Anticipating Home

Last year we moved from the city where we had lived for about 30 years. It has been adjustment in many, many ways and there have been lonely times - it's not easy to build new relationships.

A few months ago I had an opportunity to drive back to the city where we used to live. As I was nearing the city I felt the anticipation begin to build within me. Seeing the first sign indicating that it was only a few more miles to city center filled me with an overwhelming sense of "I'm home!". I saw people that I loved and who I miss very much. I was filled with peace and acceptance and a sense of belonging. I felt able to relax and let go because I was home. I hadn't realized how much I missed it until I was actually there.

It got me thinking about heaven and the anticipation I feel about arriving at my eternal home. I can only imagine the joy and peace I will experience when I arrive. Sometimes I imagine seeing those who are there waiting for me even now, family members that I have never even met, others who have gone on before me who I look forward to seeing again. I imagine the sense of acceptance and love that I know will surround me. Most of all I think about the joy I will feel when I see the face of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

The first line of the book called The Road Less Travelled my M. Scott Peck sums up life on planet earth very well. It says "Life is difficult". I could go on and on about that statement and that book, but really when I first read it and came to accept that truth it changed the way I viewed my life. Life is difficult and that's just a fact. As long as we're here on this earth we will have struggles.

Don't get me wrong, my life is filled with blessings that are too many for me to count! There are times when I feel very lonely, afraid and sad as we all do. When I remember that all of this is temporary and that the is another home where I ultimately belong, there stirs within me such a sense of longing.

I recall that sense of peace when I arrived home a few months ago, and remember that one day I will arrive at my eternal home. Surely the joy, peace, and acceptance will be infinitely more than I felt at arriving back at my old home!

Sometimes I just can't wait.......