We are all searching for a hero. It’s human nature. Your hero hunt may look like a character from a fairy tale or more like a superhero with super powers that are out of this world. Instantly saying the word hero I recall a couple songs from the 90’s where Mariah Carey encouraged us the “Hero” lies in you and then Paula Cole sang the question “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?”. Too often in our lives the hero of the day is not in the picture.

My son Sparrow loves superheroes. I mean, LOVES them. From Iron Man to Batman, Spiderman to Superman, Buzz Lightyear to Captain America…you get the picture. I remember the first time we were at our local Target and Sparrow was drawn to a Spiderman toy. At the time he knew nothing of the character but his eyes laid on this red and blue, web shooting, fighter of crime and he was an instant fan. We spend a lot of time at our house imitating these super heroes with costumes and props (most recently the addition of Thor) so we can reenact their heroic deeds on a daily basis.

A big moment of relief for me as a girly girl was the day I realized that superhero capes were the tutu of boy world. I thought, “I can do this!” My reality as a mom of a young boy was that superheroes were going to be a huge part of our world. As much fun as we have shooting webs, throwing batarangs and picking up hammers that shoot lightning in our home, I have to be honest that I have been a bit convicted and at times embarrassed at how many facts my son can tell me about these characters but yet he struggles to tell me about the Bible story he learned in his class at church. (Note: His default answer of “Jesus” doesn’t count as listening…tell me more.)

Jesus is the greatest superhero of all time. His power is supernatural in ways beyond even our own understanding. He has so much power that the very mention of His name has incredible impact. His strength isn’t reliant upon a costume or an object. Jesus has it all. He is it all. He is the ultimate superhero that saves the day answering our prayers and giving us grace for whatever we face.

Over these past couple years as a Mom, I have understood the hunger and desire for a hero in our lives like never before. One of my favorite quotes is by Roy Disney. “We’ve changed our heroes to keep our sin.” Wow, that sums up human nature and modern day culture so well. I don’t want my son to keep his sin. I want him to lay his mistakes, faults and sin at the feet of Jesus and ask for forgiveness. I want him to lay even his successes, victories and accomplishments at the feet of Jesus and realize that it’s not in HIS own strength but by the strength and favor of God in his life that he’s experienced those blessings. I want his superhero to be a man that walked where we walk and felt what we feel and kept his eyes on God’s plan. I want to see the intense truth that Jesus became the sacrifice so we could have salvation and freedom. There truly isn’t a great hero that’s ever been created for TV, the movies or even the pages of a book.

Repeatedly, I ask myself “how can I show Jesus to my son?” I want him to fall head over heels in love with Jesus. The one who has power to save always! The one who is the ultimate fighter and cure for crime. Because I believe in the power of music and the songs we hear and sing, I wrote a couple songs about the superhero strength and awesomeness of our God. “Super Wonderful” and “My God Is Number One” are on the Little Praise Party-Taste and See album that I wrote to help my son fall in love with God, the ultimate superhero. I hope your superhero loving sons and even princess loving daughters will taste and see that our God is super wonderful and loves them. If we can write that truth on the hearts of our little ones from a young age I believe they will come to know and experience that Jesus is the hero we’re all longing for!

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