Both at preschool and at church this month, the girls have been hearing stories, doing crafts, and spending a lot of time talking about Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. Naturally, this has led to many questions and to much role-playing. This was one of our conversations over the weekend when Toddler 1 came strolling into the kitchen with baby Jesus “waddled” (a.k.a. “swaddled”) in a pink blanket…
Toddler 1: Mommy, did you know that baby Jesus is a girl?
Me: No, I kind of thought he was a baby boy…
Toddler 1: No, he’s a girl because I like girl babies.
And, with that she ran off to continue strolling “baby girl” Jesus.
I thought about calling her back to really discuss this and make sure she had a more accurate understanding of the story. But, then it occurred to me that the gender of the infant Christ was only going to be the beginning of our possible misunderstandings because it’s extremely difficult to explain something as profoundly mysterious as the Incarnation to a three-year old. I can’t fully grasp the wonder of it all, and I have thirty years on her.
I’m going to keep working on making the story come alive to her in ways that will (hopefully!) direct her inquisitive mind toward an understanding of the real meaning of Christmas. But, her innocent and childish attempt to make sense of the story makes me think about how many times and how many ways I misunderstand who Jesus is.
I may not confuse his gender, but I don’t fully grasp his character… or his mission… or his identity. I would have a hard time explaining exactly who he is. Worse yet, I don’t spend all that much time thinking about it.
It’s amazing to me how much time young children spend trying to understand new concepts. They seem especially interested in God and things concerning Him. They want to know all about Him… where He lives, what He’s like, when He sleeps, who His parents are, etc., etc. And, I don’t know when or how it happens, but it seems like somewhere along the way, so many of us either lose interest or decide that we know enough already, and we cease to wonder. We cease to learn new things about him. We cease to be amazed. We make him what we want him to be and we move on.
God forbid that be the case with us this year… this week leading to Christmas.
Whether he’s swaddled in a pink or a blue blanket, all that really matters is who the baby is, what the baby represents…
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”
(John 1:14; The Message)
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