Explaining Adults To Children, re: The Apocolypse

If anyone has any suggestions, step on up and help me out here! We have all been witness to some of the false prophets during our times. I remember as as child fearing going to school because California was going to be wiped out on a certain day, big earthquake and boom, right into the Pacific.

I scared me for several reasons. The obvious was I didn't want to be an orphan. We lived right on the San Andreas Fault and had earthquakes or rather tremors daily, some you felt and others you didn't realize what was going on as they were so quick and over and done with in a flash.

Also, we lived less than 1/2 mile from the Pacific ocean and while we couldn't see it from our home, I had a great view of the ocean and my home from my class room and I was so terrified that I would look up some day and the ocean would just come in and swoop away my mom and everyone at home during this time.

It was an awful feeling!

Then, as I got older and learned more about false prophets in Matthew 7:15 'Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.' False prophets who preach the end of the world and how they are going to heaven and then have you sell all your possesions, your home, quit your job and follow them. If they are so sure they are going to heaven, why are they taking everyone's money, everyone's possessions? From what I believe and understand, when we go, nothing is going with us.

I won't get into religions that tell people to gather and save and put back, that is a smart thing to do, if you are prepared for a disaster like those going on around us and your home and the things you have saved have been spared, you can share those things with others or at least know you can weather throw the storm and not have to worry.

My oldest granddaughter has a friend who she has visited and they go to another friends home where the mom is an amazing Christian woman, but she keeps telling my granddaughter that the world will end soon and from what I hear, their home is just full of things for the end of times.

I can talk to her, but when she comes out and asks me point blank...'does that mean so and so is lying to me or is a liar?' I don't know what to say to her. I explain to her that there are many people who are easily swayed into believing what other people say and if they believe it so much it doesn't necessarily mean they are lying, they are just a bit confused.

I asked if she knew anything about what people were talking about last week. She knew there was talk the world was going to end on Saturday, but she didn't believe it. Why didn't you believe it? She told me she had been taught in Sunday School that Jesus will come when He gets ready to and not when someone says He is going to show up.

I told her that was great thinking on her part and as long as she continued to believe that, continued to ask my husband and I those important questions, we would always do our best to explain what we could as well as we could. Then I told her to believe in herself and don't follow others because they say she has to.

In the end, I am not sure if I confused her or not, but I tried to let her know many people believe what they believe, we can't stop them, but we can question them and ask questions. I told her if you believe in something so strongly that doesn't mean you are a liar, it just might mean you are a bit misguided or confused yourself.

As soon as that was finished, she asked me if her mom and dad would be going to heaven? I told her I didn't know that, but we can continue to pray for them and then, I silently asked God to please move the clock along as it was only 0730 and I hadn't finished my coffee yet!

Seriously though, I just feel I do not have the answers to all her questions, so if anyone else has any other way to explain this to her, I am all ears. In the meantime, we will see our pastor this evening and hopefully he can shed some light on this with her.

Out of the mouths of babes, my friends, out of the mouths of babes!