"Is God a boy?"

Lili'u is very curious about gender right now. If you've read our previous posts, you may have noticed it. She frequently tries to identify people, animals, and toys as boy or girl. What's great is that she doesn't seem to place any kind of value judgment with it. I think to her it's just a way of organizing the world. She does seem to be picking up on some cultural indicators of gender - like colors, hair length, clothing styles, etc. - but also seems very willing to break with such norms, which is something we encourage.

A few days ago, Lili'u and I were talking about how God takes care of us when we feel hurt or scared. She said "...it's because God loves me," to which I replied, "Yes, he does." She noticed my use of the pronoun 'he' and said, "Is God a boy?" In a split second, my mind raced through years of sunday school, college doctrine classes, and my own reading and experience and I said, "Well, God is a boy AND a girl. Sometimes I say 'he' and sometimes I say 'she.' She thought for a moment and then said, "Sometimes God's a boy! Sometimes God's a girl!" It was such an easy concept for her to embrace.

Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image and likeness." ...In the image of God she created them. He created them male and female. Genesis 1:26-27