Jesus On the Cross (by Timo)

Timo asked me about a picture I did yesterday, of Jesus on the cross and the two rebels on either side of him. I quickly hid the picture from him at the time yesterday because I didn't want to tell him about the painfulness of that... I told him I'd explain it later.

So today while drawing Ultraman characters, he asked again (and I prayed quietly) and explained that Jesus died on the cross, but He came back later. It hurt a lot, and He was taking the punishment for all of us. He asked who the other two people on crosses were, and I said they were some bad guys who were being punished, but one of them saw Jesus and said that He didn't do anything bad, and he changed his mind and became good. It helped that in an Ultraman Zero episode Timo watched, one hero named Mirror Knight had been turned into a bad guy, but Ultraman Zero held him and changed him back into a good guy... that's what Jesus does for us! That's what He did for us by dying on the cross! (Never thought Ultraman would help teach my son the gospel!)

Timo paused, puzzled, and asked how Jesus stayed on the cross. I paused, too, before deciding to just tell him about the nails. It hurt a lot. And actually, Jesus is God, and so He's strong, stronger than any Ultraman or anything. So He didn't have to stay there on the cross, but He loved us so much that He wanted to take our punishment for us. So He stayed there, died and came back. (Of course Timo asked other practical questions like, "How did He get off the cross after that?") I told him that when we see scars on hands we think "Ouch!" and the pain, but when Jesus sees the scars on His hands He thinks of us and loves us! So I ran to go show him one of my pictures with the hearts on Jesus' hands, but Timo beat me to it and said, "That's why He has the hearts on His hand."

I asked him why he put the blue on Jesus in the middle. He said he didn't know, haha. Just because the blue was there. I told him that sometimes we talk about Jesus' love like water... but maybe that was too deep for today.

Jesus With Broken Buildings (by Timo)

Last night I was watching a year-end special on TV about the March earthquake and tsunami, and my son Timo (4 and a half years old) was watching some of it with me. Back in March when we were watching the tsunami on TV, I decided to let Timo watch sometimes and explain to him what was happening, and tell him how it had to be hard for the people. So when we saw it again on TV last night, he started drawing pictures of it!

Of course I was a little worried about too much of this. Whenever I watched these things on TV, I was always careful to change the channel or turn it off if people were screaming, if someone was dying, or if I thought the images would be too traumatic. So this time as he was drawing more and more, I was praying about it and felt God say it was OK, and then asked Timo if he could draw Jesus with the people, comforting them...

Timo drew a picture of Jesus crying and holding broken buildings. I was surprised and moved by what he drew. It wasn't what I suggested he draw, and that's good, actually! Instead Jesus showed Timo that He understands our pain and cries with us.

And that was one of the reasons that I was letting Timo watch some of the tsunami on TV alongside me was so that he could understand a little of what people were experiencing, so he could sympathize with them, and later on, so he could understand why Daddy left sometimes to go to Fukushima for a little while.

Jesus is Sad When Mommy is Sad (by Timo)

Timo was drawing Ultraman characters and then did a picture of Jesus on the cross, and wanted to know what to draw next. I suggested that he draw something for Mommy. He drew this and said it was Jesus and Mommy, and that Jesus is sad when Mommy is sad. =)