Birthday in Heaven

John 14:3 “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.” My life radically changed 30 years ago, August 8, the day Elisha was born – and my life has never been the same since the Lord took him to his heavenly home 7 years ago. Every year on Elisha’s birthday, I would throw a huge elaborate party for him to celebrate his special day, not only because he was the coolest kid ever born, but because it was an opportunity to have fun and fellowship with our friends. As Elisha grew older and his disability became more apparent, I realized that making friends would not be easy for him, and so I made it a point to celebrate his birthday by planning a fun day for him that everyone would enjoy. Over the years, we have had ponies, a clown, a petting zoo, which included a cow calf we fed with a bottle, many jump houses, a magician and yes, even a Barney. We would always have a piñata filled with candy and lots of treats for the kids. Each year, I would plan ahead and in his early years we would have his party at a park near our house because there were at least 50 people who would want to come. As he got older, we still had a huge party for him, but it turned into a pool party and barbecue and every year Elisha basked in the glory of his day. He absolutely loved his birthday party; he loved to be the center of attention and he loved to celebrate his special day with all his friends. Now that he is gone, the days leading up to his birthday are difficult for me and anticipating celebrating his birthday is depressing. There is no planning to do, only the reality that I would spend his birthday without him. 2 Corinthians 5:8 says, “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Now that my child is no longer here on this earth, there is a heavenly homesickness that has occurred in my soul; there is a yearning in my heart to also be at home with the Lord and a longing to join the huge gathering in Heaven. The things that used to satisfy me no longer hold any interest and the only contentment I have found is in striving for excellence, pursuing holiness and laying up my treasure in Heaven. All things pale in comparison to the hope of my ultimate destiny in Heaven, and one day, experiencing the fullness of the presence of God. No matter how hard I try, as long as I am still tethered to this earthly realm, I can only see small and tiny glimpses of what my future holds, but I do know this, the party that awaits me in my eternal home is far more lavish and decadent than any party I could have thrown here in this world. The best part about this celebration is that all I have to do is show up. I’ve been thinking a lot of about Heaven these days and the Bible has lots to say about what our forever home will be like. There will be many mansions (John 14:2), a holy city with streets of pure gold that will shine with the glory of God and its radiance will be like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal (Rev. 21:11), its walls adorned with every kind of jewel (Rev. 21:19) and its twelve gates, each made with a single pearl. And there will be a great crowd, far too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language standing in front of the throne before the Lamb. (Rev. 7:9.) There is more than enough room in my Father’s house and I long for the day when He returns for me and ushers me into His kingdom and I cannot wait to hear His words to me saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matt. 25:23.) Oh, what a party that will be. Happy 30th birthday, my sweet Elisha. Love, Mama. – Melody

Inside the Fish

I was cringing before my week of memories even started. The memories embraced dysfunction, loneliness, striving for a sense of worth and purpose, premature deaths, horror and more tragedy, and then the years that unfolded the consequences. This year seemed more difficult, and I finally realized the impact that still more death had had, and the impact of more unfolding consequences. God seemed distant, but I cried out to Him. I couldn’t understand. God, why??? You have given so, so much in so many ways over so many years. Your grace has transformed me in so many ways. You have given me years of being the helper, listening and caring for those who mourn and grieve, or just wish life could be different. With certainty, I have assured others of Your presence, Your care, Your provision. Why do I feel so imprisoned, so uncertain, so distant when I need you in such personal ways? My head knows life can get tumultuous for all of us, but my heart is struggling as my cries seem to go unanswered. Jonah could not understand either. God had chosen him to minister, but Jonah tried to run away. God, I was definitely not trying to run away. It’s a privilege and joy to serve You and to serve others, but the emotional turmoil was throwing me into the blackness. Jonah’s blackness was within the belly of a large fish, but the emotional and spiritual darkness was there too. And yet, even within his own blackness, he cried out to his God. His words echoed the reality and depth of his morbid situation. He cried out to the Lord in his great trouble, a trouble that sank him to the heart of the sea as the mighty waters engulfed him. He knew he was buried beneath wild and stormy waves – sinking, the waters closing out all hope, seaweed wrapping itself around his head. My situation was far different from Jonah’s, but when I read his words, I related. And within the reality of Jonah’s darkness, he felt too that God had driven him away. And yet, Jonah, even fearing the emptiness of God’s presence, kept calling out, kept praying, kept looking God-ward, with an assurance that God would rescue him, snatch him from the jaws of death. He kept remembering his God. He refused to turn his back on God. He wanted to fulfill his vows to God, offer sacrifices to Him, and sing songs of praise. He knew where his help would come from. And as I read and contemplated the words and Jonah’s heart in the middle of his reality, I related again. And Jonah’s story then tells us, “The Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.” What a parallel!! Yes, my week was awful, even though it was all memories, and not a repeat of realities, BUT GOD!! He cared enough about me, His child, that He cared even about the turmoil of memories. Yes, He seemed distant, but He wasn’t. He was always there. He was there in the silence, and I kept crying out to Him. And suddenly I realized, “the fish had spit me onto the beach.” From Psalm 40, we hear the paralleling thoughts of the psalmist. I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. – Bev (Related Bible reading: Jonah 2:1-10)

Be Still and Know

Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” There are so many thoughts swirling around in my head each morning when I wake up, and the one thing I need to do, is to immediately spend time with the Lord. The enemy of my soul is continuously putting thoughts into my head that say to me, “If God really loved you, you would not have all of this chaos going on in your life,” or “If God is really who He says He is, then why did He allow your son to die,” and the biggest one that he whispers into my ear is, “God is not real, none of this is real; He doesn’t really care about you and there is no Heaven.” Even though I am confidently established in God’s love, even though I am a seasoned Christian and have been walking with the Lord for decades, when deep dark valleys come, it is so easy for me to entertain these lies. Satan uses my trials and tribulations to convince me that God does not love me. Satan wants to keep me weak and vulnerable; he wants me to believe I am powerless and incapable of being a threat to his kingdom of darkness. But this scripture tells the truth; there is nothing, absolutely nothing, I can do or that can occur in my life that separates me from the love of Christ who dwells within me. Jesus said we will have tribulation in this world, but He also promised us that He has overcome the world. This passage goes on to say in verses 38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What our Father is saying to us is there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. He clearly sets this out in scripture and makes sure that nothing is left out; this covers everything. I need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God loves me when I am hurting and struggling, when my heart is overwhelmed, when my life has been shattered, when people are cruel and unkind, when I have been abandoned and when I am fearful, when the pain and the sorrow of loving and losing is just too much to bear, that there is nothing in all of creation that can separate me from the love of the One who created me. John 3:21 says, “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” Doing the right thing in every situation, even when we don’t feel like it, will ultimately heal and reign in my emotions. Doing the right thing even when we have been wronged is extremely important for my spiritual growth. It is very difficult to do when I am hurting and wounded, when I am faced with affliction and tribulation, when the world around me is screaming at me, pulling and tugging at me, trying to get me to react and plan a counter-attack, but God has taught me to put in place my new life commandment, the most important scripture in the Bible for me, my life verse which says, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) – Melody