My four-year-old son and I enjoy taking walks in our neighborhood. From stroller to handholding, toddling to running, we have passed the same houses and streets many times. We often engage in a familiar conversation while walking past a particular neighbor’s well-landscaped yard.
“Look at those beautiful flowers, Lincoln! Who made those?”
“God,” he answers with a shy grin.
My husband and I want Lincoln to start connecting the beauty and design in nature to the existence of an incredible Designer. It can be challenging to describe the concept of God to a young child, but when he sees the world, at least his growing mind can recognize that Someone very powerful, very good, and very special made it.
In today’s culture, the battle for a child’s mind and worldview can be daunting. Childhood today doesn’t look much like it did for me when I was growing up. And that was just back in the ’80s. Now more than ever, we are surrounded by media, educators, and government institutions that continually push the idea that science has somehow disproven the existence of God. Adherence to religious beliefs—especially those claiming a divine Creator—are often seen as an indication of ignorance or a lack of good education.
Recently I read an article from the Pew Research Center outlining changes in educational requirements for the teaching of evolution in schools. While some states have tried to play the middle in the evolution vs. creation debate, others promote a curriculum so steeped in evolution that it’s no longer allowed to even be questioned within the classroom. Evolution is often taught to American children as well-established fact, with no room for critical thinking. Perhaps this is because an objective mind would notice that even the most basic evidence for evolution is lacking.
I know that it’s only a matter of time before everything we share with Lincoln about God, his significance in the world, and why we are here on this earth will be challenged from all sides.
This is one of the many reasons I am so excited about the plans for the ICR Museum of Science and Earth History! It will allow parents to supplement the teaching tools of everyday objects in nature with interactive exhibits of science and biblical history—from the Garden of Eden and the Flood to DNA and the incredible engineering of the human body, from the complexity of the cell to the awesome works of God in the universe. This museum and planetarium will provide a perfect place to invite friends to see the truth for themselves, Christians and skeptics alike.
I long to be a part of the mission to counter evolution’s message of a meaningless life. Don’t you? We cannot expect the secularized culture around us to present the evidence for biblical creation to our kids, families, neighbors, and friends. As Christians, presenting God’s truth is our divine calling—a divine responsibility.
I love my walks with Lincoln through our neighborhood, but I’m really looking forward to the first time we step foot in the new museum and his young eyes light up. Instead of the majestic flowers in a front yard, I can’t wait to point to a skeleton of a mighty T. rex!
But no matter what wonder of creation we focus on, when I ask Lincoln “Who made that?” he’ll know exactly what to say. And if he can grow up seeing the evidence, he’ll have every reason to believe he has the right answer.
* Christy Hardy is an editor at the Institute for Creation Research.
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