moving

by

Home at Last

We moved this past year. My husband retired and we decided to relocate. We moved to a new house with new neighbors, in a new town and found a new church.

It has been about a year and we still feel unsettled.  We feel a longing to be known.

To have someone look at us with eyes of recognition. To know our names and ask about our kids.

I long for community.

…To have people know my name and ever so much more,

…To know I enjoy music and art, taking walks, a good cup of tea and auctions.

…That I have a sense of humor, am a pretty good cook and can be a fiercely loyal friend if given the chance.

I want them to know my heart aches from old wounds and some not so old. Things you can’t blurt out when you are just getting to know someone. It takes time…lots of time.

So, as I struggle to fit into our new community, I look expectantly to someday heaven. It will be a place of perfect acceptance, a place without longing.

I’ve been told a place is being prepared. (John 14:1-3) A just right place, a perfect place, a belonging place that isn’t uncomfortable. A place without an awkward adjustment period.

I imagine being greeted with a bear hug by the God who was unapproachable and untouchable in the Old Testament accounts. (*see below) Now he has promised to wipe away my tears. (Revelation 21:4)

I will be immediately known and loved. Not because I am good, but because I belong to a great King who purchased my freedom at an awful price. (I Peter 1:18 & 19)

He saved me even knowing who I would be and what I would do. Loved me in spite of all of it. Why? For a purpose, to worship and serve Him.

He will integrate me seamlessly into the heavenly community; giving me a job that suits just me. One where I can contribute and feel helpful.

He will delight that I am there, at home with Him. At home with the one who has loved me since the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34)

And all of this will fade away. For I will be home at last.

 

 * God told Moses – “No man shall see me and live.” ( Exodus 33:20) ;                                Some men from Beth-shemesh looked into the ark and they were struck dead along with 50,070 others. (I Samuel 6:19);                                                                                                    Uzzah was killed for touching the ark (2 Samuel 6:6-7)

by

For Love of Cattails

 

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“Look Honey, cattails!”

That’s all it took for my dad to stop the car, get out his pocket knife, and traipse down into the ditch to collect some cattails for my mom. He would climb back up the bank with a big handful clutched in his farmer hands.

They both smiled all the way home.

My dad loved to see Mom smile and so time and time again he would stop the car, without being asked, when he spotted them.

It all came back to me last week. We had been frantically looking for a house. Our moving day was just three weeks away. We were scheduled to see two more houses. One we had seen before and although not right we thought we could somehow make it work. Our son-in-law had pointed the second one out to us and we were hoping it would be a better fit.

After puzzling at the first house we moved on to house number two. We went through the front door. My husband continued on through the house while my daughter, Anna, and I stood in the entryway. We looked here and there without moving from the spot. Finally Anna said, “Well, I don’t have to see anymore. This is it.” I agreed. It felt like home. We decided to move from room to room. Nothing surprised or disappointed us. We found what we were expecting to find in each room, only more.

If there was any doubt, it was completely removed when coming through the kitchen I looked out the window.

There on the lot line was a ditch…with cattails.

I smiled all the way home.

“You have given him his heart’s desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips. For you meet him with the blessings of good things;” Psalm 21:1-2a