‘Puzzles for Kids’

{{Let me say first that I respect all religions, & I do not believe that any religion or faith is "wrong". I think religion is a beautiful thing that can sometimes be warped by people, but is overall a beautiful thing.
Let me also state that I am not interested in hateful answers, or anyone trying to sway my beliefs, I am quite happy with my life. All flaming will be reported!}}

I have been sick lately, & cannot work. A couple of my friends are single parents, so I’ve volunteered to babysit, when needed. I’ve ended up babysitting more than I’d ever expected for a group of siblings, all of whom I love & adore. Their ages are from 2 & a half years to 11 years.

I knew they were being raised in the Protestant Church (as was I), but I never saw it as an issue until last week.

My husband & I are Pagan, my stepson is Christian (He’s 10, we’ve encouraged him to worship in any way he is comfortable, so long as he has good values) & my youngest boy was Christened in the Methodist Church (A family tradition of mine), but is not old enough to claim a religion.

One of the oldest children asked me what my pentacle was & I explained to her that it was like my version of a cross. I cut her off, because I don’t want to confuse her in any way.

Later on, she approached me again about my Ankh necklace & I explained that it was also like a cross, but that it came from the Ancient Egyptians.

She was puzzled, & her younger brother joined the conversation. I tried to skirt the issue & change the subject, but she was so inquisitive.I finally told them a story from the Bible that I love & distracted them with a movie.

I have known their parents since we were all in high school & their mom is not in the picture (long story, but she’s basically a deadbeat & might as well be non-existent in their lives). Their Dad knows that we are pagan & very open about religion & has never instructed us to hide these facts, but he hasn’t told us how to explain them either.

I love these kids dearly & I do not want to lie to them, but I don’t want to upset their dad or drive a wedge between the kids & us either.

How would you broach this situation? Any ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
To Chris, Yes, I am fully aware of what the Bible says, I’ve read it hundreds of times, as well as The Book of Mormon, The Apocrypha, & hundreds of other Christian texts, I’m NOT interested in being saved. Jesus happens to be a personal hero of mine, I’m just not Christian. Thanks for caring, but I’m perfectly ok with myself.

Why do we love children?

Why do we love children?
1) NUDITY
I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, ‘Mom, that lady isn’t wearing a seat belt!’

2) OPINIONS
On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, ‘The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents.’

3) KETCHUP
A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the bottle. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. ‘Mommy can’t come to the phone to talk to you right now. She’s hitting the bottle.’

4) MORE NUDITY

A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women’s locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, ‘What’s the matter, haven’t you ever seen a little boy before?’

5) POLICE # 1

While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, ‘Are you a cop?Yes,’ I answered and continued writing the report. My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?’ ‘Yes, that’s right,’ I told her. ‘Well, then,’ she said as she extended her foot toward me, ‘would you please tie my shoe?’

6) POLICE # 2
It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 part ner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. ‘Is that a dog you got back there?’ he asked.
‘It sure is,’ I replied.
Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of t he van. Finally he said, ‘What’d he do?’

7) ELDERLY
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pa ir of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, ‘The tooth fairy will never believe this!’

DRESS-UP
A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, ‘Daddy, you shouldn’t wear that suit.’
‘And why not, darling?’
‘You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning’

9) DEATH
While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased.
The minister’s son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: ‘Glory be unto the Father, and unto the Son, and into the hole he goes.’ (I want this line used at my funeral!)

10) SCHOOL
A little girl had just finished her first week of school . ‘I’m just wasting my time,’ she said to her mother. ‘I can’t read, I can’t write, and they won’t let me talk!’

11) BIBLE
A little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. Wha t he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.
‘Mama, look what I found,’ the boy called out.
‘What have you got there, dear?’
With astonishment in the young boy said ‘I think it is Adam’s underwear
My Niece sent this to me and I just couldn’t stop laughing
I love your stories and you can feel free to pass it on. Mil

Does anyone else know that the Bible was written out of order and then put together like a puzzle???
My youth pastor told me this last week and I was like "WHAT?!"
Since then, I’ve been researching what order the books were originally written. I can’t find anything.
Was he kidding or is it true?

When I was about 8 years old, I picked up a Children’s Bible and started reading it from the beginning. I never got all the way to the end. But the thing that really puzzled me at that age was dinosaurs.

From what I could recall, the world began with Adam & Eve. There was no mention of dinosaurs living thousands of years before that. (Unless I missed it.)

So when I was learning about dinosaurs in school, I kept telling the teacher that I didn’t believe in them because they weren’t in the Bible.

Now, I am not here to dispute science or their existence… nor to refute anyone’s faith.

What I am curious about is….

1. Did you have any conflicting thoughts as a kid between science and the Bible?

2. And how have dinosaurs been explained in the Christian world where there is clearly a conflict of information?

Just something I have pondered…

(..and again, I am not looking for proof that dinosaurs did exist… I already know about all that now that I am older
The part that clashed for me at that age is that I was thinking that Adam & Eve were the first living creatures. And that if they were the first… how could it be possible that dinosaurs had come and gone before them.

It’s not a question over what name they had, if the word dinosaur was around back then, or any of that.

I found my own resolution as a teen when someone told me that the length of "days" in the bible were similar to thousands of years to us.

But the actual question was what ideas did you have as a kid… and what were you taught about the conflict of Dinosaurs.
I actually never knew that many people had differing opinions on the subject… or that it was sometimes a heated subject.
I guess my Children’s Bible was still too hard of a read at 8 years old. LOL. I was a pretty advanced reader… but still not adult level back then.

And admittedly, I never really went back to read it over later.