Why do we hold on so tightly?

I heard a phrase today. "At least you made it through another day." As in, well, you've survived another day-- rough day, but you made it through. And that made me wonder. A lot of people think if you've made it through another day here on Earth, that's a victory. Like the phrase, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." So, being able to live one more day-- that's something to celebrate. A friend's child was diagnosed with leukemia this week, and that has made me think a lot more about when children die--I've been having dreams this week about when my sweet girl Stef died 3 years ago. We try so hard to keep sick people alive one more day. We try so hard to keep the dying here on Earth. We all fight so hard to live longer, to stay disease free, to fight aging, to prolong life.
But what if we have it all wrong?
What if when we get to Heaven, we realize, what was all that fighting for?
I sincerely believe that when I am standing in the presence of Jesus, and wrapped in His safe, loving arms, and standing in the middle of Heaven...I am going to realize I would have rushed a lot faster to get there. When I look into His face and realize all the wants, hopes, and dreams I've ever had have suddenly been filled, when I look around the Holy City and realize I will never cry again, never need for anything again, never have to say goodbye to anyone again... I will no longer want the shallowness that Earth had to offer.Forget all the vitamins I took to be healthier. Forget the creams I put on my face to look younger and fight wrinkles. Forget cancer treatments, forget worrying about dying, forget fears. I have a feeling we will all wonder, why did we all fear death? With Heaven and our savior waiting for us... why didn't we come running at it, embracing it? Why did we hold on so tightly to this false, faded, sin-filled world when the Real World filled with the Glory of God is waiting for us?
That is my plan. I actually do not fear death--at all. I know what Heaven will be like. If you haven't read about Heaven in the Bible, or read Randy Alcorn's book on Heaven, I highly recommend doing so. That's some great reading. And look forward to what's on the other side-- don't fear it. There's Someone there alread waiting for you.

Reunions

In Heaven there won't BE any goodbyes... just one long reunion after
another just like in this video. Won't that be incredible?

Things I Could Do Forever

Have you ever seen that movie, "Groundhog Day"? The one where the guy lives Groundhog Day over and over again until he learns some lessons he's supposed to learn, begins to act nice and makes changes inside himself, and the throughout the whole movie he has to do the same things over and over again? I've always liked that movie for some reason. Besides being addicted to routines and needing stability in my life, I've always liked having certain things to hold on to. These kinds of things make me feel safe-- knowing there is something I can hang on to.

There are some things that I could just do forever. Recently I have discovered another one. Today the baby and I shared a personal pan pizza at Target. We had just finished some grocery shopping, and browsing the Christmas section for at LEAST the 18th time since they put the decorations out the day after Halloween, and were sitting in the sun. I didn't plan on sharing my pizza. Didn't realize the baby LIKED pizza. I had purchased a little box of rainbow goldfish for HER snack. But what do you know, she ended up eating part of my pizza. So there we sat in the sun, tired out from shopping, sharing pizza, just the 16 month old and I. And I thought, sometimes life doesn't get any better than this.

Oh but it does. Something else I could do forever: singing the baby to sleep at naptime (Okay, I admit it: I enjoy her naptime a LOT more than she does.) Just recently she has gotten big enough to put her head down on my shoulder when I carry her. So when I sing her to sleep now in her darkened bedroom, she puts her head down on me, and while I sing she rests against me, and I can watch her fall asleep while I sing Peter Paul & Mommy's "Animal Make-Believe Town" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Her breath is warm against my neck, her little pink mouth is pouty, and I love her so much that I can hardly stand it.

Or moments that are more rare, which make them even more precious: the times I spend with my niece and nephew, who are 6 and 3 but going on 27 and 16. They both talk like professors but at the same time love fairies and " 'Piderman." Nothing else brings me more joy than when they ask me to read them bedtime stories, or when my niece wants me to have a sleepover on her bedroom floor...and she falls asleep with her arm across my back, and I can watch her sleep. I love that little girl more than I love life itself, and she looks like an angel when she sleeps. I could do that every night the rest of my life and it would never be enough.

The other thing I could do forever is stand in my church like last Sunday, a place that is currently decorated for Advent, and besides the attraction of twinkling lights and around 5 Christmas trees on the stage, the focus there is on worshipping God, which is something I could do forever. And guess what, this is something I truly will get to do forever, according to the Bible. (I guess its a good thing I like it so much then, or I would have a pretty tough time inside those pearly gates....and speaking of pearly, its a good thing I like sparkly and shiny things so much, because Heaven is going to be pretty much on the bright and shiny side ! ) On Sunday we sang Christmas carols that all focused on Christ, but I would imagine that in heaven we won't be limited to just Christmas carols. I imagine that since we'll have eternity to sing, we'll come up with just about every song about God there is.

And speaking of God, remember I mentioned that need for stability and unchanging-ness that I have? Well just my luck: Guess who talks about being the unchangeable one, the one who doesn't change, never changes, and WILL NOT change? You guessed it.
Malachi 3:6 "I the Lord do not change"
Hebrews 3:18 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (I can count on this guy.)

I want to go Home

Are you the type of person who remembers their dreams? Or the kind who doesn't remember dreaming?
My husband doesn't usually remember his dreams. But I can still remember some of mine from when I was a toddler. I dream every night, quite vividly, and I remember them quite well. I often have bad dreams. The kind that wake me up screaming, or make me toss and turn a lot. But sometimes I have good ones... like flying dreams. I love those. The dreams I don't like are ones about people that have hurt me... I am still haunted by dreams of lost loved ones or people that were mean to me. I pray often that God will end those dreams because I really don't like them. But then I wake up, and I have that feeling of them fading, and sometimes, I have that... that feeling... of... "what just happened?" And unreality sets in, and I beging to forget what someone said, of what my dream was about. As I wake up in my bed, the dream fades, and exact words and faces and the experience I was just having in my dream becomes unreal, and the reality of my day takes over.
I had an interesting experience a few weeks ago. It was a day I was particularly hurting over the past. Wanting to get away. Often I just long for Home. My heavenly Home. I often, when I get upset, begin to cry to God, "I want to go home!" I just want to go home to heaven so badly-- for some reason, I feel like I miss it. I know that I wasn't made for this Earth. I know that I don't belong here. I feel like I don't fit.
And one day I was walking through the living room telling God once again, "I want to go HOME..." I distinctly heard Him tell me, "Someday, this will all feel like just a dream."
And I knew immediately what He meant.
Someday, my time on earth will end. Whether Jesus comes to get me in the Rapture or I leave the Earth through another means, my time will come to an end here. And that is okay. I'm not afraid. And someday, I will wake up in my real Home. And as I wake up there, my time here in this training ground called Earth will all have been like a dream, a temporary place I was put until I got to my real Home. And as I wake up in the Heavenly Realm with my Jesus, and I face my Lord and see His beautiful and perfect face, the memories and hurts and injuries of the time here will quickly fade, and the Real Reality of my true Home will take over. Someday all of this will be a dream, and Heaven, which seems so unreal now, will be Real. I cannot wait.

Diamonds in the Grass

On Sunday the dogs and I were playing in the sprinkler and I found this incredible sight... it looked like there were diamonds sparkling in the grass:

Can you tell what it is?
It's water droplets from the sprinkler on a spider web! Isn't it incredibly beautiful? The droplets were shining in the sun like nothing I've ever seen before. If you looked closely, you could see tiny little rainbows inside some of the drops. It made me think of Heaven, how all things will be made new. Everything will be perfect and shiney and the streets will be made of gold, and there will be light everywhere because Christ will be the Light of Heaven. Cool, huh? There won't be any sorrow or pain-- just happiness. Who needs real diamonds when you can come across beauty like this just playing outside?