There are no simple questions with 3 year olds. Every question has an answer, for sure, but a lot of times the answers don’t fit the questions. Sometimes, we ask questions looking for a specific answer.
Our son Brady has a bit of wit in his personality (I have NO idea where it came from), so there are times when we ask questions and he slowly grins before responding with something funny and ridiculous. “Brady, are you a sweet boy?” “No….I am a sweet…monkey!!!!” “Brady, how old are you?” “Eleven….is that right???” (followed by intense little boy laughter).
As you see every day in Becky’s blog, her desire is to see God in all things and to share that experience with you. In that vein, we have tried to help Brady be aware that God is in all things – in the people he meets, in his friends at school, in the places he visits, in the food he eats, and in his family.
Every night, when it is time to go to bed, we have gotten into the habit of asking Brady, “What are you thankful for today?” With some prompting, he will usually list some things that were fun that day, a lot of times thanking God for the food and some of his friends. Sometimes he throws in “and Mommy and Daddy and Abby” to melt our hearts a bit more. One night, I decided to throw him a curveball and ask him “Where did you see God today?” It was a simple enough question, right? He pondered this for a few seconds and said “Church!” Okay, that was too easy.
I pressed further and asked “Where else did you see God, Brady?” “In…my…God book!” This is a reference to the book “Where’s God?” that Becky made for Brady’s birthday. So, I pressed further, trying to get him to “think outside the box” a bit.
I said, “Brady, you played in the dirt a lot today…did you see God in the dirt?”
Without missing a beat, Brady says: “Worms are in the dirt, Dad. Not God.” I couldn’t help but smile. I was reminded that I have much left to teach my son about God’s hand in creation.
How do we relay the message of our faith to others, especially our children?
~Chris Eldredge
Becky Eldredge
Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.
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