Dinosaurs in the Tree House

He was barely eight but all boy. To him it was all so natural. To me, it was just so cool.

I’m talking about my only son, the little brother of three older, doting sisters. While the girls played with girl stuff, Taylor turned every cardboard core of a paper towel roll into a gun, piled leaves just to mess them up, and scampered up trees as quickly as those black squirrels in our wooded backyard.

Dale Mason, Publisher

We’d recently moved across the country and were still adjusting, but he’d already made a friend. Our corner lot provided them with a boy’s dream: a tree house, complete with a trapdoor that could be closed to keep girls out!

This beautiful autumn day, he and his new friend were in their hideout. In addition to aiming twig “rifles” at the chipmunks, Taylor had brought a book for them to explore, about one of his favorite subjects. Dinosaurs!

But as Taylor read aloud the biblical version, his friend scrunched his nose and started asking questions.

“What, God created dinosaurs? Dinosaurs were in the Garden of Eden? On Noah’s Ark? They’re actually in the Bible? But my schoolbooks say the dinosaurs died millions of years ago.”

The questions kept coming, the boys kept reading, and Taylor kept explaining. When his friend’s mom called for supper, the wide-eyed boy reluctantly opened the trapdoor and started down the ladder, but pled for them to read this book and the Bible next time!

This week, my wife commented about that day, well over a decade ago. “What’s available is what kids will use to explain their faith to friends.”

That’s so true. We carefully selected that dinosaur book and other books and videos. Taylor used them to reach out to his new friend, who has become a lifelong friend. Even after we moved three states away, he calls or texts questions about the Bible and the world. And Taylor listens and shares.

To him it is just so natural. To me, it is just so cool!

All for Him,

Dale T. Mason, Publisher

P.S. The four dinosaur articles in this issue should provoke lots of discussion among adults and children who have never heard the biblical perspective. Also, Kids Answers can be read with a child you love. Then you can give it to them, so they can keep reading and perhaps even share it with a friend. Remember “What’s available is what kids will use to share their faith.”