Ever since my mother’s dog, Zeke died and we told The B Man that he went to heaven the concept has been on his mind. Several nights while we say prayers he asks about it.
“Where is Heaven?”
“When will I go to Heaven?”
“Are there toys in Heaven?”
“What can I eat in Heaven?”
“Will you and Daddy be in Heaven too?”
“I don’t want to go to Heaven, I want to stay here.”
Coming up with answers to these questions can be hard sometimes. I mean how the heck do I know? I’ve never been there. ; )
The other night he asked , “How will we get up to heaven? In an airplane?”
I said, “Perhaps, but I don’t think that’s quite the way it works.”
He said, “Well good ’cause we don’t have one so it would be hard to get there that way.”
I thought about going into some explanation of the lives we live on earth and our souls and Jesus’ death on the cross and the promises God has made to us coming to fruition, etc. but I thought maybe that was a little too much for a four-year-old. So instead I told him that I think Heaven is a beautiful and peaceful place where we will be with God and all his angels. He was quiet for a moment (and probably thinking, “WHAT??”) and I started to really think about Heaven myself and wonder if my Heaven will be full of calorie-free chocolate and The B Man’s will have all the Thomas Trains and an intricate track that goes on forever.
Is our heaven whatever we have loved in this world or is it full of things that He believes we will love there? Do we really get to see Him every “day” or just feel his presence? Are we truly reunited with our loved ones who went before us and if so, how long does it take? For those who die old, are they young again in Heaven? And for those who died as wee little babes, is Jesus holding them in his arms? Those must be some big arms, if so.
I have many questions myself that remain left unanswered until that glorious day when I see his face. It reminds me of that song by Mercy Me, “I Can Only Imagine.” I think maybe I need to play that song for The B Man. Because really, that is all any of us can do, Imagine…
So, I’d like to know what your idea of Heaven is and how do you explain it to your children?
My, you are feeling deep today! 😉
I don’t think there is any way for us to imagine what heaven is like. Peaceful, blissful and perfect are the only words I can come up with. I don’t think we are young or old in heaven. I think we just are. Our souls, ya know?
You know someone bought our kids a book called all god’s creatures go to heaven. It was about a pet passing away. It just covered the topic in a kidproof way.
I was told by a very philosophical teacher at school that animals would not be in heaven because they didn’t have souls – why we can eat meat & not be murdering. I disagree with this, because I think if heaven is pure happiness, the things that make you happy on earth surely will be there, too. I haven’t had to discuss this yet, but I think those are TOUGH questions.
I have questions, too. I don’t think we’ll know until it’s our time, but I think it’s normal to question. Especially kids. They think of things in their innocence that we wouldn’t think of.
Of course- I still have questions about that myself. I guess the best thing you can do is tell him what you know! 🙂 And if that’s all you can do, then…well, that’s all you can do! How touchy.I am not looking forward to that question!
We had 2 relatives die within 2 weeks of each other a few years ago when Travis was 5 and that sparked all sorts of questions from him. We just did our best to explain (sort of like what you said) about heaven being a wonderful and peaceful place and that Jesus is also there. That sparked another round of questions about Jesus being “alive” and in heaven at the same time. I think heaven will be so amazing that our minds cannot even begin to grasp it. There was a passage in my reading today that stuck out that this makes me think of…
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9
I don’t think we will understand until we get there!
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We’ve not yet had any heaven questions from the kiddo…which is good, since I’m not sure how to answer!
Oh yes, we have had our fair share of heaven questions! Now that my boys are 6 and almost 4, I feel they are old enough to know the whole story. So we explain about Jesus dying for us, and that if we love him we will get to be with him forever in heaven after we die (our spirits live on). And we will be reunited with the people we love in heaven.
Of course my boys said the same as yours, that they didn’t want to go. But then they asked if we will be able to fly in heaven. I foolishly said yes (bad call!!!) and now they want to go to heaven IMMEDIATELY because they want to fly!!
Forgot to say … my oldest said he would be happy to go to heaven because he would be able to give Jesus a big hug, and because Jesus would be so happy to see him.
That made me tear up a little!
And I have SO MANY questions about heaven myself. I agree with the other poster who said we just won’t know until we get there. I tell my kids that too. That we can only imagine a glimpse of what it might be like, but one day we will understand.
Such deep questions!
Hmmm, I am liking the idea that Carol had with the book.
I think Heaven is almost as you said an un-imaginable place. I don’t think our earthly minds can comprehend it. (one of my favorite songs ever is the Imagine song too BTW) Hence why we can’t grasp eternity too.
All I have to say, it that even though I have no idea, I can’t wait. Good luck with the questions. Glad I might have a little longer before those start.
we talk about heaven all the time… I mostly just listen, because there’s a lot of wisdom in the innocence of a child! They don’t have any doubts about the endless possibilies.
I like the song too!
Wow, all my almost 2 year old has asked so far is ‘where’s his snack’? I so better prepare for this one because I can’t quite articulate it myself!
My four year old is also right there with the non stop questions. Really makes me realize how much I do not know.
I have wondered many of the exact same things about heaven but I am afraid I don’t have any better answers.
I like to believe that we are each ageless and sort of float in time, but the idea of babies troubles me. Like you said who holds them? And helps them to grow and learn?
I guess we know when we know…
Tough questions!
I have no clue what I’m going to tell Sumo when he starts asking me those types of questions . . it’ll probably be something lame like “nobody really knows except that it’s more fantastic than anybody can possibly imagine.”
Whatever I say, I’m sure it’ll be lame.
Whew. I have NO idea. Can I just cut and paste your answers?
This is what I tell my boys:
Heaven is where Heavenly Father lives, and he wants us to live our life making good choices so that we can live with him. Absolutely, our family will be together in heaven – and that will happen after the resurrection (now you have to explain the resurrection!) Because Jesus died for our sins, he made it possible for our bodies to be perfect, no matter how old or sick we were when we died.
I’ve found that if I try to know everything I can in advance, it makes answering these questions so much easier! I loved this post Elaine!
I second the chocolate.
I have all of those questions too…I think about them, but it makes my head spin a little.
Yikes, sounds like it is the beginning of all those questions we just don’t know or have answers for. Good luck!
Whew this is a tough one… Jack and I have talked about it because of pets that have died and we call it the big pasture in the sky for the horse and the cat is up there with the dog who also passed on….
It’s tough but he kind of gets it… but also that he doesn’t want to go there and I tell him I want him right here with me for a very long time!
All we can do is be honest and explain that we too have questions. Sounds like you are doing exactly that 🙂