reunions

There have been lots of talk and email communication about reunions lately. It's the year of my fortieth, read the big 4-0 year high school reunion. Good grief! I can't even type it without holding my breath a little. I absolutely cannot fathom that I've been out of anything for forty years. (We won't even mention Byron's and my 40th wedding anniversary this Sunday. It's a wonderful thing but there's NO WAY I'm old enough to be married 40 years! I must've been promised at birth. But that's a whole other post :)

All this reunion stuff has allowed me to reconnect with people I knew way back when. Some I knew well and some not so much, but I'm finding out that many that I didn't know are very nice people. Facebook has allowed sharing of current and past photos and quick comments and notes that we might not have had the opportunity to share with one another. I'm liking this reconnecting thing. It makes the world seem just a little cozier and the past not so very far away.

I like reunions of all sorts. There are the formal, planned-for get togethers with family and friends and there are also those little ones that sneak up on us at Publix or the mall when we run into someone we knew from a very long time ago. There are also those that happen at the funeral home when someone dies. Each type is sweet, or bittersweet, in its own way. We get together. We reminisce. We cry. We laugh. We reconnect with the past and one another.

All this recollecting and thinking about what 'was' makes me think about the best reunion of all--the one after this life is over. There are times now when for a split second I think I'll phone my mother--but before the thought is complete, I realize it's impossible. I want to sit down with my mom and talk with her again. I can't believe she's gone and I miss her terribly. Then, there's my dad and Uncle Bill whom I also miss so much. I'd love to visit with the grandmother I never met or introduce myself to Hannah who, in the Old Testament, gave her little boy Samuel to the priests to be raised for the Lord.

What about the best one ever...Jesus! To sit at His feet without a tear in my eye, a pain in my body or a care on my heart will truly make it Heaven. What a time that will be! I don't know how I'll behave. Will I sit still and bask in His presence? Will He put me at ease and let me ask Him questions? I have no idea except that it will be amazing!

I can hardly wait! To be free from this sad, sin sick world, loosed from this frail, human flesh and in the presence of the Lord forever is the best thing I can think of! I get excited about Heaven when I realize that even though I can imagine Heaven, I have no idea of the depth of the the Lord's creativity there. What we do know for sure is that the Lord is preparing us a place with Him.

John 14:1- 3 Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

Where Jesus is, so will Heaven be! I can't imagine it good enough! Now, that's something to think about!

"What a day that will be,

when my Jesus I shall see.

When I look upon His face

The one who saved me by His Grace,

When He takes me by the hand

And leads me to the promised land.

What a day, glorious day,

That will be."

Father, thank you for who you are--our kind, loving Father who takes good care of His children. I love you.

Suz