And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Annette has a thing about puppies. Which is hilarious because Miriam is terrified of my parent’s little white fluffy dog. But Annette loves them and can hardly contain herself when she sees a puppy. So I’m starting off simple as I explain God to Annette (19 months). “Do you know who made puppies? God made puppies! He must be so good if he made puppies!” Simple.
With my three year old we grow a little bit in what we talk about. We look at the pink sky while the sun sets and talk about how beautiful God must be. We think about how kind God is because he made so much food for the animals. When we pray at meals we often thank God for taking good care of us like our daddy does.
We try to use the words “know God,” “love God,” “obey God,” and “trust God” somewhat interchangeably. “Jesus says that we love him by obeying him. It’s hard to obey God isn’t it?” And if she’s still listening, “Jesus can help you obey when it’s hard. You can tell him, ‘I need help!’”
Miriam knows that Daddy goes to Bible study to tell people about God and that many people don’t love God. She asks why. “Sometimes people don’t love God because they’ve never heard about him. Other people don’t love God because they think they won’t be happy if they obey him. But it’s not true. Only God can really make you happy.”
And after either girl is disciplined we often pray like this, “God, ______ think’s she will be happy if she has the plastic donut her sister is playing with, but it’s not true. Please give her a heart that trusts you to make her happy.”
How do you talk with your toddlers and preschoolers about God?
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