One of my closest friends had to put the family dog to sleep recently. We were going to go visit them and I didn't want Annessa to ask about Dutch, the dog, so I told her that Dutch was in Heaven (even though I'm not entirely sure that dogs go to Heaven - this has been a on-going conversation in my marriage. Rich firmly believes Heaven wouldn't be the same without Gus...). Anyway, after explaining that Dutch wouldn't be at Kathy's house, he would be in Heaven, I got my first tough question as a mom:
Annessa: Mom? Where is Heaven?
I thought back to 6th grade when we were studying outer space. I had asked my mom that same question. Her answer? "That's a great question for your teacher!" Since the only teacher Annessa has right now is an imaginary one Mrs. Puff (who I think is actually SpongeBob's teacher), I decided to take a stab at it...
Me: Ummm... Heaven is in the sky.
Annessa looked at me (satisfied with the answer). I, however, was not satisfied. Should I have said Heaven is in your heart? Heaven is.....I'm not sure how you explain the place that God created for us to a two-year-old?
Annessa: Mama? Is Jesus in Heaven with Dutch?
Me: Yes! Yes he is!
Annessa: (looking out the window) Mama, Jesus made the moon.
Me: Yes! Yes he did!
Where did she get that? Church? I volunteer in her room at church and I am pretty sure that concept has not come up. Could it be that my two-year-old can see God in a more pure, more simple way than I?
I love it Autumn. Recently Olivia got into a conversation with my mom about my grandma who passed away 3 years ago. She was drilling my mom with a million questions and really I was glad to have my mom deal with this, sort of like your mom telling you to ask your teacher. It's so tough because Olivia is very sensitive to these issues and about death. One of Eric's co workers passed away, and the subject was brought up and I was the one who had to deal with Olivia's questions. By the end of the conversation, I felt happy with it, but both Olivia and I were in tears because I don't like to talk or to think of those feelings of being without the loved ones. Her main question is what happens when you die? I told her that angels give you kisses and you go to heaven with Jesus and all of the others. She knows that you are hurt when you die that you are filled with love. And I will live every moment making sure that she knows that I love her. But again, it is a really hard question to talk about...and she thinks that God puts and egg in mommy's belly and when it's time the doctor cracks the egg and the baby comes out of mommy's tummy. :)
ReplyDelete