Sometimes the sweetest words are unexpected...

A dear friend gave me this painting! She had it made just for Gabriel and me!
It is so special!

I am sure by now everyone we love and know is aware of the huge loss we suffered this past November. It has been about six months since Gabriel became out littlest angel and I think of him daily. Death is a tricky topic to cover with children. If you have been in the unfortunate situation that you have to explain it well, it might sound something like this...

Christian and I talk about Gabriel quite often. He comes up when we see pregnant women or newborn babies. Christian will tell you that he has a little brother named, Gabriel. He lives in Heaven with Jesus and he is an angel. I am not quite sure he understands heaven or angels, but it is always very sweet. We have gotten into some deep conversations about how Jesus took Gabriel and why. We have talked about what a soul is (tried to explain and that was kind of hard) and I am always left wondering what he must think? I never try to push him and if he brings it up...we talk about him. I love these conversations with Christian. I love the fact that Gabriel is and always will be a part of our family even though we never got to know him. He will never be forgotten!

Going back to not knowing the interpretation of a child’s mind and how they process things came to head the other day...twice actually in a week!

First, I have been teaching Sunday School for the pre-school kids at out church on Sunday’s. I have Christian in my class and I am enjoying really teaching him the stories of the bible. We are doing a 24 Hour series at our church right now for lent. Everything we are doing is following that series, including sunday school. This particular day we were talking about the Garden of Gethsemane and how Jesus went there to pray before he was betrayed by Judas. We talked about the importance of prayer. We talked about how Jesus loves to hear about your day and what you pray for. We discussed that you can pray for anything and anyone and Jesus always hears you. I asked all the children, “ What are some of the things you pray for?”  I got typical answers, the soldiers in Iraq, my dog, my grandma and my fish that just passed. Then there was Christian waving his hand in the air so anxiously, waiting for me to call on him. I never in a million years expected what would come out of his mouth next. He said, “I pray for my little brother Gabriel in heaven”! It took my breath away! I had to go hug him and say, thank you buddy, that is an awesome thing to pray for! It made my day!

Second, the next week I went to pick the kids up from school. Courtney, Christian’s teacher told me that today Christian has been talking to all his friends about his baby brother. I was taken back and could not believe what she just told me. I immediately asked what he had been saying to everyone. I was not sure what it could of been...there is no telling with a 4 year old and what they might say. She told me that he was telling all his friends that he had a little brother and his name was Gabriel. He continued by telling them all that he was an angel. Then the part I like the most, he said, he gets to run around in heaven and play with Jesus all day. It just can not get much simpler than that!

I now know what he gets out of our conversations. I am happy that it is positive and I am happy that he knows he has an angel watching over him for the rest of his life! I am glad it holds a special place in his heart! So sweet! Thanks for making me smile from the inside out Christian...you are my angel!