Jesus is in my tummy

I have yet to meet a parent that does not want or plan to send their kids to learn anything other than what they learn in school.  I send my kids to learn to swim, play the piano, do ballet, skate, play T-ball and tennis at different times of the year.  The rationale is that we want to give them opportunities to learn things - some are for enjoyment, some are for survival, some because we believe will be good for their development.

Whatever our reasons, we consciously give them opportunities to learn because we want what is best for them.

But, what IS best for them?

As I see my 5 year old boy grow ever so rapidly, with my 3 year old daughter following behind, I wonder

How much of my time have I spent consciously trying to train them to personalize God into their lives?   

Have I 'sign them up' to the most important course in life?

I may send my kids to learn to swim or skate, but at the end of the class I always try to be involved and ask questions at the very least.  If we get a chance to go for a swim, we try to reinforce things they have been learning.  I am involved in my kids' piano lessons as a coach since we use the Suzuki method, which requires me to sit with them during practice.  I talk with other parents and my kids' teachers often to make sure they are developing fine at school.  We try to recycle and review things they are learning at home.

But....I only drop off and pick up my kids when they go to Sunday School to learn about God and spiritual things.

Do you see something wrong with this picture?


I have come to realize we are doing our kids a disservice when we show by our actions that "going to church" is just that - going to a church building.  It has no relationship with the rest of our lives.

My job as a parent is to guide, not spoon feed.
My wish as a parent is to train grounded human beings anchored in God.
My desire as a parent is to raise kids who will know God's love and destiny for them every moment in their lives.

But to get there, to do my part - guiding, training and raising - I need to model it.

Is Jesus in my life only on Sundays too?  Is Jesus in my life only at the beginning of a meal when we pray?  Do we worship Jesus only when we sing on Sundays?  Do we pray only for our problems?  Is Jesus with us only when we are feeling helpless?  Do we ever just have 'fun' with Jesus?

Is Jesus with me and in me all day long?

This topic hit home just a couple of weeks ago, when I decided to ask my kids about Jesus.  I asked them,

- Do you see Jesus?

- You've been learning that God can be everywhere, where is He now?

- What is He saying to you?

- What does He look like?

- What is He doing?

My son:

Samuel, incidentally, means "God heard".  That means God speaks.  But, will Samuel know how to listen or will he struggle as many of us do?

He didn't before.  I remember clearly hearing my 2/3 year old boy telling me the kind of dreams he used to have where he'd see Jesus.  "Jesus was chasing me."  "Jesus told me to be nice."  "Jesus and I were playing."  The dreams were always vivid and lively.

And, whenever I asked him where Jesus was, his reply was always, "Jesus is in my tummy".  At first, being a first time mom, I surprised myself by the reply I gave him: "No, Jesus is in your heart" - but Samuel taught me something -- Why can't Jesus be in his tummy?  So after that I learned to nod and acknowledge how cool it was that Samuel could see/feel/sense where Jesus was in his life.

But now Samuel is 5 and has been going to church literally since he was 1 month old.  Now his answers have been contaminated with our 'church-answers'.  Jesus is no longer in Samuel's tummy.
Samuel:  "Mommy, Jesus is in heaven"
 - I wanted to pick his brains so I continued,
Me:          "Yes, He can be in heaven, but can He come and be with us here?".
Samuel:    "No, mommy, Jesus lives in heaven and only comes when it is sunny" (alluding to the fact that all the books and drawing of Jesus he has seen have a ray of light behind Him)
Me:          "What does Jesus look like?"
Samuel:    "He wears a white dress and has long hair" (you know where he got that, right?)

My daughter:

Just a few weeks ago Sarah called me from her bedroom after bedtime (as she often does) because she could not sleep (or did not want to sleep).  This night was different though.  I had been reading up on the importance of teaching our children to listen to God so I thought to myself "well, it's worth trying right now...here is an opportunity".

Me:        "what's the matter sweetie?"
Sarah:    "I can't sleep"
Me:        "why? it's time to sleep.  You have to go to school tomorrow"
Sarah:    "But...but...there is a monster"
Me:        "Where? Can you show me where?"
Sarah:     "There" (pointing)
Me:        "Ah....I have a question for you.  I heard you learned in Sunday School that God can be everywhere, right?"
Sarah:     "Yeah"
Me:        "Do you think Jesus is in this room?  Where?  Do you see Jesus?"
Sarah:     "Hmmm (thinks).  Jesus is in my back (and laughs)"
Me:         "What does Jesus look like?"
Sarah:      (Thinking) "He doesn't have pants.  He has a purple shirt"
Me:         "And, is Jesus saying anything?  Can you hear Him?"
Sarah:      (Pause) "He says don't be scared"
Me:         "Hmmm.  That is a good idea.  I also heard you have been learning in Sunday School that Jesus can do anything, right?  (yeah)  Do you think we can ask God to do something with the monster?"
Sarah:      "Jesus, can you kill the monster please?"  (pause, we both smile)
Me:          "What is Jesus saying?"
Sarah:      "He says yes"

My daughter is only 3 years old.  Some might argue that this was just a cute conversation about a kid that has a vivid imagination....but that is what some people say about my faith too.

My son is only 5 years old, but I have found that he is already learning the concepts about God so well in Sunday School - that, that is all he is learning.  God has given us the task to not just show our kids the Bible stories, the theology, if you may.....Our primary task is to show them a personable God that lives with us every day.

For you, Where is Jesus?  Can you hear God?  Do you see Jesus walking with you while you drive to work, cook dinner, bathe the kids, at your kid's ballet or hockey class, or at the grocery store?  Have you ever sense his touch?  Does Jesus ever laugh and joke with you?

I started paying more attention to my kids and how they were seeing, feeling, talking, listening, playing, and living Jesus in their lives.

I pray that as I learn to personalize God in my every day life, that I will consciously sign my kids up to this life long course as well.  The course name?  "How to tune in to God's frequency" - because, after all, Jesus never stops speaking to us...the problem is not His, it's ours.  We often either shut the radio altogether, or even if it is on, all we hear is static because we do not know how to tune in to the right frequency.

And so....we added one more thing in our daily morning routine lately.  I usually ask my kids to pray for their day while we are driving out.  But just as giving thanks for our food is already becoming a ritual rather than a chance to talk with God, these prayers were becoming stale too.  90% of the time Sarah simply says she doesn't want to talk with Jesus.  And Samuel almost always prays about his school and having fun (nothing wrong with that if that is what he means!).  I often just pray for our day.  Me...Me...Me.....

No time to LISTEN to God.

So, one morning, as I was backing out the car from our garage, Samuel told me "mommy, I don't know what to pray"  That was a valid point!  Don't we sometimes have nothing to say?  So I asked them:

Me:         "Where do you think is Jesus right now?  Is he here?"
Samuel:  "No, He is in heaven"
Me:         "Hmm, I think He is sitting beside mommy (Passenger seat)" (I liked that idea, of Jesus sitting by my side as I go about being my kids chauffeur!)
Samuel:   "Yes, that is a good idea mommy"
Me:         "How about we tell Jesus we don't know what to say and ask Him what He'd like to tell us and what He would like us to say?"
Sarah:      "Yeah"
Me:         "Dear Lord Jesus, we don't know what to say to you today - can you tell us what you want us to pray about?" (Pause) - "Samuel, Sarah, what do you think Jesus wants us to say?"
Samuel:   "To be nice at school"
Sarah:      "Don't fight"
Me:          "Cool.  And I think Jesus is asking mommy to stay happy and remember how much Jesus loves all of us."

And so...that was our prayer that morning.

If I may say, that was way cooler than repeating the same prayer every morning.


Jesus can be in my tummy.

Jesus can be in my back.

Jesus can be on my passenger's seat.

In your life, Where is Jesus today?