It's too early for big questions, Owen.

This morning, at a very early (but luckily post-coffee) hour my son and I were having a bit of a big discussion. If you don't know anything about my son, Owen, let me tell you a little about him. Owen is highly inquisitive, as are most kiddos his age, always asking me really hard questions like, "How do we make cars?" or one of my favs, "How do babies come out of their mommy's tummy?" He is also what some would describe as being a bit "emotional" for a boy. Owen's highs are really high and his lows are really low... again, typical in my limited understanding of 3-year-olds, but I'm beginning to see that Owen broke the mold when it comes to his sensibilities and perceptiveness. He takes in so much of our big world every day and I can literally see it in his gaze when ideas and new concepts are being processing in his brain like a little computer. Last year he asked me about a few homeless people we passed outside of a store we passed. Then, after explaining that they have no house to go home to at the end of the day, Owen had an obvious yet somehow overlooked solution- "Why don't we give them our house, Mom?" I love his sweet spirit, the integrity that he is already showing at such a young age, and the love and knowledge of God that is growing in his heart.

So back to the discussion Owen and I were having...

As I was ironing Jeff's shirt for work this morning, Owen asked me, "What does daddy do at work and can I go too?" Jeff is a senior level claims adjuster for a auto insurance company handling auto accident claims that frankly I never want to even hear or think about. He is one of the (un)lucky people that get to handle auto accident fatalities and seriously icky injuries. When he first got this job, I made it very clear that I never want to hear about it, otherwise I would end up having to walk everywhere for fear of driving and that just would't jive with two kids in tow. So would you please let me remain naive where I am happy, thank you very much. So when trying to explain to Owen what daddy does all day I said something like this: "Well, when people get into a bad car accident they can call daddy for help with fixing their car and seeing a doctor to help their boo-boos." And Owen's response on his face read something like, "Uh huh." Then after about a minute he said, "Mom, I still don't understand." 

My thoughts immediately turned to a passage in Romans that was being discussed last night at youth group. I'll explain why after this:

"For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God." - Romans 1:19-20

Here is the big thought I had: it is much easier for me to tell someone about the reality of God and what Christ did for us than it is for me to explain to my 3-year-old what daddy does at work all day. You would think the opposite would be true... but it's not. Why? Well... because who God is matters to all of us. The creator of all we see and all of humanity is desperately in love with us. So much so that we, the created, have been saved from our sin by the unthinkable and unimaginable act of Jesus, the creator, dying in our place and rising again from the grave- victorious over death. And then the thought dawned on me: the reason that this is easier for me to tell someone about this; heck even why it's easy to explain to my son that God did this for us, is because it is a message of hope and freedom. As this message that Paul is writing in the passage to the Romans explains, we "instinctively" know the truth about God... because "God has put this knowledge in [our] hearts." I realize this is a lot to ponder, especially if you have doubts or questions. (I am very open to dialogue about this if you would like!) I really liked the context in which this passage was read last night to the teens at my church because they are faced every day with the challenges of working out their faith. The truth is that God is real. The truth is he loves us. The truth is... I, we, you... need Him daily. To me at this juncture in my walk with God is a much easier truth to shed a little light on than any other question my son could conjure up, like the ever so popular, "Where do babies come from?"

I would like to leave you with a music video of one of Owen's favorite songs that I think ties in perfectly with this very thing. Owen goes around the house singing it all day and it brings this mama such joy.