Car Theology

Anyone who reads this knows that I live in the land of 1,000 questions. Sometimes they drive me crazy. Other times I can't get enough of them. And many times, I learn something from them.

Tonight Mackenzie and I were alone in the car on our way home from gymnastics. The moon was the tiniest sliver with one shining star beneath it.

"Mackenzie, do you see that moon and the bright star beneath it?"

"Oh yes," she gushed. "I already made a wish on it."

"Do you know what makes the light on the moon?"

"No. What does?" She was curious now.

"That's the sun shining on it," I said, happy to present some new information and look like the super-smart mommy.

"Wow!" she was impressed. After a few more questions on the subject, they began to broaden in scope a bit. "Mama, is Heaven above the sky?"

"Yes," I said trying to sound confident in my answer. "Heaven is beyond the sky and beyond the earth."

"Do they have another sky there? Can they see the moon from there? Is it light all the time?"

Hmmm...this was getting a little deeper than I had the energy for but I pressed onward. "You know, no one can really say what Heaven looks like because no one who goes there comes back (well, except for Jesus, and a few other saints, but that's another conversation)."

"Why don't they?"

"Heaven is so good that once you get there, you don't want to come back here. Nothing bad can be in Heaven. You will never be tired. You will never get hurt. It is just good all the time."

There was a pause from the back. She was taking it in and I was nervous as to what I'd have to answer next. Finally she piped back in. "When I go there Mama..."

Oh no, I don't want to have to talk about how I'm not ready for her to go even though it's the best place ever. How will I contradict myself like that? My mind was racing.

"I'm going to really like it because I won't have any bad dreams any more."

That was it. I responded briefly and then we were quiet. Five minutes. It was a blink of an eye really. One small comment about the moon and before you know it - Heaven. A piece of the faith taken in and mulled over, making perfect sense to my 6 year old.

I'm so glad I got to tell her. It's something we've discussed before with all the funerals she's been to in her short life. Every time the conclusion is the same. She walks away with Heaven in her eyes. She wants to go there.

What a gift it is to share my faith. What a faith builder it is to see it spark a flame in my children.