On the way to get Natalie, from out of nowhere Elyssa asked me, “Mamma, are you going to die?” I was blown away to get such a deep question thrown my way without any warning! There were people around listening as we passed by them in the hallway. They all looked at me with huge smiles on their faces and made comments like, “Good luck answering that!” and “Whoah, what a deep question!” It took me a minute to answer her. I said, “Well, Elyssa, I guess I will one day.” To that she answered, “I don’t want you to die Mamma!” By that time in the conversation we had neared Natalie’s room and the subject changed. I almost felt myself sweating at how to try to explain such a thing to a young child. I couldn’t wait to tell Mark what Elyssa and I had talked about. I thought he’d probably be as surprised as I was by her question.

When we finally met up with Mark and Victoria to head to the car, I began explaining to Mark what Elyssa and I had been talking about. He was, in fact, as surprised as I was. We have always thought Elyssa acted much older than her age and this was just another instance that proved our feelings about her maturity. We all walked together to the van and herded the kids in so we could go get something for lunch.

On our way to pick up some grub, Mark asked Elyssa what she learned about in Sunday School. This began the discussion of death all over again. Mark tried to explain to Elyssa that one day everyone would die. Like a good pastor, he started to quote Hebrews 9:27. It says, “And as it is appointed unto all men once to die, but after this the judgement,….” I quickly told him that she would not understand that wording. So, in my south Alabama dialect I told her that everyone would die at one point or another in their lives. Mark went on to tell her that those of us that have asked Jesus to forgive us of our sins (mistakes and disobedience) and come into our lives would be able to go live with Him in Heaven. Elyssa said, “I don’t want to go to Heaven to live with Jesus! I want to stay with Mamma!”

That was the funniest thing to hear Elyssa say. I even smiled when I heard her say she wanted to stay with me. But, I must admit that somewhere in my heart, I long to hear her eventually say that she does want to live with Jesus in Heaven. I pray that one day little Elyssa will give her heart and life to the Lord to follow Him all her days. What a wonderful thing to know that even a 3-year-old has these built-in questions about eternity and what comes after life. We will all face death one day and I’d rather know in advance that I will be meeting my Savior in Heaven than hoping it will all turn out okay in the end.

Thank You, Lord, that You made a way for all of us to live with You one day in Heaven and that You can give peace for our deepest of questions!