A Letter About “Wonder,” to Parents of Young Children

Dear Parents of Young Children, Have you lost your sense of wonder? Your child hasn’t. They awake curious. Exploration always outmaneuvers coined instruction. The ambition of a child’s heart is to discover. Each new day ushers in the lure of adventure: inquiry, exploration, sensing and perceiving. A child does not pass by without:  

detecting a leaf floating down a stream,

admiring a glistening snowflake,

imagining flying like a bird,

propelling dandelion seeds with their breath,

collecting various types of rocks,

marveling at the vastness of outer space,

applauding the incredible diversity of living things.

  Moms and Dads, we’re to celebrate the sensations and spectacles of the natural. If we deny a child’s inner need for adventure we thwart a leading way God ushers faith of the supernatural in to the heart of a child. In Dr. Kimmel’s book, Raising Kids Who Turn Out Right, he unpacks 6 character traits we build in to the heart of a child. Faith is fundamental to shaping the adult our child will become. We hear a child say endlessly, “Why? What’s this? How does this work?” I can recall lying in the grass as a preteen looking up at the clouds wondering if there was a Creator to explain nature. When my inquisition was left unattended to, the explanation for the world around me came through secular science, which denies the possibility for a Creator. For me, as with many who grew up under the guise of macroevolution, faith is shaped through a much harsher entry point, “What is love?” Throughout development, children will wonder the answer to 3 important questions.  

Is there a God?

What is true about origin, meaning, morality and destiny?

What is love?

  Long before a child is developmentally mature enough to consider the truth of who we are, why we’re here, how are we to live and what happens to us when we die, they will investigate creation. God, the Creator, reveals Himself to us generally through the things He has made, His divine natural and His eternal power.  

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities–His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. – Hebrews 1:20 NLT

  The symbiotic balance between living and non-living things is absolutely remarkable. The intricate fine-tuning of the many variables controlling the existence of life on earth is beyond human reasoning. The extraordinary design of the human body is matchless. We’re to never loose our sense of wonder. We’re to encourage our children to marvel at the handiwork of the Creator; so that, when they grow to wonder who they are, why they’re here, what they’re to do and how they’re to live, they will already know they are God’s masterpiece created to do good things. Grace and Peace to you, Edy Sutherland