A Conversation With Caleb Bell...

This morning, my children and I began our errands.  Paying bills and getting groceries is something we do once a week, and most of the time it turns into a one on one conversation with my four year old son.  (Well, he will be four in 11 days.)  The conversation is never something that I'm ready for, and it always leave me wondering, "Where in the world did he come up with that?"

Today was no different. The conversation began as it usually does...with an INNOCENT question. It went a little something like this...

"Mom, is Dan (my mom's husband) your daddy?" Caleb asked. "You know like my dad is my dad and stuff?"
Dan and my mom married about a year after my dad passed away.  Caleb was two.
"No, Caleb, Dan isn't my dad. My dad is in heaven. Dan is my step-dad." I answered.
Caleb thought for a moment, then asked, "Your dad is my poppa, right?"
"Yes, Caleb, that's what you called him." I answered.
"He died right? Like my dog Tonka did, and Grammy's dog, Archie."
"Yep."
Then there was a long silence, and well, it's never good when my boy is quiet for that long. Because he is thinking up a honkin' question that's gonna knock your socks off.
"Momma, do you think that Poppa and Archie and Tonka are all together?" Caleb asked.
"I think so...Maybe they're fishing in the river of Jordan or something."  By this time, I had gotten bored with the conversation and wasn't paying much attention.  But as I looked into the rear view mirror at him, I saw his head was bowed and he was crying.
"Don't cry buddy. It's okay."
"Well I was just thinking we might could call Poppa, so I could call him and tell him I missed him." he sniffed.
"Well Caleb, we can't call heaven. But Jesus is there, and if you ever wanna tell Poppa anything, you just pray to him and I'm sure he'll make sure Poppa gets that message." I tried to comfort him feeling on the verge of tears myself.
"I bet he was a good dad like mine, huh?" he said.
"Yep," I answered.
"Well I hope we can go there someday and be with him and my buddy Tonka." He looked out the window with sad eyes.
"We will, someday. Everyone who love the Lord gets to go." I replied.
Then without a missing a single beat....he said to me..."Mom, when do we get to die?"
Catching me off guard, I stammered a little, then I said, "Caleb, someday we will get to go to heaven, but that day isn't today I don't think. When it's time, God will let us know.  Until then, you just keep praying all your messages to Jesus. K?"
"Okay momma." he smiled. "Can I play the Wii when we get home?"

It amazes me how a four year old child can observe the way they do, and come up with stuff that actually makes sense.  It's also scary that they can ask us things that makes us afraid to answer.  I have a feeling I might need to brush up on my bible studies a little more before our next grocery run, whadoya think ya'll?