Explaining God to a Five Year Old

I love being able to talk with my children about God.  Noah and I have some truly deep discussions, and I can't express how much I enjoy that time with him.  Our discussions with Avery are a bit different, but I do love them just the same.

Both boys are incredibly passionate, and compassionate.  Noah recently recommitted his life to Jesus, and I just beam.  I cried when he told us, and when he got home from that amazing weekend, I couldn't stop holding him.  The excitement in his face, the light in his eyes, the bounce in his step, it was all just so incredible! He himself was even moved to tears.  While I'm filled with pride, this was not anything I can take credit for as his parent--this was all God.

Avery's passion is a bit different than Noah's.  Avery has more of a southern baptist preacher approach: "AYE AMMMM PRRRRAAAAAAISING GEEEEEZUS!"  I frequently have to remind myself not to laugh, to only smile inwardly, because this is serious business to him.  It's hilarious and cute, but very serious.  

He takes prayer very seriously, knowing it is the answer to most things in our home.  When one of us isn't feeling well, he prays.  When his best friend's dog was sick, he prayed.  This week, when he saw a 'missing dog' poster (we still haven't figured out how he knew the content of the poster, it's not something we've talked about with him), he has been praying nightly for the dog and his family, telling me he's going to keep praying until God tells him the dog is home.  He is passionate in his prayer, and committed.  He's done this all on his own.  At night, he reminds us that Pastor G wants us to "pray out loud with the volume we sing with."  And then he does it.

Now that Avery is getting older, able to have more in-depth discussions, and retaining what he's learning in Sunday school, our talks have gotten deeper.  

We've explained that God is everywhere, He is always with us, and He never leaves us.  We've talked about how much He loves us, how He made us just right, just the way we are.  We talk about "being Jesus" to other people.  He takes his lovies to church with us, announcing, "Pete the Cat needs Jesus, too!"

Shawn and I think we're nailing it, congratulating ourselves on doing a pretty good job...  And then this happened....

Avery has been dealing with fear since his surgery, so we've approached it from our Christian views.  We've given him Isaiah 41:10.  We've been praying with him, anointing him (or annoying him, depending on which one of us you ask), and just having general talks.  One night, particularly fearful, he told us he was certain there was someone in his room with him.  We reassured him that he was the only one in his room, with the minor exception of when we checked on him.  A few nights later, having forgotten that episode, we were going through our usual bedtime checklist: Mom and Dad are in the next room, we just prayed, your music is on, you've got your oil on your forehead, and always remember, God is right here with you.  

"He's in my room?"

Yes, He's always with us, wherever we go, wherever we are.

"I TOLD YOU THERE WAS SOMEONE IN MY ROOM!"

Crap.