My 8 Year Old Nephew Prays to God Not to Send Him to Heaven!!!!!

Brock seems to be very aware of his health and the problems with his health. No matter how one tries to be careful about what is said around a child, they pick up things, put 2 and 2 together and come up with their own answer. They hear it out in the community or when everyone thinks the child is asleep or outdoors and can't hear the discussion. You can not hide things from them forever. It's better to deal with fears head on, carefully worded, of course. I have 3 suggestions......
1.) Listen to the child's fears, address what you can and what you can't, tell him so, but that you will do your best to find the answer.
2.) Go to the Priest or one of the Sisters, that is what they are there for. Either they can talk with him and address the spiritual side of this or can find someone that can.
3.) Another option is to talk to the doctor, if there is concerns maybe it is time to be open with Brock about what is going on with his health. Some doctors are great with explaining things to kids. Or I am sure that he can recommend a social worker or counselor that can help Brock through his fears.
My prayers are with Brock and the family.

oh my. With tears in my eyes...

I would try to let him know that whenever he would go whether 18 or 80 you (mom and dad) will be there too!

Keep an eye on what music plays in the house and car. Country music has a HUGE amount of songs that talk about heaven and loss. IPOD songs so those sad ones aren't included.

Change his focus. Focus on future fun plans.

Other than that - praying for Brock and everyone else.

Hello M.,
I wanted to respond to your post about your nephew with health problems and his fears. I saw that he attendes a catholic school do you think that's where he got the informaiton about dying and going to heaven? The bible teaches of 144,000 going to heaven to be kings and priests and to rule over the earth. Who will be on the earth? A great crowd that no man is able to number and all those that are sick will be heal* remember Jesus healed the sick well this will be on a global scale! The lame will walk, the bling will see & earth will be made a paradise again. It would be nice if your nephew had the correct informaiton about dying and being recessurected back on earth howeve it'll be transformed.

After he get the correct scripitural guidance that might be enough to help him out with his fears. But next I would have his docotor explain to him that Yes he has health problems but they aren't life threatning. Let the 8 year old ask all the questions he wants about his health.
Being sad is a part of life and helping him through this emotionally and spriturally is the best thing you can do! Please don't try to protect him or shield him but help him through it! Help him to learn coping skills now and to talk about his feelings now.. feelings can change by talking about them. Getting someone elses healthy viewpoint and or knowledge. If you want more scriptures on what I've explained email me.
Huggles,
D.~

M.,

My heart broke too as I was reading this, as a mother, I know that it is difficult to talk to your child about dying, it's something that no one wants to think about. My six year old has talked about it a lot this past year. We lost someone very special in our family to cancer last year, so it brings up a lot of questions. I'm sure that your nephew has a greater reality than most kids his age because of all that he has gone through. No matter how careful the doctors and parents are around kids going through medical problems, they hear things that probably scare them. I think that it is normal for every kid to worry about dying, I know as a kid I did (sometimes to the point that I would make myself sick to my stomach). I think the best thing for your nephew is for everyone to reassure him that things are all right, and that it's okay to be a little scared, but that he has lots of things to look forward to and be happy about. I hope this helps.

I would advise talking with the child to find out exactly what he thinks/believes/ understands and addresing the issues as they unfold. It could be a combination of questions about the options/outcomes of his health issues, he may have heard of a child who was sick and died and think he may die as well. He may have overheard someone close to him talking and misunderstood. Secondly, depending on the severity of his health issues, perhaps they should be handled in such a way that is fears are acknowledged and he receives honest, constructive suggestions of things that he could do to help in his own healing. For instance, besides praying for health and healing, learning to understand his medication process, medications, etc so that he feels some power in what happen to him. Additionally, perhaps he should speak to a sensitive, experienced, INFORMED minister/clergy person who has dealt with children with serious health issues. They have experienced all of teh questions and concerns before and will know how to help him find the answers in the Bible that he needs to comfort him.

My 6 yo daughter Jordan has the same issues...she's been very afraid of dying because we had several deaths in the family a couple of years back. Every so often something will get to her and she gets scared that either she will die or that I will. I have to remind her that while I would be very sad if God took her to heaven, it would be because he had a job for her to do and that she would have done what she was supposed to to here. We try to keep things in perspective because I don't want to tell her people won't die. I also tell her that because she was such a miracle, she must have something really important to do here.