We've been trying to explain to Liliana what Easter means and why we celebrate it.
We have a children’s Bible and so we turned to the crucifixion and resurrection stories.
Liliana looked at the picture of Jesus on the cross and she was
stunned the first time she saw it.
She said, “Jesus has ouchies? Why does Jesus have ouchies?"
It was this mystery to her.
I quickly thought, how do explain why Jesus has ouchies to a 3 year old?
I basically said something like- Jesus isn’t on the cross anymore. He is alive and he is our king that we worship.
That seemed to be enough to satisfy her curiosity for the moment.
But everytime we got out her Bible to read at night, she kept wanting to flip to that page in the bible and stare at it.
Then about a week later, Liliana came to me and asked:
-Mommy, when Jesus was on the cross, was he in a time out?
-Yes, he was in a time out. That’s a great way to put it.
- When He got out of time out was He a good listener?
- Well, Jesus always did what his Father told him to do, so He was always a good listener. But he took a time out for us, for the times we don’t listen and we don’t walk in love.
At first I thought it was just a cute conversation. But then it dawned on me that The Holy Spirit is speaking to my kid. He is explaining the atonement in 3 year old terminology. Jesus took a time out for my daughter Liliana.
It got me thinking how the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. I love that God can reveal his love in the most simple terms to a 3 year old and also lead adults into truth that speaks at a different level.
It has been amazing to watch my daughter's own relationship with God start to form. She is very aware of God. I pray that she will have her own relationship and desire to follow him. As parents we want to be role models and show her how amazing it is to live life with Jesus at the center. But it is her own choice to follow Him. I'm excited to see it continue to unfold for her.
