Jonah and the Whale.

Parker has declared he shall be a marine biologist when he grows up. And if a five year old's month long obsession can project the future, I believe him. He is gathering and memorizing as much information about whales and sharks right now as humanly possible. He can name all the classifications, species, and scientific names of whales and sharks right now as well as A LOT of random facts.

Tonight, as usual, we were reading The Scientific Classification of Whales and Encyclopedia of Whale Species (it's a real page turner, let me tell you), and I began reading a little side bar excerpt. As soon as I started I paused a tiny bit, but kept reading because we're reading this book word for word, no matter how scientific it gets or difficult to understand for even mom and dad. The excerpt was called "Jonah and The Whale; Fact or Fiction, a myth proven wrong." I read part of it, laying in his little bed, Parker listening intently, when he put his hand on my arm and says "Stop for a minute. I need to tell you something." And this wise little guy put into words some things that astounded me.

"So, there's two types of stories. Fiction and non-fiction. Fiction is made up and non-fiction is not fake, which means it's true. I think this book says Jonah and The Whale is fiction. But it's non-fiction. It's in my bible and I have my own bible and I believe it's true. Different families believe different things, and I know my bible is non-fiction. Other people think it's fiction, but that's not what I think. God is in Heaven and Jesus helps me. It's like I'm like a ship and he helps steer me. Some of my friends don't know that, but they are still nice and some day they might know about all that like me."

And just like that, the conversation ended. I tried to ask him a few questions, but he said he wanted to just keep reading, so we did. And I laid there, trying to memorize every word he said so I could keep it with me forever. Because this is the moment. The moment where our decision to put him in public schools because we believe in them and we also believe we can have our own values and greatly benefit from friends of all kinds and backgrounds came together. That Parker learning about different families, different worlds, different cultures benefits all of us, without changing our beliefs in our home.

Just like that, my hopes and prayers came together in an instant. Whales and fiction and non-fiction and Jonah and International Baccalaureate public schools and beliefs all came together in a little five-year-old mind and he eloquently explained everything I've been trying to faithfully let go of.

"But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24.15