Tag Archives: Heaven

Home Again

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We were only gone for three days last week,
but when we pulled into our driveway,
PB and I both let go with a happy sigh.
Home.

When we walked into our house, we said,
“Ah, it’s good to be back.”

Home again, home again,
Jiggety-jig.

As a child, I loved the stories and poems from the red Childcraft books that were published in the 1950s. I grew up with those books and can still quote all five stanzas of the poem “Antonio.” Many lines from those literary treasures became part of our family’s sayings.

“Gone is gone.”

“An icery creamery conio.”

And this one:

I remember hearing my mom say,
“Home again, home again, jiggety-jig” after a long trip.
Then I started saying it when PB and I had little ones in the back seat.
I said it last week when we pulled into our garage.

That feeling of being home—
it’s only a glimpse,
just a tiny taste,
of what it will be like to arrive in heaven, our true home.

For this world is not our home;
we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven. 
Hebrews 13:14, TLB

Home again, home again,
Jiggety-jig.

A Tourist’s Guide to Heaven

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This summer I have the privilege of taking some women on a guided tour of Heaven in preparation for their trip there. Hopefully that excursion is a ways off, but it’s not too early to get a look at what is in store.

paris

If someone gave me an all-expense paid trip to Paris, flight included, I’d be a fool to turn it down. My first reaction would be one of tremendous gratitude. My second response would be to read up on all the things a traveler might need to know. Where is this place, exactly? What should I bring? What will we eat? What does the city look like? What are some highlights that shouldn’t be missed? Can my dog come along? What’s the weather like? What language will be spoken? What time zone will we be in? Who will we meet there? Do I need a passport?

passport

I’m happy to be a trip advisor for these young women. We’ll answer all those questions and many more. Is Heaven for real? Is there an actual stairway to heaven? Does God look like Morgan Freeman? Do angels play harps? Was John Lennon right about heaven? Is Beyonce? Are there streets of gold? Is there a pearly gate? Is there sex in Heaven? (That one got your attention.)

Goodness, we’re going to have fun digging into the travel guide called The Holy Bible. The only Person who has ever come from there, visited here, and gone back again has a lot to say about the place. I think we should take His eye-witness word for it.

Hopefully this will be the summer we all get a little more heavenly minded and find ourselves anticipating our eternal future with unbridled joy and rock-solid confidence.

Because the most important detail is this:

we’re not going sight-seeing.

We’re going home.

heaven

“But our citizenship is in heaven.” Phil. 3:20

Far Kingdom

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story

If I had to choose one thing that had the most impact on me in 2014,

I would choose the study on “Heaven” we did at our church.

I didn’t know Heaven was so exciting, so beautiful, so immense.

I wasn’t aware that Heaven was so much fun and full of adventure.

I couldn’t stop thinking about that far kingdom, seeming not so far.

That’s why this song has been playing in my ears as I drift off to sleep lately.

(Plus, I have a soft spot for husband/wife duos from the midwest.)

This week, this is my story, this is my song.

Far Kingdom, by The Gray Havens

Soon

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soonI suppose every generation wonders — is this the final age?  Will we be the fortunate people who actually hear the trumpet sound, see the sky split open, transport to another realm?

Maybe it’s common for people my age — with children raised, careers winding down, youthfulness fading — to spend time considering eternity.

Perhaps in every century, believers have observed signs of a world “groaning as in the pains of childbirth”, waiting for its deliverance.

I just know that since meeting every Wednesday this fall with fifty beautiful women and studying Heaven in depth, I can’t stop thinking about it.  Heaven has become near and dear — a real place, a true home.

I don’t know the time or date,

but I do feel a stirring in the world and in my heart.

Could be soon.

This week, this is my story.  This is my song.

“Soon” by Hillsong United