"Will there be Nintendo in heaven?"

Ty actually asked me "Will there be Nintendo DS and dvd's in heaven?" the other night. Since the question came out of nowhere, I admit to being at a loss for words for a minute.

I guess I should say this, Christmas time always brings about conversations about heaven. Tim's mom passed away on Christmas Eve 6 years ago. Ty's friend, Janefar, has also lost 2 grandparents (strangely enough, in both the same way as Tim's parents - car accident and heart attack). I heard them talking about it one day and I guess with all of that - Ty came up with this question. I told him that I think that God has whatever we need to be happy there but I was pretty sure that after seeing Jesus - Nintendo DS and dcd's would be the last thing Ty would think about! He then asked me what his house would look like. I asked him what he wanted it to look like? He said, "I think I would like it to be wood and have doors and handles like those (the doors to our large armoire in our room)". I told him that I thought that since God could do anything - I am sure He could do that.

Fast forward to this morning. Tim got a call from a friend needing help this morning so Ty and I had "church" here at home including reading Luke 2. I came to work on the computer and Ty was playing a game on his DS when I heard him mumbling something. I finally listened closely enough to hear "Please Jesus! Please Jesus, help me to win!". He soon got upset that he wasn't succeeding as well as he would have liked. He came running in to ask "Why isn't Jesus answering??!" I told him that Jesus gives us what we need, not always what we want and since I don't necessarily think that winning a video game would be high priority on a "needs" list, that I think there was a bigger lesson to be learned.

I am glad his first thought was to pray and I don't want to change that. But we had a good conversation about asking for what God wants and that being a "winner" doesn't always mean winning a game.

"Big" thoughts around Christmas this year - and since several friends have lost loved ones within this past week - thoughts have turned more to the eternal than the material. Just the way I think God wants it!