Sometimes, I think I'm doing this right.

Two days ago, we drove by a cemetery. We drive by it fairly often, and more than once has Melody seen all the trees and flowers and commented on how beautiful that place is. She wants to go there.

I've explained why we don't go there and what it is more than once, but the conversation Tuesday got deeper and longer than previous chats. And the inevitable question came up. Dixie asked, "Will we be buried someday?"

It just stabs at the heart a bit when children realize that they are not immortal.

I explained to them the nature of the soul and reiterated the hope we have in Heaven and in Christ. That our bodies will die, but that who we are is immortal, and that those who love, trust and are baptized into Christ will spend glory in Heaven.

Then that other question we've somewhat skirted arose. Dixie asked, "What about people who don't love Jesus?"

I must admit that this is a question hard to answer, so I relied on the 'party line' and gave the prefunctory answers about Hell and the devil. Melody's sweet eyes were so big and her chin quivered and betrayed her attempts to remain staunch. She's very quiet when she's serious.

Dixie, on the other hand, loves to jump in and fix things, so she asked me, "Mommy, what if I gave the Devil a hug? Would it fix him? Would it make him happy?"

What an incredibly kind child to care about the devil!

I explained, to the best of my ability, that there wasn't much chance of that making things better, and they immediately wanted to know what they could do. I told them that it was important to know God and love God and to share with the people they know that God made them and loves them, too. That we share God with others by showing them kindness and love ourselves.

Later that day, Dowlan is taking the girls swimming. Melody insisted that they include a Bible in their bag to take along, "In case someone is there who does not know about God."

And then today, Doctor Dixie used her stethoscope to 'Listen to Mommy's heart and hear what God says." God apparently said that 'Mommy can be sick and her children will take care of her' and that 'we must be kind to our sisters.'

Very wise, that God.