October 6, 2022
Dear Peace Families,
You probably (hopefully!) have already realized this, but I love working with students. They are fun and adventurous, humorous in their own unique ways, and delightfully curious in a way that adults sometimes lose touch with.
One example of this occurred at last night’s Confirmation gathering. Middle school is a strange time in one’s life. Some students still cling to their elementary school days. Some can’t wait to start high school. All of them go through many transitions along the way. Sometimes it can be hard, with all those changes (and the insecurities that go with them), for middle school students to open up. But with enough time and trust, they will.
So when we began reading and discussing Genesis 1, learning about God the Creator, being made in God’s Image, and being made good, all sorts of questions popped up from our inquisitive students. And as their growing maturity and awareness of the world would suggest, they had a lot of big questions too!
Questions like:
- How do we know God is real?
- Why did God create us?
- Why do we often refer to God as “He” and “The Father”?
- Why does God let bad things happen?
- Why does God want us to worship Him?
- If God created everything, then who created God?
- Where is heaven?
Many of these questions, there aren’t definitive answers to. And there are many more harmful attempts at answers too; sometimes the best and most authentic response is, “I don’t know.”
But one of the greatest joys in working with students is navigating these questions, sitting with them, and seeing which questions come next. Because as often is the case with faith, our questions usually lead to more questions than definitive answers. And those who claim to have answers—well, they probably don’t.
Because we have a God who is greater than we could ever comprehend, and students—with their brilliant curiosity and imaginations—help us to embrace that.
Grace and Peace,
Joe
Family Tip Of The Week
Invite your families to be curious about God and about faith. What questions do they have? What do they wonder about? It’s okay to not have all the answers!