Stories of Jesus

I have found that stories are an excellent way to connect with my children. They drink them in. Especially if they are told orally. While eating lunch I asked sam, "Sam do you know what the most powerful thing is in the whole world? The strongest thing in the whole world?" He thought about it and said "what?"... "LOVE...love is the strongest and most powerful thing in the whole world. And do you know who has all the Love power?" "JESUS!" Sam yelled. "And do you want to know the BEST Love story in the whole world?" "YEAH!" He was captivated and wide eyed.

"Well there was a group of people in heaven...GODS. And there was a problem because one of the gods rebelled and started a fight. This rebellious god started doing things that would hurt all the Gods children. So the good Gods, they had to come up with a plan. And they needed someone who had enough LOVE. Someone who had so much love that they could win the fight and save the children of the Gods. The fight was really REALLY big. JESUS was chosen because he had enough love to overcome the rebellious God and help all the children be saved from the terrible evil. So Jesus was born down to earth. He came down and was a sweet little BABY! He was so precious and his mommy was named MARY." (at which point Sam exclaimed to me that Mary was his mommy in heaven and his mommy on earth because he KNEW it He knew that Mary was both of his mommies.) "He was a baby and drank milkies and grew bigger and bigger. He was a kid..like you! Jesus once was three years old! And as he got bigger he remembered more and more that he was the man who had SO MUCH LOVE that he was going to win the fight. He remembered that he was the CREATOR, that he created the earth. He remembered that he was the DELIVERER, that he was going to deliver all the people from the evil, rebellious god, He remembered that he was KING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH." I then proceeded to tell him about the life of Jesus and how in the Garden of Gethsemane he began fighting. And that he overcame all the darkness and sadness and anger and pain with LOVE POWER. That LOVE IS STRONGER than fear, stronger than pain, stronger than meanness, stronger that evil. LOVE WINS. Sam was beaming. This was the best story. Somehow I was telling it in the perfect way for him to connect with it. Sam then said "MOM Jesus is THE CONNECTOR! He connects all of us back to LOVE! When we have sadness he helps connects us back to LOVE so we can win!" YES SAM!!!! YEEESSSS! That is it. I was blown away and in awe at how perfectly his THREE YEAR OLD little self had made this connection. I mean COME ON! WOW! I then told of how Jesus was hung on the cross and what that meant. And how his friends were really worried. There was a hush and sadness that I think was probably felt throughout the angels and the heavens as well. "was it going to work? He is dead? Everything will fail if this doesn't work, whats happening?" And the rebellious god and all the darkness got really big. They thought they were winning. BUT GUESS WHAT! Three days later JESUS CAME BACK TO LIFE AND OVERCAME ALL THE DARKENSS! HE WON! LOVE WON! HE SQUASHED THE DARKNESS DOWN WITH HIS LIGHT (using Sams words)" And then I told of the ascension into heaven and the resurrection and what that means. And Sam said, " I am so happy that Jesus is the connector mom! That means I can have love mom! When I am sad or angry Jesus will help me have love, and love has all the power!
Telling this story was amazing. We talked about how sam then came to earth years and years and years later as a baby. He drank milk and grew and grew and is three years old. And as he keeps growing he is going to keep remembering what he is going to do on this earth. Because Jesus has special things for Sam to do that are all about LOVE and helping people find "the connector" so they can have love too. I was just in awe at what had just happened. SO much connection and understanding. He is 3 YEARS OLD and was learning so much. It was like his soul was on fire and for twenty minutes he just got it all, he knew it all. It was all so familiar and fresh and clear. I am going to keep finding ways to tell this story, because it is the greatest story, the best love story, and there is power in breaking from the cultural way we tell the story and start telling it in the language of our kids. I will never forget this moment, this connection and this space that was created on a typical day eating noodles and broccoli.