Our family has recently gone through the tragedy of losing a dog. Our kids have grown up with this dog and she's been a part of Dale's and my life for 13 years. So, needless to say, it was a little traumatic on all of us. However, in the midst of this pain, we've had the opportunity to have some tender moments with our boys.

I don't know if there will be animals in heaven or not but for the purpose of this event, we told our boys that Nicki had gone to heaven. In our opinion, that was the easiest way to explain to them what happened. And, wow...it has opened a lot of doors for conversations especially with Caiden, our 4 year old, about heaven and dying.

It is tender moments like these when we are hurting as a family in which we need to take advantage of to help further teach our kids about our incredibly awesome God. I know it is hard to do that sometimes but in the midst of explaining things to our kids during this moments, we come to rely upon and give ourselves more completely to our Creator. I think we become less self-focused about the pain we are feeling when we are teaching, praying and encouraging others through theirs. So, take advantage of tender moments, good and bad, with your kids and students to help them learn more about God and what He wants for their life.