When I'm gone...

Today I stayed home...home...it seems to be a word I have heard often as of late...different homes...those of our childhood...those of where we have lived or those where we are not living...and ultimately...our Heavenly Home...

Perhaps it was this thought of home...of doing my taxes...of not feeling just right...that I wanted something "smooth"...something of home...and so for supper I chose shepherd's pie...it makes me think of my mom...of home...of a home that I will never return to other than in the snapshots in my mind or those that take up an old box...

I heard on the news of a young boy who was killed in a "hate crime"...I am thinking most crimes can be traced in one way or another of hate...but that not being my point...but the part that got me was listening to his mother...of her talking of listening to him sing his songs he was going to a tryout for...and one of them...You're gonna miss me when I'm gone.    I love to watch Izzy do the cups with the song from Pitch Perfect...but I think of those that are gone...and are missed...

But I think of that mother...and my heart hurts for her...I think of others who have lost and I think of a special family that is grieving the loss of a husband...a daddy...a grandpa...Jerry Bonds left this world for a better place.   When I think of this man...I think of how he loved his family...to have fought such a fight.    Many times people would say he is not doing well...BUT he would keep fighting...and you would see him out and about again.    I think of his wife Leslie...and the two of them such role models in their fight.    Their faith something to behold to us who watched from the outside...the way they handled this battle with such dignity and LOVE!   

Jerry and his family have been on my mind especially in the mornings...my devotions seem to keep talking of NEW...it seems to be such a word that pops up all the time since my Firecracker had told me how she just felt so new...and this morning I was reading day 36 of the 40 Days with Jesus By Sarah Young...and so I take some from it and a little from my journal...and as I am spending time at my kitchen table this morning...I see the sun start to come up and it is if to say to the red moon from the night...you ain't got nothing.   But as I catch some of the glowing red...it then seems to blend into the mist that is in the air...and I think...it is Jerry's sunrise and so I think of how the intensity that the camera seemed to capture of the light...and so I add in a verse that goes with the day...

So I include the reading...

And my eyes open to see a very cool sunrise…I stop to take pics and it is but a haziness that seems to allow us to see the sun.   I read today’s Day 36…again I think of Leslie…

“I GIVE YOU HOPE—hope that the best part of your life is not behind you.   Rather, it stretches out before you gloriously; into an eternity of experiences that will get better and better and better.   For now, though, you inhabit a world of death, sorrow, crying, and pain.   Let the hope of heaven empower you to live well in this broken world that is passing away.  In heaven I will wipe away every tear from your eyes—permanently!

If this world were all there is, it would be tragic beyond description.   When the day the LORD comes, I will destroy the entire universe as you know it.  And I will replace it with a new universe where My followers will live forever in ceaseless ecstasy.   Let this hope give you courage to keep holding your head up high as you endure suffering and sorrow. 

The best part of your life lies ahead—stored up for you in heaven, awaiting your arrival.   This is true for all Christians, both young and old.   As you grow older and deal with infirmities, you may feel as if your life is closing in on you.   Physically, your limitations do increase with age and illness.   However, your spiritual life can open up ever wider as your soul grows strong in the nourishing Light of My Presence.   When you “graduate” to heaven, your soul-Joy will instantly expand—exponentially!   Bless is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.   There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”  Revelation 21:4

AND I READ  AFTER THAT…

“Then HE who sat on the throne said “Behold, I will make all things new.”   And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” Revelation 21:5

AGAIN…Excuse me…Are YOU talking to me!    I think of Izzy and I giggling at Wendy’s when I told her that and she repeated it and we giggled more…but it is for the Journal of Truth!

And so I say a prayer of comfort and peace for the Bond family...and I think of Jerry's kids...I lost my father to cancer as a young woman with a family...similar in that they fought hard and loved hard...the kind of man that leaves a hole...but the kind of man that his love will be felt always!    A man who had a faith that we will be reminded of at Easter...of that in which we hold to that Jerry has went to be with our LORD...and we will miss him for sure...BUT we will hold tight to his love and memories...PEACE be with you!

lyp