Jesus' Favorite Color? (Updated with an answer to a question - the update is in red)

It was sweet listening to Mackenzie try and explain Easter to Abby yesterday. We were on our way to church for our Maundy Thursday service, where we take time to remember Jesus' last night before His crucifixion on Friday, and Abby wanted to know why we were going to church in the middle of the week.

And once again, we found ourselves in the dilemma of explaining Jesus to a child who doesn't have a complete grasp of our language and who really has no concept of who Jesus is and what He did for us...yet.

I got tickled as I tried to listen through her ears and her little mind... (Mackenzie) "Well, we're going to church because Jesus died..." (Abby) "He died?" (Mackenzie) "He died, but then He came to life again." (Abby) "He...?" (Mackenzie) "3 days later He rose...He came to life again." (Abby) "Oh..."

You could just see the little wheels turning, trying to figure out exactly what we were talking about... I tried to explain to her that it happened 2000 years ago and that we just take time to remember because He loved us so much.

Well then we got the brilliant idea to try and explain to her about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, how they disobeyed God...how that caused us to be separated from Him and because He loved us so much He wanted to make a way for us to come back to Him... So Jesus allowed Himself to be killed, to take the punishment for what we did, and now someday we can go and live in heaven with Him!

Yea... a little much...but how do you explain the greatest gift in the history of mankind?! I just don't think it's something you can put into words, it's something she will come to understand, over time, in her heart.

I was a little concerned about how this conversation was going...she got really quiet for a while and then I hear, "Mommy, I think I'd like to go to heaven someday.... What do you think Jesus' favorite color is?"

I don't know why but that question has captured my heart... Jesus is becoming so real to her!

(UPDATE... My friend April asked a good question in her comment... why Abby wanted to know what Jesus' favorite color is... Abby LOVES color...she has a beautiful eye for color and it's very important to her to know what colors we like...she often asks me to choose colors that I love when she is making me a bracelet or a picture...so that's why it said to me that Jesus was becoming very real to her...it's a question that she often asks of people who are important to her.)

Last night, Mackenzie had a friend sleepover and so I let them stay up a little later than usual... When it was time for them to go to bed, Mackenzie said, "Can I keep reading to Abby?"... "Sure...what are you reading to her?" ... "The story of Adam and Eve and now I want to read her the story of Jesus and the cross... I'm reading to her from the Rhyming Bible since it's easier to understand."

Sweet Mackenzie went back to the beginning, she took time to simplify it, even when she had a good friend over, she was concerned that Abby understand what Jesus did for us!

Happy Easter... May we all take the time to remember what Jesus did for us!