Mom and Evan Talk about God

Today I tried to have a spirituality-for-kids conversation with Evan while we were riding in the car to the Farmer's Market. It went sort of like this:

Me: Evan, do you want to say a little prayer to God for Auntie Lala so she'll feel better soon?

(Background info: my sister Angela just had surgery to remove excess adipose tissue from both her arms. Evan and I were visiting my mom and dad in Troy when she came home from the hospital.)

Evan: No. What's God?

Me: God is a person who lives in the sky. He helps people be happy...

Evan: And sad, too.

Me: Yes, God helps people be happy and sad; and safe and healthy. God lives in heaven, in the sky.

Evan: Mom, what's sky means? What's happy means?

Me: You know what sky means, it's where the moon and stars are at night; and where the sun and the clouds are in the day. And happy means something that makes you smile and have fun.

Evan: Mom, what's God means?

Me (trying my explanation again): God is a person who lives in the sky. He helps people...

Evan: There's no God here. Not in this car. I don't see any God.

Me: (just thinking of what to say here... and giving up)

Evan: And there's no God in that big truck, or in that little red truck, or on the street or on the road, or in that car that car that car. I don't see any God.

After that, I decided to put off talking about how God is a part of everything and everyone we see. Maybe when he's 5 we'll talk about that.

You can see this approach to talking about God failed.