5 going on 50...

It seems like just yesterday I was having one of my first conversations with Kylie about God. It took place at a time in her life when she didn't seek deeper understanding or search for more concrete answers when left unsatisfied with vague ones.

She was three and it went something like this....

Kylie: Mommy can you put these earring on my potato head so she can be beautiful like God.

Me: Baby, does God wear earrings?

Kylie: Yes, she wears beautiful gold ones.

At the time, I just left it alone. God is beautiful and if she turns to God as an example of beauty, I must have been doing something right...we'll just ignore the technical errors =)

Over the years the questions have transformed to some of her following conversations starters:

-Mom, how does God see us and we can't see him?

-What did God make the world out of?

-Is Jesus God?

-How do you physically GET to heaven?

-Will I see Bustie (my mom's old dog) in heaven?

-How can you eat food in heaven if there's no silverware? (no idea where this one came from either)

-Where do you sleep in heaven if you live in clouds?

Fast-forward a couple years and enter our kitchen when she overhears me telling my mom that we would pray for my Great Uncle and Aunt who are both very ill. Kylie asked me what I thought to be a very profound question coming from a 5 year old. She asked me when we pray for stuff, do we always get what we want?

I paused for what must have seemed like an eternity to her, trying to figure out exactly how to answer. The truth is important...No is the correct answer. But would she understand the explanation behind it? The idea that God knows us and has a plan for us that is way better than the one that we have? My uncertainty came from a fear that No as an answer would cause discouragement. What do you do when a child asks a question in which the answer is way beyond her years?

Kylie has always been a deep thinker and her desire to understand how the world works is one of her best qualities that I cherish deeply. And I LOVE her curiosity in regards to Faith, and I so appreciate all the opportunities she gives me to teach her who Christ is...but man, as a mom, sometimes you wish you could just hit the pause button and think it over for a little while. But, life doesn't offer such a button, and if you're curious, my round-about stuttering, stop-start of an answer eventually lost her attention and she interrupted to ask a completely unrelated question. But thinking about it tonight makes me realize how fast my baby girl is growing up.

We registered her for kindergarten last week, and in a couple months she'll be out there in the world, learning and absorbing from people other than her family and close friends (really, picked by us at this point). This is a scary thought. I can only hope she keeps coming to us for answers, and more importantly, I can only hope that I can find the answers fast enough to satisfy her never ending desire and curiosity to learn.

One things for sure, I think I'll be ready when and if she ever asks that question again, but truth be told, I know the question will be different.

The questions are forever changing...and once again I'm realizing that Kylie teaches me just as much as I teach her...and for this, I'll always LOVE HER!

And just for a stroll down memory lane...