Category Archives: Heaven

Dazed for Days

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The storm forms.Oklahoma is not OK. After Monday’s 2 mile wide, 210 mph tornado tore through a suburb of Oklahoma City, a 22 square mile piece of civilization was no more. News reports this morning used the word “dazed” in reference to the way citizens were feeling. After viewing photos, I see why.

Oklahoma is famous for frequent tornadoes, but no one could say they’d ever seen one like this. Even storm chasers, familiar with nature’s fury, were suffering from PTSD when it was over. “People are wandering around like zombies,” reporter Scott Hines said. “It’s like they’re not realizing how to process what just happened.”

Rescued!

Although two schools and a large medical center were beyond repair, thankfully the death toll wasn’t as severe as originally feared. But even for those who came through the storm without injury, recovery will take time. As one parent said, “I’m speechless. How did this happen? Why did this happen? How do we explain this to the kids?”

“Devastating” is too mild a word. Pictures and videos of the event told the miserable tale of destruction, but one photo was different than all the others:                                a cemetery picture.

Cemetery

Although the grass was littered with debris from the land of the living, the buried-dead remained untouched. But had the tornado ripped them from the ground, it wouldn’t have mattered to them. On May 20, those who’d already died were untouchable, even by a monster-size F5 tornado. They’d already taken up residence elsewhere, and for those in heaven, that day was like any other: safe and sound.

Once we’ve died, whatever is taking place on earth quickly fades. I think of the 24 souls who left the earth during Monday’s tornado and hope they’re all with Jesus Christ. If so, their safety concerns are over. No PTSD for them, no coping with lost homes or possessions. Stressing over where to live while their homes are rebuilt isn’t a problem, and they’re guaranteed never to experience another tornado.

Mom often said, “Know your bottom line.” She was sure of where she’d be after death and frequently said she wished it was “today”. Monday was the “today” for 24 people who were (we hope) lifted from that fearsome storm straight into glory. What a dramatic change! Of course it’ll be dramatic even if we’re taken out of this world on an ordinary day.

But those 24? They’ll be dazed for days, too…. but for a much different (and much better) reason.

“The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

Studying for Finals

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Fun with MomSunday is Mother’s Day, and I’ve been reflecting on my own mom. Having grown up surrounded by her love, her prayers, and her non-stop good times, the only thing I can do is translate my thoughts to prayers of gratitude.

Mom lived to be 92, and of course she became more sedentary as the years piled up. She never stopped playing games with her grand-kids, though, and loved every encounter with them. But there was something she loved even more than that: reading her Bible. “I’m studying for my finals, you know,” she’d say, a statement that reflected her strong belief she would be in the presence of Jesus “pretty soon.” She wanted to be as well prepared to meet him as she could, and burying herself in his Word seemed like the right approach.

Beach party

In 2004 (her last summer), she stayed a while with us at our cottage in Michigan. As a crowd of us would pack up for the beach, she’d settle into a chair by the window, her Bible in her lap and say, “Have fun!” In her opinion, though, she was having the greater fun, with Scripture.

That summer I watched her repeatedly open to the first page of the Bible, Genesis 1, where day after day she’d be on the same page. One day I asked about that. “Why don’t you turn the page?”

Her answer was interesting. “Have you ever thought there might have been eons of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?” She couldn’t turn the page, because the first one offered so much to think about.

As she sat hour after hour studying Genesis 1, she bounced back and forth from reading to meditating to asking God questions, trying to absorb everything she could.

It was during that summer she said, “The answer to every problem is in the Bible, and that includes the cure for cancer.” Her favorite example of Scripture’s practical information was in Exodus 2:3’s description of the basket that baby Moses’ mother made for him. The Bible says she waterproofed it with “tar and pitch.” Mom said, “That was to let people know where to drill for oil.”

Mom absolutely loved her Bible and fully trusted the Spirit of God to have led the men who wrote it. She often asked us scriptural questions and readily admitted she didn’t have all the answers.

Ya don't say!

I’m quite sure Mom never had to take any heavenly final exam, but if she had, she would have done A-OK. As I think back on her unflagging diligence in studying Genesis 1 that summer, it’s satisfying to know that now, in the Lord’s presence, she has had her questions answered.

And she probably even knows which Bible verses hold the cure for cancer.

Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures?” (Mark 12:24)

But first….

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Sitting soloYesterday was a day of firsts for 6 month old Emerald: first baby food, first tooth, first trip to the beach, first sitting-up-solo.

That first year for all of us was a doozy! Most of us tripled our birth weight, mastered our first words, learned to sit, crawl, stand, and walk, figured out who was family and who wasn’t, and could mimic animal sounds. Scientists say if we continued at that phenomenal rate of development, we’d eventually be as tall as a skyscraper and would possess all the knowledge of the world.

During that first year babies are coping with “firsts” virtually every day, and truth be told, firsts don’t end after that. They may not come in such rapid-fire succession, but they do keep coming. Some people love that aspect of life, embracing unpredictability and thriving on change. Others would rather learn a niche and stay there. But babies? They don’t have a choice.

We adults might think we do have a choice about how and when we encounter our firsts, and in certain respects that’s true. We can control whether or not we try sky diving or deep sea diving, but oftentimes we don’t have a choice about our firsts. Accidents fit into that category, as well as disease and death.

Whatever our firsts are and whenever they come, they’re always accompanied by a need to adjust. That might involve making concessions and sometimes having to lower our standards in order to cope. But when we have to, we do. If we refuse, we can find ourselves sliding into dysfunction.

Sometimes I think of the multitude of firsts Jesus faced when he chose to become human. I wish I could have listened in on the discussion between the three members of the Trinity as they pondered the many dramatic firsts the Son would have to experience. That he willingly subjected himself to them anyway, knowing how difficult they would be, is proof of his love for us. It was the only way to make sure we could be citizens of heaven, and for a reason unknown to us, he wanted that with a passion.

Jesus experienced his firsts moving from heaven to earth, a definite step down. The rest of us will move in the other direction, from earth to heaven, a change that will bring one magnificent first after another. Most likely there won’t be an end to those, and that’s a glorious prospect.

Eating

Yesterday little Emerald had a day marked by happy firsts, and the rest of us could probably name a few we had, too. But positive or negative, welcome or unwelcome, we can simply choose to view all of our firsts as practice for an eternal life that will be chock full of them. But how thrilling to know that those firsts will all be good ones!

“How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you.” (Psalm 31:19)