I love homeschooling. We get to discuss the broadest assortment of topics, and it’s a blast. Recently, we were discussing the Life Cycle as presented on a science video—birth, growth, reproduction, death. The video depicted the Life Cycle as a circle, simplistically. However, we discussed that it’s not really a circle. The original life doesn’t start over. It dies, and the reproduced life continues. But that’s not all, I told my daughters. Yes, it’s true that we will die, that our bodies will die. But our spirits will live forever, which makes us different from all other plants and animals on this earth. The Bible tells us that we leave this life (death) and are born into another life.

My five year old then paused, and I could hear her little purple brain gears churning. “Mommy, what’s death like? How does it feel to die?”

A few years ago, I read a book that helped me tremendously. It’s called One Minute After You Die, by Erwin W. Lutzer. In it, he discusses what the Bible says about death, and I found that chapter very helpful in answering my daughter’s questions.

Like many other things, the Bible gives us word pictures to help us understand death.

Jesus referred to it as a departure. In Luke 9:30-31, Jesus is on the Mount of Transfiguration, talking with Moses and Elijah.

And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

According to Dr. Lutzer, the word used for departure is exodus, from which we get our word “exit.” Jesus was going to exit this life. Dr. Lutzer compares Moses leading the people of Israel out of Egypt (The Exodus) to Jesus’ leading us out of this life.

Many times in the Bible, death is referred to as sleep. Jesus said that Lazarus had fallen asleep (John 11:11). I reminded her how good it felt to sleep when her little body was tired from a long day of jumping on the trampoline. I told her that her body would rest, but that her soul would be with Jesus immediately. Scripture again supports this, and we discussed how Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him that very day in Paradise (Luke 23:43). 2 Corinthians 5:8 says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Paul describes death as a collapsing tent (2 Corinthians 5:1). My daughter was given a play tent for Christmas a couple of years ago. She loved it! She played in it, kept her little toys in it, and had so much fun. I asked her to remember how she loved that purple tent, but that she didn’t want to stay in it forever. No, sometimes she wanted to come out and eat or go places. I told her that our bodies are like tents. We have recently begun camping with American Heritage Girls. She understands that the tent is temporary, that our real home is somewhere else. She also understands the limitations of our tent. It’s small, not very secure, not very comfortable, and not meant to be lived in for a long time. I explained to her that death is like taking the tent down. We had fun in it, but now it’s time to go to our real home, which is much nicer, bigger, and more comfortable.

I’ve also heard death described as a door. To help my daughter comprehend this idea, I had her stand in our hall closet and shut the door. I asked her questions through the door. She described it as lonely, dark, crowded, small, and it didn’t smell real good. I asked her if she could see me, and no, she could not. But then I told her to open the door. She opened it quickly and walked into the living room, a room full of light and color, full of toys and games, and with people that she knew and loved waiting for her. I told her that our earth is much like that dark closet. Sure, it seems big to us now, but wait until we open the door into Heaven!

I also helped her realize that death was like taking off her clothes. She was wearing one of her favorite shirts, purple striped of course. I asked her if this shirt was “her,” and she said yes, it described her perfectly—bright and purple. I asked her to take the shirt off, which she did. I then asked if the shirt still described her perfectly, and she hesitated. She said, not so much, because she wasn’t wearing it any more. I said exactly! It’s just a shirt without a person. Our bodies are the same way—her smile, her beautiful eyes, her cascading hair all describe her. But that someday she would take that body off and receive a new body.

“What will my new body be like?”

I told her that we know from the Bible that our bodies will probably look pretty much like they do now, only they will be perfect. “What’s that mean?” I told her it meant NO MORE seizures. She cheered! NO MORE headaches! (I cheered!) NO MORE sinus infections! NO MORE throwing up (we’d just spent a month of the flu), NO MORE diabetes, NO MORE hurting backs and necks, NO MORE asthma!!!! By this time, both daughters were on their feet wildly cheering and shouting happily!!!

I know this is probably not the last conversation we’ll have about death or Heaven. I hope we have many more. I want to instill in my daughters the knowledge that as comfortable and beautiful as this world is, it is not our home. Our home is much grander on every scale, and it’s full of the best thing in any world—Jesus.

To help you discuss death and Heaven with your children, and to learn more yourself, these are my favorite resources:

For Kids:

Wait Until Then by Randy Alcorn—a children’s picture book (2000 words)

 

 

 

 

Tell Me About Heaven by Randy Alcorn—still a children’s book, but longer (14,000 words)

 

 

 

 

 

Heaven for Kids by Randy Alcorn

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Adults:

Heaven by Randy Alcorn—a long, sometimes difficult look at our perceptions of Heaven. The first half of the book debunks a great many Heaven myths and misconceptions. The second half of the book addresses specific questions people commonly have about Heaven.

 

 

 

 

One Minute After You Die by Erwin Lutzer—an excellent Biblical description of death and the afterlife, both Heaven and Hell. (It may be morbid, but I have made some funeral plans, and I’ve decided I want this book handed out at my funeral.)

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2009 by Anni Welborne