Our oldest daughter was a real thinker even as a little kid.

One Sunday when she was about 8 years old, she came out of Sunday school looking befuddled and distressed.

“Mom, the teacher said that if Clint didn’t sit still, God would not hear his prayers.”

I knew this young man. Good heart. Lots of energy. I could imagine an hour of Sunday school spent trying to hold his attention and everyone else’s while Clint bounced around the room. Exhausting.

“Well, honey, where does it say that in the Bible?” I asked and waited.

Her face looked puzzled and then her expression cleared.

“It doesn’t say that in the Bible, does it, Mommy?”

And so we continued a life-long conversation.

A wise friend gave me a bit of thought-provoking advice when my kids were little.

“Ignore self-esteem and focus on confidence,” she said.

Confidence comes from handling the scriptures accurately, was her claim.

Accuracy is the crucial thought here. Anyone can memorize verses. But what do they mean? Have we been taught what is true, in Sunday school for example?

I have often wondered how my 8 year-old knew with such confidence that one idea was NOT in the scriptures when there was no way she could have read them all by that time. It’s such a big book. Did she wonder, as she stood there thinking hard and looking small, if she had missed one verse?

How did she know that God loves bouncy little boys and hears their prayers?

Cathy Primer Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, lives and writes with a Texas twang. Comments are invited at http://checklistcharlie.blogspot.com.