Having long-distance relatives isn’t ideal, since our together-time has to be minimal. But this week I’m pleased to be under the same roof with 6 of our out-of-town relatives: daughter Linnea, her husband Adam, Skylar, Micah, Autumn, and their baby brother who’s riding along in his mommy’s tummy. On our next visit, we’ll get to see and hold him, too.

When Nate was still with us, two of our grands had already been born, Skylar in Florida and Nicholas in England. But when he died, those two were still just babies, 15 and 10 months respectively. Nate never got the chance to watch them grow and change or to meet the other 6 (almost 7) that followed.

I consider it a huge blessing to have known them for as long as I have, even though the oldest is only five. But we can carry on conversations, play games, read together, share stories, bake cookies, and go places. Nate has missed out on all of it.

Or has he?

What’s the probability that he knows his 7 additional grands? Randy Alcorn wrote a book (based solely on Scripture) entitled HEAVEN. He makes a powerful case for Nate’s awareness of his grandchildren, citing passages in both the Old and New Testaments to substantiate that those in heaven know what’s transpiring on earth.

For example, based on Revelation 19 he writes, “Heaven’s inhabitants are shown praising God for specific events of judgment that have just taken place on Earth. The saints in Heaven are clearly observing what is happening on Earth. Those on Earth may be ignorant of events in Heaven, but those in Heaven are not ignorant of events on Earth, at least some of these events.” (p. 24)

Another passage in Luke 15 refers to rejoicing that goes on “in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” Alcorn writes, “Notice this Scripture does not speak of rejoicing by the angels but in the presence of angels. I believe it logically includes not only God but the saints in Heaven… If they rejoice over conversions happening on Earth, then obviously they must be aware of what’s happening on Earth… down to the details of specific individuals coming to faith in Christ.” (p. 25)

Alcorn cites many other verses on which he bases his conclusions, making a strong case for heavenly minds being far superior to what we now have on Earth. The bottom line, if I believe Scripture, is that Nate does know all of his grands and hasn’t missed a thing. Theologians might debate that into the ground, but as one half of a grandma/grandpa pair, I want to believe it.

As we enjoy each other during these two weeks together in earthly Michigan, I like to think Nate will be having just as much fun watching from his heavenly vantage point.

“This is the plan: At the right time [God] will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.” (Ephesians 1:10)