Lessons from Gavin

Gavin is like me in so many ways. He is concrete sequential, he likes things in their place, he likes to talk, he doesn't like things to get too dirty and he just has peculiarities about things...like how tight his shoes are, if his tag is down on his shirt or if his sleeves scrunch up when he puts his coat on (all of these things bothered me as a kid and when Gavin whines about it I just cringe at how obnoxious I was for my poor mom, it makes getting out the door quite the to-do).
Now I know this makes him sound a little bit like the Rainman, which he is not. He still plays in the mud, actually prefers not to wear his coat, breaks the rules quite frequently and can be quite silly. But overall, he is a ducks in a row kinda kid and he likes to tell others how things work, the rules and in general...tell you how it is.
Today, sitting at the table, we unloaded his preschool bag. There were two coloring pictures. One of Jesus on the cross and one of Jesus coming out of the tomb. Brayden says, "What are those? Whose that?"
Gavin needing no further prompting to talk and share his wealth of knowledge, proceeded to sit Brayden down and tell him what he knows.
"See Bray, that's Jesus on the cross. He got nailed there for our sin. That's the naughty stuff we do. We all sin. But Guess what?" he whispered. "He didn't stay dead!"
Really animated with hands out to his sides, Gavin opens his eyes so wide and exclaims, "He's alive! Isn't that exciting!"
Brayden, getting all caught up in it, "Yeah, exciting!"
Now, I know Gavin doesn't truly grasp this whole concept of Jesus conquering death and taking on the sins of the world. I understand that the concept of salvation and our need for it, may be a bit much for him right now and he is reiterating what he has been told (heck, even I can't comprehend the enormity of it). He's still got a ways to go in true understanding of it all. (Awhile ago he asked, how God lives in heaven and in our hearts and wanted to know if God takes us to heaven in a really tiny airplane. Gavin's just sure He does.) However, it did my heart wonders to know that he has been listening. That it it is sinking in as we talk about Jesus, tell Him that God loves him and share the Gospel with our son. God says the word hides in our heart and that it won't return void...to know that Gavin's heart is already hiding it away is so great!
I continue to pray that my kids will know Jesus intimately. And I will continue to do my best to direct them towards the things of God. I am finding as I do this, often God uses the moments to teach me and remind me of who He is and how much He really does love us.
Today's lesson:
Though I do Bible studies, I go to church, and I ponder some of the bigger questions about God...it really does come down the the childlike excitement that "Jesus is alive! Isn't that exciting!"