If you were to chat with Erik personally, your conversation would be paused here and there by our children. So throughout these texts, I'll sprinkle photos of our family along the way.
Enjoy!
As we do at every wedding anniversary, Erik and I were slicing chocolate cake and scooping french vanilla ice cream one night this week to celebrate. While we did, we talked. Here is what Erik shared:
So I was thinking about eternity.
We have more than what we have now to look forward to.
Think of what we have here. Think about the creation story. The artistry, the creativity, the details, the mountains. God didn't have to make them beautiful so that we'd want to hike in them and paint them and enjoy them. But He did. This is His earth. Imagine His heaven. Do you think He'll cheap out? "Oh, that's not what I expected" or"Oh, that's gold plated... that's not solid gold!" No!
You think about the difference between the guys you had hopes and dreams of and the man you're married to. God's chosen man for you. And for me, I think about the difference between the women I had hopes for. They may as well be from a different planet, compared to you. As far as I'm concerned, He molded you with His own hands and gave you to me. Custom designed and custom prepared for 26 years. For me. To be my bride.
That's the difference between life on earth and life in heaven.
Even our new bodies are going to blow our minds. And the relationships... there are still going to be relationships - only richer and fuller. Still life. Still living. For eternity.
That blows my mind. I can't wrap my mind around that, but I can wrap my mind around the difference between who I was and who I am now in Christ. I know the difference as a new creation in Christ. I know Dead. And then Alive...in Christ. I know the feeling and the difference. There will be an equal difference, as now I'm a new creation in my humanity, in this body. But as I die physically and have a new body in heaven I think the change will be as significant, if not more. So... bring it on! I don't want to wish death, but I want death when He wants it to come. Why wouldn't I want that? I'll be here. I'll be available for His glory. If He doesn't want me here, why wouldn't I want to be in a place like that?
Eternity. Do I want that with you? Absolutely. I want eternity with the Lord - what a privilege that is! The fulness of that. We have it so good now - there are tough days - but the rich days? Heaven's not even going to come close to that. Eternity's going to blow that out of the water! And we're going to be there, together, worshipping Him. Our focus is going to be Him.
Of course we'll miss people. We mourn the loss of a brother or sister who dies, but what a joy to know that in Christ we're going to have eternity with them... forever. I'm so grateful that we're going to be there. My hope is that the kids are going to be there. And the other ones that weren't born (our miscarriages). What a privilege. How much fun that's going to be.
You think of the minuteness of our lives here on earth compared with eternity. The blink of an eye. Life here is the smallest step of our full journey with Christ. A small window in our humanity, but our choice in choosing God and following Him that leads us to an eternity in His kingdom, with His truth, His life, His perfection.
And the beauty is, heaven's not what I hold on to, because I have so much of the fulness of His life, today. In what we have now, in Christ. Even in the midst of the challenges we face in our roles as parents and as husband and wife, in Christ it's so good. So rich. Thank you for being His so that you can be mine.
No comments:
Post a Comment