He knew EXACTLY what He was doing...
Oh yes I miss our friends, our great neighbors, the wonderful people that were at our old church... the great potential there...
Was it hard moving a family of nine, 12 hours away... A resounding YES!!! I Never want to do it again! Unless that is what God wills... :) And Greg may have to take me kicking and screaming if that occurs:):) Kidding...
I will tell you that on our visit to this church when we brought the whole family to take a look... My immediate reaction was and I told Greg that day... "It felt like HOME!!" He agreed...
I know how can that be, that I truly felt at home right away?? Honestly, I don't know... but the church buildings, the people, the welcome, our potential home on campus, the deep dish pizza, (I am kidding... but it was delicious!!!) all of it put together made it feel like home right from the start...
And we still feel at home... Even amidst the rough spots of helping 7 kids adjust to a new home, new church, new friends, all of it... even with Greg and I leaving extremely special friends behind the Lord has been so gracious to bring us to such a special place... Faithfully He provides for ALL things...
And yet, while it feels like home... right here on the campus there is the ever present reminder that this is not our home...
It isn't our permanent home... And praise God for that...
As wonderful as it can be... This decaying earth is not all there is...
As a kid... I was always a little creeped out by cemeteries... never would I have wanted to live by one...
But yet here on the church campus we have a beautiful cemetery...
We walk through it every day to pick up Hope from preschool... The boys weed eat all around the headstones all summer to keep it looking nice when they work the maintenance crew... We have a friend from seminary buried here... We take family walks there in the summer time... I have spent hours just walking through it and reading the headstones... Totally amazing! (I will post soon about a family that I found buried here that just broke my heart!!!) It is really a beautiful, quiet, quaint, cemetery...
And it isn't creepy at all... It is wonderful...
Yes, I said that... WONDERFUL...
I think I now have a little different perspective on cemeteries... I know people's loved ones remains are there... and I respect that... just like I would want someone to respect where my Samuel was if he was buried somewhere... And honestly I have walked through this cemetery a hundred times thinking, "I think I would feel comfortable burying Samuel's ashes here." And then as soon as I think it... I cry... so much emotion... Even that though is a sign that God is healing my heart more and more with time...
And every time as I drive past the cemetery, around the old historic chapel on campus, past the tall majestic pines and into my driveway... that beautiful cemetery serves as a constant reminder that this earth is not my home... Praise God there is SO much more...
So much more than the sadness of loss and betrayal that this world offers...
So much more than the fleeting joys of this earth...
So much more than the fruitless material goods that so easily entangle us here in this life...
So much more than the empty promises of more money, more weight loss, straighter teeth, shinier hair etc, etc... of our earthly life...
So so much more...
And my full heart rejoices at that....
Life is breathlessly short...
Life is fleeting...
We can't take a bit of it with us...
Only that which is eternal will remain...
I am so thankful for the daily reminder that...
Heaven is our home... reunions... rejoicing... worshipping our servant and risen king FOREVER...
I CAN NOT WAIT!
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