Public School Conversation

This morning I was giving my daughter a ride to school and she asked me a question.

“Mom, what are we? Are we Lutheran, Methodist, or what?”

(We just recently switched from a Methodist church to a non-denominational community church, so I understood her confusion.)

She shared with me a conversation she had in school recently that went like this.


Boy in Class: “Why did your family switch churches?”

My daughter: “Because of evolution.”

Another boy in class: “What’s evolution?”

My daughter: “That’s when you believe the world is millions of years old.”

Another girl in class: “It’s also where you think you came from a monkey.”

Boy in class: “That’s crazy, monkey’s came from us.”

My daughter: “No, I think God made monkeys.”


Just yesterday, I received another email poem talking about how ‘God’ has been taken out of the public school system. The school curriculum may be void of God inspired teaching, but this conversation showed me God has not been completely shut out.

Fifth graders do a lot of creative writing and journals for English classes. My daughter writes frequently of her faith and what she believes about God, and sometimes has to share her words with the class. Our family’s recent change in churches was a soul searching, prayerful decision that was discussed in our home openly. She writes about that journey, our step of faith, and our obedience to our follow God’s will for our lives because it has made an impact in her heart. She is living out her faith and she is witnessing to others in the process.

As long as God’s word is being taught and modeled in the home, God cannot be shut out of the public schools. So, instead of complaining about what we no longer have (God in public schools), maybe we should be thankful for what we do still have (freedom of religion in this country)! We still have the freedom to learn, teach, worship, and live out our faith in our homes, churches, and communities.

God commands us to teach our children about him! We live in a country where we are free to do so without persecution or restriction. If we exercise that freedom, God cannot be taken out of anything, for wherever we are, He is too! The one that lives in us works through us, to accomplish His will in all things to His glory!

Lord, we are thankful for the freedoms you have blessed us with in this country, especially the freedom to worship you! We also thank you for the wonderful ways you work through each of us to glorify your name! Amen