Tag: heaven

Welcome Home…

The stray dog Baby loves to greet her momma when I arrive at home. It doesn’t matter how long I have been gone. I am always greeted with such excitement! In fact, she wiggles her whole hind side, wagging her tail so enthusiastically that I often think that she is going to wiggle her tush right off! She will leap from couch to couch if I do not stop and give her enough attention. Her response to seeing me is sheer joy. (This is not always the case with my seventeen year old daughter. Those of you who have teenagers definitely understand where I am coming from here.)

As I watched Baby wiggle and carry on yesterday, I realized that I will have a homecoming with my Father in heaven some day and He will greet me with sheer joy. I wonder if I might be the one behaving like Baby in this Homecoming though. Maybe I will leap and wiggle with the excitement of His glory!

And, consider this, it doesn’t matter how much distance and sin we put between us and Him. He never moves, changes His mind, nor pushes us away. In fact, He waits for us to turn back around and run to Him for forgiveness, understanding, comfort and yes, joy! Whose hind side is wiggling now?

Live today with the full understanding that you are on a journey home! And your homecoming, thanks to Jesus, will be met with eternal joy, peace and love! And maybe even a wiggle or two!

Be hopeful!

If you return to the Lord , then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” 2 Chronicles 30:9 NIV

Baby has come a long way! Isn’t it amazing what love will do?

Grandpa…

I’ve been thinking a lot about my Grandpa Hart lately. I loved him and was blessed to live close to him when I was little. I had him in my life for just over six years before Jesus called him home. When I think of him, it takes me back to times of innocence and love.

I would often “babysit” him. We would go on walks in his neighborhood and he would wait patiently while I made him elaborate pretend snacks. (By waiting patiently, I mean dozing in front of the television in the day room.) He was tall and strong and he loved me. I vividly remember the nuances of my grandparents home in Ft. Myers. It was truly a place that I looked forward to visiting. What I would give to hang out with him again right now, basking in the innocence of “babysitting” him instead of the other way around.

The song, When I Get Where I’m Going by Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton always makes me think of him. “I’m going to walk with my grand daddy and he’ll match me step for step. And I’ll tell him how I missed him every minute since he left and then I’ll hug his neck. When I get where I’m going. There’ll be only happy tears. I’ll shed the sins and struggles I have carried all these years. And I’ll leave my heart wide open. I will love and have no fear. When I get where I’m going, don’t cry for me down here.”

We have so much hope in Christ. We have the hope of being reunited with loved ones for eternity. We have the hope of shedding the pain and suffering that are a part of this very temporary human experience. Our hearts, souls and minds will be healed. In fact, we will share the very mind of Christ. And we will bask daily in the warmth of His Son and God’s very face will permeate and radiate. It will be an eternal time of innocence and perfect love.

My Grandpa is experiencing all of these things and so much more as I write these very words. Boy, I can’t wait to get where I’m going!

Be hopeful!

This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:19‭-‬20 NLT