So where is Jesus?

Tonight we read to our girls the story (from their children's bible) of the last supper when Jesus washed his disciples' feet and had the passover meal with them. They really enjoyed talking about what was on the dusty, dirty feet of people back then...cow poop, chicken poop, etc:) As we read the part about the bread and the cup, Emori recognized that we do what Jesus did at Ekklesia on Sunday nights (take communion). Aubri was still concerned that there was blood in the cup, but Emori reassured her that is was "only something like a grape juice" and "mom and dad wouldn't let us drink blood anyway." :)

Tonight was the first night Aubri really asked me questions about Jesus (Emori has a profound theological question to stump us daily:). She wanted to know how Jesus died. I told her without going into great detail. Then I talked about how He came back to life to show us that we can have new life and a full life living the way Jesus showed us to live by loving God and others and serving others.

Then she asked the question that Emori asked a few years ago and made us think about how we as parents talk about faith with them. She said, "So where is Jesus? Is he inside my heart right now?"

She knew this expression because we gave the "easy" answer to Emori years ago about Jesus being in our hearts...and Emori, of course, took it literally. One day Aubri had been jumping around, and she said, "Mom, I feel my heart beeping really fast." To which Emori replied, "Oh, its ok, its just Jesus running around in there." :)

So how do we answer the question to our preschooler of "where Jesus is" without opting for a well intended expression that has almost become a cliche of pop Christianity? I pray we can help our children take Jesus out of the heart shape box we've put him into that fits well into our comfortable American lives. We pray we can live in such a way that our children see Jesus in the face of the hungry, thirsty, forgotten...which means they will actually have to SEE and know hungry, thirsty and forgotten people. We pray they recognize Jesus when we gather with our faith community and share the joys and sorrows of life. We pray they recognize him and follow his beautiful dust.