So by and large kids are just way smarter than we give them credit.

And if we communicate clearly and simply and accurately to them, they're going to follow, even on the deep topics.

If you want to communicate with a kid, the best way is to understand it well yourself.

And I mean, this is what Deuteronomy 6 is all about, right?

Where it starts is that, hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and your soul and your mind and your strength.

And then it says, and then you shall teach them diligently to your children.

And so it doesn't start with, how do we have conversations?

It starts with our own hearts before the Lord.

It starts with who he is and that we should love him with everything we have.

And then we pass these things along.

Champ Thornton serves as an acquisitions editor and director of children and family resources at Crossway and is the author of numerous books for kids and families, including his newest book, 10 Questions About Salvation, 30 devotions for kids, teens, and families.

Champ, thanks so much for being here today on the CrossFit podcast.

Thanks, Matt.

It's great to be here. So you and I know each other well through our work together here at Crossway,

but you also are an author and you've written a number of books, both with Crossway and with

other publishers over the years. And many of those have been for kids. So I wonder just starting

us off, what got you into writing books for children and their families?

Yeah, it's not what I would have expected. When I was in seminary, this was not on my bingo card. I thought, I'm going to be pastoring, and that's pretty much it. And then just in God's providence, he has moved me toward writing and also toward writing for

children. When I was 29 years old, I was diagnosed with a blood clot. And it's one of the kinds

that people die from. It became a pulmonary embolism. And through my heart and lodged in my lung.

And it's pretty scary because when you're 29,

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