I’m sure that every age (including adulthood) has its challenges.  With young children, my biggest issue is that I don’t want to shatter my son’s innocence too soon by exposing him to concepts of evil, death, etc (not to mention the fact that I don’t want to give him nightmares).  I want to teach him to pray for things, but I’m dreading having to explain to him why some prayers go unanswered, or are not answered the way we wanted.  I’m afraid if I handle it wrong, I’ll warp his faith for life.  It’s also very hard to explain to a young child the concept of a spirit, three persons in one God, etc.  And then there’s the issue of making sure that he differentiates between prayers to Mary asking for intercession vs prayers to God;  for a while it seemed like he thought Mary’s role was equivalent to God’s, and this was very upsetting to me until we were over that hurdle.  With something as complex as theology, I know that there will be challenges along the way, but I don’t know that there is any one stage that is easier than any other.

I agree.  Kids should have a simple faith and they should be protected from some things.  I would shutter when our young kids were given pictures to color of Abraham holding a knife over Isaac.  I don’t think we should expose kids to things like that.  You are wise to keep it at his level.

I was praying with my 9yr old over the weekend.  She was anxious about a soccer game.  I prayed with her for her anxiety to be lifted, for her to be at peace, for God to help her do her best and have fun.  She added at the end: and please God let us win!!!
I guess I am all for that too she is only 9 and if she wants to believe God will intervene and let her team win over the other team that is ok. I might have also prayed for the grace to deal with whatever the outcome of the game is.  At some point when we get older we do have to accept that God allows awful things to happen to people.  There are very difficult questions that do not have answers.  But for the preschool years kids need to hear the message about a loving God that always protects us.  I agree protect them from certain messages.

I wanted to add that her team lost the game.  Her critical thinking skills are growing so it is likely she wondered why God did not answer this prayer.  She played her best and had fun and did handle the loss with grace.

That’s awesome.  I will try to remember that when a similar issue arises with my son in the future.  Also, it’s good to know that I’m not the only one who avoids exposing my preschooler to graphic violent Bible stories!

Claire, it is only this year that I allowed my 9 year old to read the story of Cain and Abel.  He was shocked.  I am still censoring sexual things in the Bible for my 13 year old.  Even in my Catholic Children’s Bible I have to censor things like the picture of John the Baptist’s head on a platter.

This has bothered me, too, that I haven’t found a good children’s Bible that is completely appropriate for young children.  Better yet, I would love to find one that explains some of the difficult Biblical topics in age-appropriate terms.

I understand the violent and sexual issues in the bible can be sensitive topics and every parent has to make the decision as to what their own children can/can’t handle…only you know your kids.  I just wanted to chime in and say that I have been exposing my children to all of the stories in the bible, uncensored, since they were very little and have had no problems with them seeming to lose their innocence early.  With the sexual stories in the bible, most of them use the terms like “He knew her, etc.” and these are innocently explained by saying, “that means he married her”.  Even the stories of adultery I have explained to them saying, “This man wanted to marry someone that was already married, or he could not marry, etc.”  For instance Mary Magdalene is always explained to our young children as attempting to marry men that were already married.  Also, I have found my children to be fascinated, in a good way, with stories like the beheading of John the Baptist.  When my oldest daughter was four, she went through a period where she seemed like she wanted to hear the story almost every week and examine the picture in the children’s Bible.  Now, a few years later, she has a love for hearing about the martyrs and really enjoys the tales and her brother is following right along.  They do not suffer from nightmares or anything else and it has led to some very powerful conversations about our faith.  So, just some thoughts from someone who has found it a great witness to share these stories at young ages with her children.  God Bless.