Christmas Bible Reading with Sparkle

Sparkle loves reading the Bible.

I must say, it has very little to do with our parenting influence.  (Pumpkin avoids Bible stories.  He'll even say, "Don't read me the God book, Mom," take away the Bible, and give me a book about dump trucks instead, which I find so, so great.)

I am not sure why Sparkle is so into the Bible, but I think it might be because it's pretty much the most violence he's ever been exposed to.  Daniel is thown into a den of lions, Peter cuts off a soldier's ear, Jesus is crucified.  It's fascinating stuff.

He asks really detailed questions, and I often don't know the answers.  Since we usually read from one of our two children's Bibles, he'll bring me an NIV and tell me, "Mom, read it from the grown-up Bible," and then sit quietly, listening intently, hoping to catch whatever information was missing from the children's story.  He can remember what I think are pretty complicated story lines.  For example, he can mostly remember that Joseph was thrown into a well, then sold into slavery, then lived in Potiphar's house, then went to jail, and then became a ruler in Egypt.  (The broader timelines, like the fact that Jesus lived long, long after Noah, he doesn't really get.  Maybe I should make an actual timeline to hang on a wall or something.  He would probably like that, but I think I might feel like a pushy-crazy-Bible-thumping parent.) 

He can process and interpret things pretty well sometimes.  Recently we were reading about Joseph, and we mostly talked about how even when things looked pretty horrible for him Joseph trusted God, and God was still watching over him, still in control, and still loved Joseph.  Just out of curiosity, I asked him later, "Why do you think Joseph's brothers were angry with him?"  (something we hadn't really talked about) and he thought for a few seconds and then said, "They were mad because they wanted a coat, too."

He's always been interested in the Christmas story (here's a post about Sparkle reading the Christmas story last year). 

Recently we read one of our little children's Christmas books that talked about the shepherds worshipping Jesus.  "What does "worshipping" mean?" my sweet, amazing four-year-old asked me.  (Man, this kid...  He absolutely keeps me on my toes every minute!)  I kind of stumbled for second, trying to think of definition that didn't include any words like "praise" or "glory."  So I ended up saying, "Worshipping God is when we tell Him that we know he is the best and the strongest and the biggest."  (I think that was a pretty good definition, on the fly.  To me, anyway, worship means acknowledging to God that we know he is God, and we're not.)

He looked puzzled for a second and said, "But, Mom...  Jesus wasn't the strongest and the biggest.  He was just a baby."

And I just teared right up a bit...  I told him, "You are absolutely right.  That is a really amazing thing, isn't it?"

My Sparkle...  He's so, so fabulous.  I'm sure this is true for people of all faith traditions (or even none), but I find parenting is such a surprisingly spiritual experience.  How many times have I heard, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" or "Hail the incarnate diety!" in Christmas songs or services?  Who knows.  A lot.  But looking at the story from the new perspective of my own child makes it more real to me.  The Biggest and Strongest God became the smallest and weakest, just so he could be with us, just so he could show us that he loves us.

Okay, so I have a bit more to say about dicussing the violence in the Bible with a four-year-old, but I better quit now and hit post before I get all church-y and all my many, oh-so-many readers are thinking, "Sheesh, I just wanted to see the pictures of your living room..."

(In this picture, Sparkle is helping to decorate the house for Christmas by putting Christmas stickers on our paper napkins.) 

Comments

[klorentzon]

Thanks Sparkle's mamma!

That was one of the most wonderful posts I have read in a long time!

It made me smile!

-Katie

[Kohana]

I get scared to read the Bible with my children. Growing up as a pastor's daughter, I head the Bible so much growing up that it is hard for it to mean anything to me when I hear it. At the same time it is so embedded in my memory that it us one of the most familiar and comforting of things when I hear other people reading it aloud. Perhaps hearing the Bible through the perspective of my children (when they are old enough to ask questions), will renew its meaning for me?

[Angela]

My daughter has always had a fascination w/ anything God/Bible/Church related which is interesting considering we are both Agnostics (I'm more towards the athiest side than hubby though!LOL) so it was neat to read about your boys disparate attraction to the Bible.

Every now and then we'll get into converstations about the Bible except she is getting craftier - The other day she "trapped" me. We were watching a history show and after some pointed questions about the origins of earth/people and after listening to all my "possible" ideas she said "well..you know mom...since you are not sure, I think the only possible reason is God" - yeah..and she is only 9! We are in trouble.

Anyway...all this just to say how our kids will make us question, revisit and apply our belief system and how I think this is a good thing.

[Heidi-happy mom]

I think that is wonderful, we have our nightly bedtime ritual where we read scripture and pray and then have our bed time stories. and my son has to remind me of scripture and prayer more often then I like to admit.

kids are wonderful, and that sparkle sounds like a smart cookie! and so cute that pumpkin is all ready to have you choose anything but the scriptures! kids are so cute!

[Patricia]

I've spent some long car trips explaining bible stories to my son. I grew up a minister's daughter too like "kohana" but am pretty athiest although I want to give my son a choice to think it through for himself. We have some interesting conversations too...

[louise]

What a wonderful entry to read! You have such a smart, insightful son!

[cloudscome]

We read the Bible too and have great conversations about it. They really can open my eyes to see new things! Sparkle is a wonderful boy.