The Way To Heaven

"Where is heaven, Mommy?" He stops me in my tracks. How do I explain something to a three year-old that I don't quite grasp myself. He arranges his fuzzy, blue blanket into a lump and continues, "Can we go in the airplane to get there?"

"No, Babe," I reply, "The pilot doesn't know where heaven is, so he can't take us there."

He doesn't skip a beat, "We should go in a rocket ship because they're really fast!" I laugh and slip his favourite truck t-shirt over his head and pull him in close.

"There's only one way to get to heaven." And I begin to share the gospel with my own son. "Jesus takes us there. It's His secret place. We don't know where it is exactly, but He's shown us what we need to do to so we can see Him there one day." Oliver knows about living for Jesus and so I remind him about making good and obedient choices to make his heart and life a beautiful place for God to dwell in. He gets this concept somehow, and feels satisfied with our dialogue. "Guess who else we'll see in heaven?" I ask with a twinkle in my eye.

"Great-Mama and Grampie!" he enthusiastically replies and he wraps his arms around my neck.

Tears sting and my nose tingles and I grip that boy's tiny body in a long embrace. He lets me hold him, as we experience mutual emotion. I whisper, "I miss Great-Mama and Grampie."

And he whispers back, "I do too."

Then, we talk about what he can do today to make his heart a beautiful place for Jesus and I share what I think I can do to make good choices too and we pray there together, holding hands. And I feel in that moment that heaven is closer than ever.