Earthquakes and God

I should have known last night that today was going to be a hard
morning for Daycare drop off. After bath time the kids and I snuggle
on the couch and watch a movie or one of their shows. This is our time
for bonding, decompressing, and talking. I treasure this quiet time
with them.

Buckaroo wasn't ready to snuggle when Angel Cakes and I came
downstairs from her bath, and that was perfect because Angel needed
extra snuggles. She was snuggled on my lap watching TV so I grabbed my
Sandman book by Niel Gaiman and started to read. She hopped off my lap
long enough to grab her bible before running back. She asked me to
read to her so I put aside my book. The irony of this was not lost on
me.

I opened the bible and started reading at random. I had barely read
one passage when she turned to me and started to talk.

AC: Did you know there was an earthquake in Chile today?

Me: Yes, I do. How did you know? Did you talk about it at Daycare?
(Today was a preschool day and some times they talk about world
events)

AC: No, they were talking about it on TV. It is all over the news and radio.

Me: Yes, it was. I heard about it on the radio. *looking at her sad
face* It's very sad huh?

AC: Yes, it is. Then I had an excellent idea.

Me: Yeah? What was your idea?

AC: We should pray to God for them. (The preschool program is a
Christian program so they talk about God a lot and praying is okay.)

Me: That is an excellent idea. What should we pray about?

AC: We should ask God to help them and watch over them. He can help
the kids find their mommys because they are probably scared. And he
can help the people who are hurt.

Me: *giving her an extra tight hug* Those are really good things to
pray for. I'm sure God is watching over them. He watches over people
every where. He may not be able to directly help the people who are
hurt, or kids that need to find their mommys, but I am sure other
there are people who live there that will help. God gives us doctors
and police men, and others to help us. That is why it is important
that if you see someone who needs help, and you can, that you should.
God can't be here on earth with us, so we have to allow God to guide
us, because he might be guiding us to someone that needs help and God
can them through us.

AC: You mean like if our house gets on fire that the God is using the
fireman to help us?

Me: Yes honey, exactly like that.

I wish I could say that I told her that she doesn't have to worry
about earth quakes where we live, but she heard enough about the small
quake that happened about 30 miles away last month to know that isn't
true. I am sure that is why this one has her so upset. She hears and
understands enough to be scared, but not enough to really understand.
She was pretty sleepy so I just cuddled her extra close until she fell
asleep.

She was extra clingy this morning so I think I will see how she is
before I bring it up again. I don't want to make a big deal about it.
If I do will it feed into her concerns and allow them to take on a
life of their own? I do want to make sure that she knows she knows she
doesn't really have to worry about it though.

Parenting is just hard!

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