Faith Like A Child

See that smile on his face as he stands near his sister's grave? His reality is only that she is in Heaven. She is perfect and happy. Yes, we miss her but ultimately she is where we want to be. I love his heart. It says in the Bible, "have faith like a child." Sometimes it's hard to know what that truly means, unless you have a child that speaks so matter-of-fact to you. Isaiah is my sweet story teller, just like his father. It is a gift, sometimes in disguise:) He tells so many stories. Sometimes they are true and sometimes he's just expressing his imagination, but he tells it like it's real. He allows his imagination to go as far as it will take him, he allows his dreams to stay big. As we get older, we call ourselves realists, due to our experiences of trial and error. The older we get, the more we lose these dreams and imaginations. C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors, wrote in his book "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" in the dedication.... "... someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." He wrote it to his Goddaughter, Lucy. C.S. Lewis was said to be fond of children, because of the way they thought, because of their imaginations. Adults were too close minded.

Isaiah has no reason to not believe that Jesus is real. That God is real. That angels are around us. That monsters are indeed in the closet, and that God is "bigger than the boogie man."
And that Dad is invincible and Mom knows how to make a kiss heal anything. He is not blind in any sense of the word. He sees the black on certain peoples skin, and knows that that is also beautiful. He sees the wheel chair that a man is in and knows that they don't need their legs to show God's love.

In reality these things do exist. The angels, the monsters, the invincible Dad, the healing mother. They may not seem real to us, who are more close minded. Because we see the world first.

On a side note:
Parents are ambassadors for God. When Isaiah sees Dad as invincible, it is real to him that God is invincible. When he feels that Mom's arms and kisses heal, he sees that God's arms and kisses heal. Isaiah's world revolves around our marriage, how we work together. In the words of Gary Ezzo, " Mom's arms are comfort, but Dad's arms are security." He needs that combination. We are human, and we will fail him at some point, but in turn, when he sees that out of us, it will be all the more real to him that God fulfills those things. He needs God. We need God. That child-like desire for our mom and dad, should be the same child-like desire that we have for our Father and Lord.

On another note, Do you know how hard it is to convince a child that there are NO MONSTERS IN THE CLOSET. To our reality, there isn't. But to his, they are very much real. His reality is the accurate one. If you think about it, there are monsters everywhere, ... demons... who are waiting for us. What do we do about it. We, as parents, have given him the tool he needs to take care of those monsters. Prayer in Jesus' name. We have him pray when he gets scared like that, embracing his reality of monsters, but also on the flip side embracing the angels as well. Reminding him that they are stronger, as they will always be.

When we talk about missing Sarah, he is always quick to say, "yes, but we are going to go up there to see her." and he has asked me if she'll come back, but I tell him the truth. That once you go to heaven, you don't come back again, but also that you don't want to come back again. We let our imaginations go wild, like children. And we come up with all the things we think Sarah is doing right now. Of course, then Isaiah gets a little jealous, and says, " I can't wait till I can go up there." As heart breaking as that concept is for me, I let him have it. I want him to desire to be in heaven with our Lord. I don't want to take that away, just because I can't live outside myself.

So why not? Sure... there are flying horses, and fauns, and all different kinds of creatures that we have never seen on this earth. There are plenty of creatures in the Bible that are explained that I can't fathom. So why not? Yes, there are good guys and bad guys, but the good always prevails as in every fairy tale.
Children learn from their parents, but parents have a lot to learn from these children. We need to have the eyes to see it. To see that there world is so much bigger than ours.

One of the greatest kings of the Old Testament, Josiah, was eight. He did not hesitate to do what he knew within all his soul to be the Truth.

Unbreakable spirits it seems they have. Big hearts, that are quick to love.
"have faith like a child."