A view of heaven

Five of us home with COVID… Veronica most seriously; my sister Valerie, visiting for Thanksgiving, is unfortunately included. Rachel (16) and Rajim (13) stayed the strongest through all this time, and me. I did not get a super heavy case, but neither am I in a quick recuperation. The doctor says I need to rest more. OK. But I find that tiring.

What has my head been thinking, and my heart focused on?

My paraphrase of Phil 1.21 – As far as I am concerned, if I am going to live only once, I want to make it count, I want to live fully surrendered to Him and to His purposes.

And just like I want to live good, I want to die joyfully, open arms to my ex-enemy death who used to have a terrible stinger pointed my way but now is just a warm and fuzzy doorway to eternity.

OK, I am waxing too eloquent here with Phil 1.21… for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

When I saw Veronica closest to death, it made me reflect back… meeting her first as a single gal at Rose Park Orphanage, uninterested in everything except God and the kids He had put into her life.

Then she made this great leap of faith in accepting my marriage proposal, not because she was particularly thrilled with the idea—maybe—but because she knew God was telling her to do so.

And 46 years later, a houseful of kids, lots of wild experiences, lots of daring, lots of trusting, lots of living by faith, we do not pat ourselves on the back as if impressed with us, but looking at it from here, it does look like a simple living out of Paul in his Ph 1.21…

And if death was next, so be it. Either for Veronica, or for me.

I have often said I choose to live for 100 years, if I can be effective for Christ during that time.

But this week, I embraced a sooner-than-planned trip to paradise. Not that I was particularly close to death, but I was enjoying the view, the focus of it, the joy in it, the excited anticipation as I perused the Scripture… one day in Your presence is better than 1000 outside the gate…

Ah yes.