The hard questions are coming...oops! They're here!

I love that Noah is learning so much! He had his first night of Awana's on Wednesday and he really had a lot of fun. They gave me a pamphlet to read to him that has his memory verse and Cubbies motto on it. I am a slight procrastinator, so today is the first day I've gone over it with him.

This is the verse: "God loved us and sent His Son." (1 John 4:10) Obviously, it's paraphrased, but yeah. Do you think these kinds of questions should follow it?

Noah: Mommy, who is God's son?
Mommy: Jesus.
Noah: But I thought Jesus is God?
Mommy: He is. (Oh no...do I really have to try to find four year old words to explain the trinity????)
Noah: Is God good?
Mommy: God is always good, yes.
Noah: Is there anyone who is bad? And will God fight him?
Mommy: Yes. There is someone who is bad and yes, God will fight him.
Noah: Does God win?
Mommy: God always wins.
Noah: Who does God fight?
Mommy: *sigh*(If you lived in my house, you'd understand my hestitation to this line of questioning. My boys are very into playing good/bad people and fighting naughty monsters-or terrorizing each other while they are BEING naughty monsters...I can already see where this is going. BUT, being the person I am and believing that I should not hide anything about the Bible from them...I answered it. Again...I sigh.) Well, his name is Satan.
Noah: Who is he? Is he an angel?
Mommy: (SERIOUSLY! Where does he come up with this stuff????) Yes, he's a naughty angel.
Noah: Why is he naughty? Is that the way God made him? Are there other naughty angels?
Mommy: Yes there are other naughty angels. Satan is naughty because he made bad decisions and was selfish and arrogant. He wanted to be like God. (MIS-STEP HERE...Wait for it....)
Noah: God is selfish and ar-go-tent?
Mommy: Air-a-gant. No, God is not, but the angel who wanted to be like God acted that way and that's why he's naughty. He wanted to be as powerful as God.
Noah: Oh. Why are other angels naughty? And God is powerful?
Mommy: Other angels are naughty because they chose to serve Satan instead of God. And yes, God is very powerful. Much more powerful and stronger than even Daddy.
Noah: Is Satan powerful?
Mommy: (Darn, guess he didn't forget about that name. It sounds strange coming out of a four year old's mouth) Yes, Satan has some power, but not like God's.
Noah: And he doesn't like me?
Mommy: No, he doesn't like you because you love God. But you don't have to be afraid of him because God will protect you. And remember...God always wins because He is more powerful than anyone or anything. (I really, really didn't want to get into the whole, you have authority over Satan and sometimes God allows Satan to do certain things to us...hey, if Job and his friends couldn't comprehend it right off, I wasn't gettin' into it with a four year old.)
Noah: Ok.
(WHEW!!!! Dodged a bullet on that one!)
Noah: Are there good angels?
Mommy: Yes.
Noah: Do they fight the naughty ones?
Mommy: Yes, they do.
Noah: When I get big, I am going to fight for God.
(See the huge smile on my face???? Yeah, 'cause it's there!)
Mommy: That's great buddy! Do you know that you can fight for God now? Every time you do the right thing and pray to God, you are making Satan upset because he doesn't want you to do the right thing, but you are making God very, very, very happy. And that's kind of like fighting for Him.
Noah: Oh, cool!
(Are we done, yet? Are we done, yet? Are we done, yet???)

We're done. There was more, but this was the jist of the hard questioning. I guess I had this pre-conceived notion that I could tell my kids that God is good, serving him is the right thing to do...and they'd just do it for now. I didn't expect this kind conversation until he was much older. Again, not quite sure how this line of questioning came up...but I guess he's a thinker. I'm gonna have to pray up!!!!

This mothering business is hard work!

How do you handle this kind of stuff? I'm always telling Nic to keep it simple for him and conversations are usually in front of Luke, so I really don't want to go over his head, but I don't want to dumb-down the Bible for them. Truth is truth, right?

So, what do you do? Do you simplify it or tell it like it is? Am I the only one answering these kinds of questions right now? I could use a little emotional support here! ;)