I recently watched the new movie, “Tooth Fairy” starring Dewayne Johnson, with my family.

It’s about a guy who’s lost his zest for life and tries to ruin a little girl’s belief in the Tooth Fairy. To teach him a lesson he must become a tooth fairy and learn to believe again. I sat there watching the movie, and couldn’t help but smile as it took me back about ten years to when my two oldest kids were in the throws of losing their own teeth, and getting frequent visits from the Tooth Fairy themselves. I was reminded of the night I had to tell them the truth about the whole Tooth Fairy thing.

We had company staying over with us, so it was all fruit basket turnover with the beds. No one was in their own bed. My two oldest kids were about six and eight at the time, and had wound up in my bed. The six-year-old had lost a tooth, and as always, we placed the tooth in a little pillow my mother-in-law had made for them. It has a sweet little verse stitched on it about how the Tooth Fairy would exchange the tooth in the pocket for money. I read the verse to my kids again, and placed the pillow underneath Ryan’s pillow.

As I was tucking them in, Ryan began to ask questions about the Tooth Fairy coming into our house after he was asleep.

I tried to explain to him that it was all in fun, and that no harm would come to him, but the thought of someone sneaking about in our house at night was beginning to freak him out. Pretty soon I could see his older brother wasn’t too thrilled about the idea either. I tried for about twenty minutes to calm them down. Nothing worked. Finally, exasperated and with no other choice, I took a deep breath and said, “Okay. I didn’t want to have to do this, but you give me no other choice. I’m going to have to tell you the truth…. I’m the tooth fairy.”

There was a short pause and then together their eyes widened and my oldest said, “No way!” It was then that I realized they thought I meant that I was THE Tooth Fairy.

In that instant, I had a choice to make. I could tell them the truth and let them know that there was actually no Tooth Fairy at all, or I could let them continue to think that I, their mother, was the Tooth Fairy. What do you suppose I did?

I spent the next half hour answering their questions about how I got the job done.

How I managed to get into houses without being seen, how I decided how much money to leave, and what I did with all those teeth. I know, I know… but I couldn’t resist. In the end I made them promise to keep my real identity a secret. I mean, I couldn’t have them going to school and blowing my cover, could I?

I remained the Tooth Fairy for quite a long time. It was great fun. We didn’t really talk about it much, but each time they lost a tooth, they’d just bring it to me. No need to put it under your pillow and wait when you live with the Tooth Fairy.

Through that experience, I learned children have a huge capacity to believe.

The Bible teaches that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven you must have faith as a child has faith. You must have the ability to open up your mind to the wonder of God’s love for you, and the tremendous sacrifice Christ made on your behalf. You must trust in a Savior fathered by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, who lived a sinless life, was murdered on a cross, and three days later rose from the dead thereby conquering sin and death forever.

That’s one wild story to wrap your brain around.

In the end, whether or not your children believe in the Tooth Fairy really doesn’t matter. But whether or not they believe in Christ matters for eternity. There’s no better place for them to learn it than from a parent. And I can promise, when you see the light come on and the understanding and wide eyed belief come to them, it opens up your own faith experience all over again.