Lessons from a Robin

While I was gone at Girls Camp, the kids found a dead robin on our front lawn.  We were talking about it and they said that no one had moved it yet.  I asked David not to touch it because dead things are full of germs that can make you sick.  He surely needed this reminder.  Earlier this summer he found a small meadowlark that our cat that killed and left in the playhouse one morning. He came out of the playhouse carrying the bird, and said, "Mommy, this is my new pet bird."  Ughhhh!  I grabbed it from him and disposed of it….then explained.

Anyway, after the germ conversation, Sophia and David and I had a talk about death and what happens when a person or an animal dies.  Sophia already understands so much and she helped David to understand.  She knew that when a person dies the spirit goes back to Heavenly Father. Sophia added, "And to Jesus."   She understood that the spirit is what makes the body move.  She told David, "When you touch the robin with a stick it can't move because its Spirit left."  

She also understands what the resurrection is, even though it is a hard word for her to say.  She told David that we would see the robin again someday..and also our chicken that got eaten by an animal a couple of weeks ago.  

After a pause she then said…"And someday, when all the people are done coming here, Jesus will come back.  And David and me will ride our bikes down the hill to Jesus and we will say, "Come to our house!  Come to our house!"  

What simple faith and testimony.  Gospel truths are so simple that even three and five year old children can understand them.  

In a blog post from March 16, 2016, there was a statement from the Primary General Presidency (Sister Rosemary M. Wixom, Sister Cheryl A. Esplin, and Sister Mary R. Durham) that reads:

"Children are drawn to the plain and simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ and are far more capable of comprehending them than we think.

When we teach children plain and simple truths in a way that they can understand, we not only build a foundation for their testimony, but those very truths influence their behavior."