This is my son and he is now a whopping nine years old.  He truly is a remarkable young man.  His brain seems to run at a speed mine can only dream of.  He loves to read and use his imagination.  He can draw detailed plans for anything he dreams up to build and he can create almost anything with paper, pencil and scotch tape (or legos).  He's got questions about almost everything while at the same time honestly believes he knows more than he actually does.  This often makes for some interesting discussions.  This post wasn't intended to be about "everything Lee" but I just felt I should introduce him before I share what happened the other day.

I guess it's been about two months at least since we bought him book one in the Left Behind Kids series.  We found it at a second hand book shop for almost nothing and thought it would interest him.  He got a couple of other titles that same day and read them first.  He wasn't sure he wanted to read something called "Left Behind" and was even more certain he didn't want to when I told him it was about the "end times".  I decided not to push the issue and left it up to him to read the book....or not.

One day during "quiet time" I saw him with the book, deeply engrossed.  He was almost finished with it and I hadn't even known he was reading it.  I asked him what he thought and he said "I like it."  He told me some of the character names and a bit about what was going on.  He asked me how the guy who wrote it could write something about the "end times" and I told him it was based on the book of Revelation.  "Oh right, cause that's where God tells us about the future."  I confirmed his statement and we didn't discuss it further except for him telling me when he'd finished book one.

Several weeks later, one morning my husband hears noises coming from the kids' room and goes in to check on things.  He finds Lee on the  top bunk hunkered over his Bible reading by the tiny rays of light coming through the blinds.  "What are you reading?" my husband whispers.  "Revelations," he answers.  Stunned, Erik didn't know what to say so he asked, "why?"  Lee looked at him and said, "to find out what's going to happen.  I've been reading a little almost every morning.  I'm about half-way through."  Erik patted him on the back and told him to let him know if he had any questions.  My husband then found me and asked, "Did you know Lee is reading Revelations?"  We were both pleasantly surprised to find our child so interested in the Bible that he would voluntarily read it.

Not long afterward I asked Lee about it and he told me he finished the entire book, so we discussed it.  It seemed strange and yet comforting to talk with him about this.  Day in and day out I see him as my little boy, my son....but he's also my brother in Christ and I love being his "big sister in the Lord" during times like this.

All of these photos were taken on Thanksgiving 2006