Teaching Through the Pain

Yesterday my children were cooing and giggling over their newly born, baby goat. She's unusually tiny but sweet nonetheless. They are immediately smitten and name her Mistie. Today, however they have to mourn her passing. She was just too tiny to survive. Sometimes life is just HARD. There are so many lessons out there to learn, and as a parent, it can feel like an overwhelming task sometimes. How am I qualified to teach them about life and death, when I still struggle with these topics myself?
Loss- whether the loss of a pet, death of a family member, or even a divorce situation- is never an easy topic. It's full of abstract concepts and emotions that are unwelcome in our happy, little world. How do you explain to a child that life is not always a fairy tale where everyone "lives happily ever after"? Here are some of the things that we have been learning today:

• Children need to know it's okay to feel sad. That's a normal and important part of grief.
• Children need simple, honest answers to their questions, even if they're hard or unpleasant to discuss.
• Children are watching and learning from our example, so practice what you preach. 

If you're in the process of working through some of these lessons during this holiday season, I pray for peace and wisdom for you.

Until next time...