Q & A

Isaac was sitting on my lap during Sacrament meeting today, and I was whispering to him trying to encourage his reverence.  I asked, "Do you know why we take the Sacrament?"

"Why?" he asked.
"Because it helps us think about when Jesus died for us." I answered.
"Why he did that?" Isaac looked up at me.
"Because he loves us," was my truthful response.
"But why he died?" he insisted.
"He died so we could live with Heavenly Father again," I whispered.  "He loves us so much that He let the bad guys kill Him so that our family could live together with Heavenly Father again," I testified.
"But where He is?"  Isaac probed.
"He is in Heaven watching over us," I explained.
"But I can't see Him," he stated.
"You're right," I answered, "we can't see Jesus, but we can feel Him in our hearts."
His three-year-old mind was satisfied - and reverent - for the moment, so we sat silently as the Sacrament concluded.  My mind, however, continued to ponder on the truth and the magnitude of what I had tried to express in nursery-lesson brevity and simplicity.  As grand and glorious and all-encompassing and incomprehensible as His Atonement and crucifixion is, it really is this simple: He died for us because He loves us.  I feel that pure and perfect love every day of my life.  I feel it as I wake up in the morning and witness the dawn.  I feel it as I breathe deeply and prepare my healthy body for the day.  I feel it as my new little one moves inside of me.  I feel it as I read His words in the scriptures.  I feel His love as I care for my children and try to follow His command to become like a little child.  I feel His love as I pray and acknowledge all of the ways I am still so far from being like Him.  I feel His love as I take His Sacrament and remember all He has done for me.  I can't see Him, but I feel Him in my heart, and I see evidence of His love in each moment of my life.