3, 2, 1...Blast off!

After Christmas, Dawson's kindergarten class had a 3 week segment on outer space. Dawson LOVED it! He still has some of his space artwork displayed in his room. The left picture is the super cute planet model he made that is still hanging in his room, and the right picture is the cover of the adorable planet book he made. He would even came home from school each day with facts about space & planets that Derek & I didn't know!

Up until Dawson learned about space & planets at school, he thought God lived in Heaven right above the clouds...and that was it. So, learning how HUGE outer space is & learning about all the other planets totally blew him away. I mean, it really rocked his little world. Here is a sweet/sad story that came from his new 'outer space' knowledge.

Dawson became obsessed with asking me one question: 'Mom, where exactly is Heaven?' I would always tell him, that I wasn't sure, that no one knows exactly where it is. But, he kept asking me over & over anyway. 'Mom, do you think Heaven is in the clouds? Or do you think its closer to another planet? Do you think Heaven is on Saturn's rings? Do you think Heaven is where the most stars are?' This type of questioning went on for weeks. One day, while bombarding me with Heaven questions, he finally asked angrily 'Do you think heaven is ALL THE WAY PAST PLUTO????' I looked over at him, and found him trying his hardest not to cry. I scooped him up & asked him why he was so worried about where Heaven was. That is when my sweet little boy began to sob, and he finally sobbed out an answer: 'I just don't understand why God has to be so far away.' I should have known that this was why he kept questioning me. I then realized that I had never really explained the Trinity with him. So, I explained it. I explained how God was three persons. I told him how God lived in Heaven & sent his son Jesus to earth to die on the cross for us. That Jesus rose from the dead and went back to Heaven. I explained how God sent the Holy Spirit to live with us on Earth. I said 'So, he isn't far away at all. He is always right here with us. And...do you know where he lives? He lives right inside our heart.' There were no more tears that day, just one totally amazed wide-eyed little boy who whispered 'Wow...that's amazing.'