I am not good at crafts.
I am not the mom who will beautifully dye and decorate eggs or create an Easter tree. I admire Spring wreaths from afar and instead let my boys wallow in the Spring mud up close.
I feel hopelessly inadequate in the face of all the remarkable ideas out there for how we can make this season meaningful for our kids.
But I do love a good story. I feel comfortable with words. And creating stories, living adventures, making word pictures with my boys is where I am most at home.
Usually.
Christmas we talked through each detail, loved each sheep and imagined each shepherd boy. But I am finding that Easter leaves me tongue-tied. How do you talk to a four-year-old about betrayal, loss of best friends, death and separation? What words make that accessible to the very person I want to shield from those realities? I’ve been so tongue-tied that I didn’t even try. Until last week when Jackson lost something that has been at the center of his four-year-old existence since he was only a few months old.
He calls it his “baby.”
They are inseparable.
Until Thursday last week when I put his school bag with the baby in it on the roof of my car while I was buckling him in and then drove off. Completely forgetting about it until bed time. Tears were shed. But a remarkable thing happened and suddenly the Easter story spelled itself out in words that even my four-year-old could relate to.
Jackson: What happened to my baby, mama?
Me: I left him on the roof of the car, Jack, and then I drove home. I think he must have fallen off on the big road right where the traffic light is.
Jackson: But what happened to him? Why doesn’t he sound the same?
Me: Honey, I think when he fell a car must have ridden over him. I think it cracked his bell. That’s why it doesn’t sound the same. Your baby got lost and broken.
His eyes are wide and worried even as he cradles his beloved pal in his arms.
Jackson in a whisper: what happened then mama?
Me: Ms. Muluh was driving home at the same time and she saw your red school bag in the middle of the road. So she stopped her car. She stopped to go and see if it was one of her kids who had lost their bag.
And when she looked inside, do you know who she saw, honey?
Jackson, with a lump in both our throats: my baby.
Separated from a friend for a night and a day. Holding in his hands a broken version of what he had always loved, I watched my son and offered him the Easter story through his new eyes.
A Savior lost to his friends, broken and alone for a dark night, given back to us in the morning.
As Jackson buried his face in his now old-new baby and sighed deeply with the joy of homecoming I found that Easter isn’t hard to talk about. Rather, we are hard. And it took a four-year-old to crack me open again and let me see and feel the story in a new way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Linking this inspired moment to the Inspired Room.
The older I get, the more the Easter story means to me. More than Christmas, more than creation and Noah’s ark: it breaks my heart and gives me hope. My children have been learning about it in school for the past 2 weeks and the prayers my 7 year old have been saying are breathtaking. My 12 year old did stations of the cross with his classmates and I never saw anything more moving. Children understand more than we give them credit for, and sometimes we adults desperately need to see things through their eyes.
As I watch my kids grow up and into a better understanding of faith, I realize there is so much to look forward to learning through their fresh perspective. Seeing them do the stations of the cross – just wow – that must have been something!
Jesus knew the power of Words and a good object lesson! He knew that Words stick around a lot longer than a cross made out of popscicle sticks! Well done!
I wonder if he also knew that my kids would immediately start sword fighting with a Popsicle stick cross ;)
I can’t tell you how good this is, and how your words are so inspiring–even to us adults who tend to overcomplicate His word. Thank you for reminding us to keep it simple.
You spoke to your son with love, and that live sparked your faith. May that fire continue to burn in, and through, all of us!
Ginger
Oh, goodness, thank you. But truth is, I feel like I miss the mark most of the time. And still, the Spirit comes alongside and patiently walks with me.I am so grateful for his willingness to work with me.
this is so beautiful… what a gift to your family from God for this season… i’ll definitely carry this word-picture with me as i go into the Easter season … beautiful
Ha! I think you were leaving me a comment just as I was leaving you one! {and thank you}
tee hee! i have a new morning routine now… coffee… devotions… write… grit… gypsy…persiko…gitz…markley…prudychick…i do my flyby on these around, eh… 9-10amish
sometimes i throw in some refineus, AnneJackson, jenniclayville…mandythompson to spice things up a bit… and pretty much holding down the men’s court single-handedly is JasonWert @spintheaxis…
i’m so boring :)
What a gift! This touched me! Thank you for sharing! Great pictures too!
Wow! What a beautifully tender picture! It really is simpler than we think! Thank you for sharing!
Sometimes the significance of an event overwhelms me and I can’t find the right words to translate it. That’s why I’m so grateful for a small soft blankie that helped me climb out of my head and into the story again. So, thanks.
Hmmm… interesting.
As I grow older, I, too, grow more aware of His pain and suffering, more understanding of his sacrifice, of grace and mercy and forgiveness. It stops me, takes my breath away, makes me weep, sometimes uncontrollably.
I am not a “helicopter” parent; not over protective. I do shield my children from some things, but I feel it it is also my duty to help them understand how the world works, even to feel it’s sting a little, to experience it in the safety of my covering. So telling them about the reality of Jesus dying on the cross, for me, fits into that. That people were angry with Him because they didn’t agree, they were scared, and they punished Him by nailing his body to a cross. Yes, he was bleeding. Yes, it hurt a LOT. But He did it for US, because he loves us THAT MUCH, and he wants us to have hearts that love Him, so we can be with Him forever.
The differences in parenting, in sharing about Jesus, are interesting. Gives me something to think about. The story you told, how children relate, how they see the world. I wouldn’t have seen this view. I like it.
(To note, not all families are the same, and some children are more sensitive to “violence” than mine, so that could really scare them. We each do what we think is right for our children, our circumstances. And that is the best thing to do.)
Yes, and perhaps I should clarify – Jackson does know the true Easter story – they have been doing it at preschool and he has learned about the cross and the grave. But I haven’t brought the details home, if you know what I mean? I haven’t let him really feel them yet. That day will certainly come as he gets older. And I saw it begin as he felt first hand the loss of something dear to him and the joy of being reunited. I don’t want to water down the story; I want to share it in ways he can process. You know?
This is what I have been wrestling with – my oldest is almost four and I want him to know the story. Just praying for an opening like you had to help him relate – thank you for sharing!
Yes, that’s it exactly – looking for a good opening to share something that is real to them in their own ways.
Oh… lump in this mama’s throat too! Our little ones’ hearts perceive so much. For both of my little guys, Easter spoke profoundly of grace to their tender hearts at this same stage. Jesus loves our little ones so much more completely than we can, and He has such a beautiful way of speaking to their souls… leaving us in awe. Beautiful post.
And everything is so very *real* to them at this age. Everything impresses them. Words carry such weight, that they have to be used carefully.
Wow. That is beautiful. I don’t think I’d ever have put it together, but that’s perfect. Thanks for sharing. :-)
Gosh, thanks. I got no mojo when it comes to crafts, but words seem to feel natural to me. So, we do what we can with what we got, right?
Lisa-Jo, you are such an awesome mom! Your kids are so blessed to have a mom who recognizes and takes advantage of teachable moments. Love this post. I so badly want to be able to recognize those moments and make the most of them.
That is so sweet…as dramatic as losing his baby must have been, it offered a great object lesson!!!
Everything happens for a reason, right?
Yup – it was a fantastic lesson – to both of us!
What a beautiful analogy. Easter is a hard one. There is nothing happy about what led up to the event that gives us hope… the resurrection. At church last Sunday our children’s ministry did something with the kids that just brought me to tears. I was blessed to be helping out that morning. I have been wanting to blog about it but it was so emotional for me that I don’t know if I can… it allowed me to see vividly that my own daughter is a sinful person, but that Jesus has washed her clean and it brought me to my knees emotionally.
Sorry to have rambled…
Happy Easter! Or as we say, Happy Resurrection Sunday!
Thanks for sharing, Jenny. And if you do write about it, please shoot me the link – I am always fascinated to learn from teachable moments for kids. I would love to read about what your church did!
And blessings on you too for this Easter weekend!
We are hard, indeed…I feel like such an in between point in my life, before kids I didn’t think about it as much, and before marriage, at home we always held our Easter traditions even though us kids were older. We did resurrection eggs, and talked about the resurrection, etc. Now that I’m married and have a child, even though he is only 14 months old I find myself wanting to incorporate those traditions, because they’re just that, traditions. Often we forget the message in the tradition, but I suppose that’s what kids are for – keeping it fresh in our hearts and minds. I can’t wait until my little guy is old enough to understand.
Love the message behind this story. I love that about motherhood, if only we’d open our eyes, God has so much to show us through our children, and even their baby’s. :)
“Holding in his hands a broken version of what he had always loved”
Perfect words to what I feel like going into this Easter season. Thank you for sharing this story. I got some 4-yr-old sigh of relief in my heart now too!
He and I have been enjoying some special moments every evening. Telling the story of Jesus praying in the garden and then blowing out a candle for every disciple that fell asleep or abandoned their good friend Jesus. It’s been pretty great to share with him. And tomorrow I have a Good Friday post on In Courage. Quite the week – thanks for joining in it.
First of all, I’d like to say that it melted my heart that your son calls his precious toy his ‘baby’. So, so sweet.
Second, I love that God presented the perfect example right when you needed it! Timing is everything and God’s timing is perfect. I hope your son remembers this story as he grows older and Baby becomes less important.
Yes, that will be the important factor right – baby diminishing and Jackson finding his security in the only permanent person who can provide it over a lifetime! {and he totally named it himself; NO idea where he came up with that!}
What a neat opportunity! -I’ve also got a four year old – I am often quite amazed by what he can grasp. I love they way their little minds work.
I know, right?! I find it just remarkable and am constantly struggling to stay ahead of his growing curve. There is so much this mama still needs to learn about being a good teacher to her son.
Oh Lord. I am so not crafty either. And I think that story just about broke my heart. Poor baby.
“Rather, we are hard.”
Yes, friend. Aren’t we? Surrender starts with the softening.
Wow. Having a hard time reading this through the tears. What an amazing opportunity God presented for you to share a difficult story for even adults to hear with your little boy.
I had the same predicament with my 1 and 2 year olds until I realized that the main part of the story is love. I just blogged about my 2 year old showing me she understood and then saw a post about your story on We Are THAT Family. What a wonderful gift of words you have! I’m soo glad that you saw the opportunity and took it.
Christmas was easy to talk to Chloe (3) about but I’ve been having a tough time explaining what Easter is about. Thank you for sharing your story and the reminder that we don’t have to share it in it’s entirety but simply bits at their level.
Thank you so much for this post. My sister is a new believer with two little boys. She was unsure about sharing the details of easter with them. Your post provided the perfect “how-to” for her. I emailed it to her as soon as I read it.
Really? Gosh, that’s about the most wonderful response I have ever ever had to a post! Finding age-appropriate ways to share Easter (and other big moments from our faith) with kids can be tricky. I’m so glad if this helped, especially since I am still on a learning curve myself!
Blessings to you both on this Easter weekend!
What a treasure. Baby and the Easter story!
Absolutely! Both were as sweet as an Easter peep!