Theology Lessons from a Three-Year-Old

I remember the moment well. It was a cold winter night, and I was pregnant with my third child. As I stood filling my gas tank, I had an out-of-body experience. Looking down at myself, I saw a tan minivan and a tired woman in comfortable shoes and no makeup. Then I wondered, Is this really my life? Is this me? Where did I go and how on earth did I end up pregnant and driving a tan minivan??

It is the seventh night straight that my six-month-old has shared the bed with my husband and me. As he blissfully smiles at us and closes his eyes, we look at each other and wonder, What’s happened to our life? And I wonder silently, “Since when do I share my bed with two guys who hog the covers?” I never knew that God was preparing me for moments like these. And, just when I think the only thing I’ve been intellectually challenged with is how much carrot puree you can add to mac and cheese before anyone notices, I find that God has actually taught me a few lessons about Him through life with my children. 

Lesson One: A Great Adventure
When I was little, a catchphrase in our house was “The Great Adventure.” The Great Adventure was usually code for something-miserable-that-we-have-to-do-anyway. Great Adventures usually involved a lot of doing nothing for a long time. Such as, “Kids! We are driving to New York (from California). It’s going to be a Great Adventure!” The ultimate Great Adventure was said cross-country move. Another catch phrase was “Bataan Death March.” For those of you not up on your war history, the Bataan Death March is a reference to a Japanese war crime that occurred during World War II, where prisoners were forced to march ninety miles with no food or water and endure brutal treatment. There is only a very fine line between a Great Adventure and a Bataan Death March. My family’s ultimate Great Adventure could really turn into a death march at least once a day. This particular “adventure” involved multiple outbreaks of chicken pox, outrunning a tornado in Kansas, car breakdowns, lice, and my mother’s near blinding in a run-in with bleach while trying to eradicate said lice.