Nine and Eleven

My kids came home with so many questions from conversations happening at school about our country, the election, the president, basic human rights and what God thinks about all of the above.

This morning my daughter Addie asked me if I thought God decided who would win the election, and can God make a mistake? She wanted to know if it mattered if the president was a "Christian" and "how do people even know who believes what anyway?" We talked about immigration, access to healthcare and the rights of our LGBTQIA+ loved ones. We talked about why so many people we love are scared and worried right now.

Once again, we had the conversation about religion and why some "Christians and churches" are not safe for all people. We talked about how some political policies have the potential to make our country not safe for everyone. This entire conversation was led by things she heard at school yesterday.

Nine and eleven. My kids are nine and eleven years old. This is not the world that I grew up in.

When did lunchrooms, school buses and school hallways become a space for parroting politics and religion and interrogating others about who their parents voted for? "Did you know this candidate thinks it's OK to kill babies, and that candidate hates minorities, and this one is a Christian, and that one doesn't know God?" It goes on and on. As much as I tried to help mop up the mess from yesterday, I realize the weight of all this cannot be swept under the rug. This is what it is to be a kid right now, there is no pretty package or box to put it in. This is their reality.

This is hard enough navigating as an adult, even harder to lead my kids through it all. I'm sure I'm not the only parent in this space; trying to find the right words and do the right thing to inspire my kids to think for themselves and not latch on to anyone's beliefs and ideas. This is hard.

I am so grateful that we aren't in this alone. I'm so grateful for our community. We are lucky. Somehow, our kids are surrounded by beautiful families, friends, neighbors and faith filled folks that are helping shape the way my kids see the world. I'm grateful my kiddos get to love and be loved in a way that makes them think about the people who are affected by things like elections and politics and religion and not just the concepts or beliefs behind them.

It gives me hope.

Right now, they are only nine and eleven. Eventually, they will be the leaders and parents navigating the next generation through this messy, beautiful world we are creating. When I look into their eyes, I see hope, I see the light ahead of us.

We all need a little hope right now.