woman. You watch your grandfather take his last breath. You hear that your best friend’s husband died in a car accident. You find out that a special person in your life was molested as a child. What?! You realize life is not as flawless as it was when you were young and in a bubble.

Recently, I found out some saddening news that a church friend’s battle with cancer was coming to a close. The family called in Hospice care and I could not help but be sad.

My intuitive little one asked me what was wrong. I turned to my daughter, and replied, ”You know, life is sometimes hard.” She quickly said, ”Well gum is hard. You just have to chew it. Well, you don’t want to swallow it though… you just keep chewing.” Wow! What wisdom from a three year old!

Have you found yourself in a place where life is just hard? It is tough to understand, but life will continue to have its challenges. We live in a fallen world and nothing will be perfect until our world is fully restored.

You’re probably think, gosh, this girl is super depressing… but there is HOPE! There is this place inside all of us that see that there is a problem with the world we live in and we want to fix it. The truth is, Christ already did. We have God’s promises found in His living Word. Christ died so that we have hope. Hope of what is to come! Revelation 21:4 says ”There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Amen! What a blessing, y’all!

My sweet little one reminds me of when Jesus was talking to his disciples in Matthew 18:3. He said, ”Truly I say to you, unless you are converted AND become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” What exactly does Christ mean by become like children? In my New American Standard Bible, it explains that this is meant to show a trusting and unpretentious faith. A faith of humility and openness. A plain, lay-it-all-on-the-line faith.

Though I set out to talk to my daughter about life, God had a plan to teach me something too. Life can get pretty rough, but God calls us to keep on chewing