Homeward Bound

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. Heb. 13:14

A few years ago, my friends traveled the world. Along their journey, they had some great experiences, and some not so great. But at each stop along the way, they purchased various souvenirs – clothing, jewelry, household items. One purchase was a beautiful but large Italian mirror. They couldn’t carry it with them and so had it shipped home. That decision led to other purchases from further destinations being sent home. When they finally arrived home, they had a house full of treasures awaiting them.

Eventually, those treasures lost their newness. The mirror chipped, the souvenirs collected dust. Fortunately for my friends, those tangible items weren’t their true treasures.  Still, they relished the memories made, the relationships forged, the lessons learned.

Of Birth and Death

The picture above is at the WTC memorial.
The rose was placed on Bruce's birthday.
This photo honors both his birth and death. 

Today is one of those days where you can’t help but remember the exact moment when you heard the news. You know where you were, who you were with, what you were doing. I was standing in my kitchen watching the smoke billowing from the World Trade Center, a building I worked in for 11 years.

Each year brings another anniversary of a day that changed the world as we knew it, a day we commemorate the lives that were lost.

How To Hear From God

In his 2^nd letter to the Thessalonians, Paul encouraged the church again to stand firm in the face of persecution. He urged them to “keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.” The Thessalonians heard from Paul both in person and by letter.

Likewise, we hear from God both in person and by letter. <<Click to tweet>>

Supernaturally, by the Holy Spirit, we can experience the presence of God. We sense His leading. We feel His peace. We are strengthened by His power. We can hear from God in person.

We also hear from God through the Bible, His love letter to us, His children. The words in the Word are “living and active.” They are not merely ink on a page. They speak directly to our hearts in miraculous ways.

The danger is when our relationship with God is unbalanced, focused on one OR the other. 

Graduation Day!

Congratulations, AJ!

You have made your Dad and I so proud in so many ways.

I love this picture that my sister took at AJ's graduation last week. His confident cheerful swagger as he entered the graduation ceremony testifies to his confident cheerful demeanor.

Graduations are reminders of the changing seasons of our lives. While this is the end of AJ's high school days, it is the beginning of an exciting new chapter of his life. What he learned and experienced in high school contributes to the person he will be tomorrow.
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Not surprising that I see this as a metaphor for our lives in Christ. The experiences that we have while here on earth serve to mold us into the person that God wants us to be, both here and in the hereafter. As the Apostle Paul said, "our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." Our life on earth is preparation for the job that God has planned for us for eternity.
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My prayer is that you and I will face eternity with a confident cheerful swagger knowing that the best is yet to come, that we have been prepared to face the future, a future that is superior to anything that we have ever known. May we view our passage as a graduation filled with hopeful expectation.
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"For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth." Psalm 71:5
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"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." Philippians 1:20

Susan