Bedtime lesson

The habit of seizing teachable moments

“Daddy, how does God talk?”

I was tucking my three-year-old girl into bed when she asked this question.

I explained that God does not talk in a way that we would hear, like talking to another person. God has left us His instructions in the Bible.  He can place thoughts in the center of our minds.  He makes Himself known to us in a great many ways.

“Yes Daddy, but how does God talk?”

“Do you mean what language does he use?”

“Yes.”

I told her that God could use any language that He wanted to since He invented them all.  That He could communicate with anyone, anywhere.

“Daddy, what language do we speak?”

“We use our native language–the language we were born into–and for us that’s English,” I said.

We talked about the various languages of the world.  I asked her if she knew of any other languages.  She said, “Spanish.”

Then she asked, “What language do we think?”

I explained that we also think in English, since it’s our native language.

I kissed her, telling her that it was time to stop thinking and start sleeping.

“Goodnight.”

Originally published September 2009 on Hodgepodge