We've been reading Aliyah's children's Bible to her every night as her bedtime story, and last night was the story of Hannah, who prayed to God for a son and whose prayer was answered. I had not yet completed the last sentence, which announced that Hannah had a baby boy, before Aliyah slammed her hands on the book and yelled, "Again?!"
"What do you mean 'again,' honey?"
"It's another baby boy. In the whole Bible, that's all there is- baby boys! Why aren't there any baby girls, mommy?"
I tried telling her that there are some baby girls in the Bible. Unfortunately, they are all such minor characters that none of them made it into her children's Bible. And the truth is, of the few baby girls, none of them is a direct answer to prayer.
How can I look at my beautiful and amazing baby girl, who is an answer to prayer, and tell her that the Bible is the most important book in the world, inspired by God, useful for instruction and edification, when she knows there are no baby girls in it? Either it is not that great of a book, or baby girls are not that important to God. That's not what I believe, but it's the message she's hearing right now.
So I'm really ticked off at the Bible. And maybe just a little bit at God, too.
