I've been thinking about heaven lately. Lots. Many facets of my life have reminders for me that this is not my home... and that there is a goal for my living life on earth. I pray I run the race well. So, to keep my eyes on the goal that makes the hard things in life worth it, I decided to listen to Randy Alcorn's book, Heaven. I highly recommend reading it. It has been a great source of joy in support of what I have believed about our eternal dwelling, and also expands on what that could look like in greater detail. My finite mind has trouble grasping everything...I can imagine, but it falls far short of the reality of my new home.
You see, yesterday would have been my husbands 49th birthday. I miss him desperately at times. Three weeks ago I returned from Minnesota to see Ardith, my mother's cousin who is like an aunt to me, who is dying of pancreatic cancer. I have, in most probability, seen her for the last time on this earth. The day before I left to see her, I attended 2 memorials. One was for Benji Hawk, a student at Oklahoma Wesleyan University who loved his Lord whole-heartedly. He died a highly experienced skiier, on an intermediate slop, at a moderate rate of speed skiing with friends just before Christmas. (For a glimpse of this young man, check out the OkWU web-site and connect to the memorial link, or those of you who have facebook, try to locate his site.) The second one was for an 8 year old boy that died of an asthma attack. I have no guarantee that I will have a "safe" trip when I hop in the car to visit my kids...or go get groceries. I know that death is not a respecter of my plans. I do not fear death... though I am sometimes anxious of the process of my departing, and that I represent the One who has carried me through life, well in that process. I look forward to heaven...
In the meantime, I love here. It isn't the things I have, the place I live. It is those I love. My children... I love them desperately. The "children" they have brought me through their friendships at college and school. Those from my being "Mom away from home" for those at OWU... It is those I love who keep me here and loving it. Life is a privilege to accomplish the kingdom work. I want to live a life that will convince others that my heavenly mindedness is real. That there is a God whose Son died for their sin, and belief alone, the asking of forgiveness for that sin, is what gives each of us a personal relationship with Him. I do not want to be so heavenly minded in a self-focused way that I don't desire to see others join me in that eternal place. After all, this 70 to a 100 years of life is but a blink in time in light of eternity. It will be over very soon.
Eternity. Heaven. When the earth and heavens are made new, the beautiful creation as we know it (yes, Becky your Rockies, yes, Ryan and Katie, your Appalachians, and yes, Zippy, our South Dakota/Oklahoma/Nebraska prairie sunrises and sets) will be a pale representation of the heavenly. A new, unblemished creation without the effects of damaging weather and pollution will be ours to see. We will never run out of time to tour with our favorite tour guide... the Creator Himself... with those which we always wanted to spend more time. I expect that I will raise my arms, singing at the top of my lungs, surrounded by those I have sent on before me, tearfully expressing the joy of experiencing His eternal gift to me. And those I have loved, those grandparents or family that have gone before in faith that I did not know, will be expressing the same joy though they have been there 5-150 years... for their joy will have not faded from the day they came...ever new.
Heaven... "I can only imagine"... and will continue to do so until imagination is paled by reality.
