Moving Day!

Tonight we hope to move much of our belongings from Grand Haven into our new residence in Norton Shores.    Yeah!  Then, Saturday we will move the remainder from this mountain of boxes at church.  You are all welcome to help!  We may even be sleeping in beds by 10PM at night!


This has been a long process of making our home in MI.  There has been many moments of anxiety and lost sleep.  We have left many good friends in MN and have begun to make good ones in MI.  We have put in much effort (as have others from church) to make this house our new place to live.  I have missed too many family meals and bedtimes.  It has gotten very old to come home and hear, "Yeah, Daddy is going to eat dinner with us tonight!"  


We have been anticipating this next step in our MI journey for a long time.  Presently, Grand Haven is called home but it is merely a temporary residence, not our home.  We haven't unpacked much at this house because we have bigger plans.  We haven't put energy into beautifying the Grand Haven house because we plan to continue the process of making the Norton Shores house our home.  After all, it is all a process.  Someday this year I hope that I and my family will be able to call the Norton Shores house our home.


I hope that I can have the same focus on my heavenly home too.  This life is to be lived to the full but it is not our final destination. We should invest some energy and focus here but always remember that this is not our final home.  It should not be confused with the end of our journey.  It is only a taste of real life, a glimmer of what is in store for us.  


I want to have the laser sighting on this life like that of the last verse of "It is well with my soul".
And Lord, hast the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

That will be a cool moving day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjGZqp59RZg

A Taste?

I got a little taste of heaven the other day.  It happened in a church youth room to which Youth Pastors just say "Duh!"  There is a group of guys who meet every Monday for 2 hours to play ping pong in the youth room.  Now I am getting a bit older in life but these guys make feel like I am a teenager.  During their time in the military, for many this was WW2 or Korean war era, they were not out boozing it up or gambling their money away.  They needed to find constructive ways to use their down time so they began playing ping pong.  So after 50+ years of playing, they have a lot of practice and they are all pretty good still!

Earlier, the pastor of the church stated that this group met and said that if I wanted to join them that they would surely welcome some more competition.  Being someone who loves to play games, I planned on going the next time they met.  To be honest, my expectations were low because I minored in game room activities in college.  Many who know and love me would say that I am "very competitive" and there are few games that I do not like, except for the game "Peanuts" where my wife soundly beats me every time!

Monday, I show up for a few games.  Instantly I am welcomed with handshakes and some Dutch Bingo by those not playing at the time.  I notice 2 ping pong tables and each table is playing doubles.  After a short time I am instructed to get a paddle out of the box and join in a team at one of the tables.  They go over the rules just so that everyone knows them.  I am sure that they thought me to be part of the X-box generation who doesn't know how to play anything without a game controller.  After the rules have been established we are ready to start.

It didn't take long to discover that these guys like each other.  They are really good individually but they compliment whoever makes a good play, teammate or not.  There is laughing and joking all around as everyone has fun playing.  After a while they sit around a table to talk about their week, the latest news, and people that need some care.

That was the picture for me!  They honestly care about each other.  They laugh and joke with each other.  They congratulate each other for using the gifts God has given them.  They care for others that they know.  They share a common bond with each other and Jesus.

I don't have a photo of what heaven looks like but it has to look something like this.  Of course, if I knew exactly what it was like I am sure I would want too badly to be there.  What I do know about God, this is just a taste of what an eternity will be like with him.  That is going to be awesome!  Maybe then I will be able to return their killer serves!