In the Valley of Baca Journal #29

From the underside

In the Valley of Baca Journal #29

December 12, 2020: This poem by Corrie Ten Boom, “Life Is But A Weaving,” touched me today  It can be hard to understand the grand picture that God is working of our lives when we can only see the tapestry from the underside— the things we suffer, the troubling times, the sorrows, as long as we are living in this life. When we get to the other side, the “topside of life” in the next world with Jesus, like the topside of the tapestry, then we will understand what God was creating out of our lives as He was working “all things together for good to those who are the called according to His purpose.“(Romans 8:28)

Life Is But A Weaving

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly

Will God unroll the canvas and reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful in the weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares; nothing this truth can dim.

He gives the very best to those who leave the choice to Him.

Following is a commentary by Lance Wallnau about what is going on in the nation specifically, but I see an application to my own current experience as well:  “…God is working out His plan. We just need to see the grand design through heaven’s eyes. Your life is a thread, tied into the complex and majestic grand design of the story that began in Genesis. God’s Logos, the Word of God, hovered over the chaos of a formless void. The word for this void in Hebrew is the word Tohu va-Volu, which describes a condition of confusion and unfathomable chaos. God hovers over this condition and brings out something beautiful. Looking at the earth we see the void; but looking through heaven’s eyes, we see the design. The Word of God, the Logos, gives us eyes to see what is happening.”

January 31, 2021:  “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers …” (Acts 13:36)I heard this verse mentioned in a sermon recently and it spoke peace to me—when I have “served the purpose of God” in my own generation, that’s when He will take me Home to be with Him forever.  I feel that His purpose for me through this illness is to be a light for Him–to family, to friends. For over 50 years I have known Him—I experience His forgiveness through His blood, I have seen many answered prayers, and I’ve tasted what it is like to sense the sweetness and beauty of His Presence. He is the Beautiful One. And life forever with Him can only be beautiful.

In the Valley of Baca Journal #18

“What if Thou make us able to make like Thee?
To light with moons, to clothe with greenery,
To hang gold sunsets o’er a rose and purple sea?”
~George MacDonald

In the Valley of Baca Journal #18

Dec. 24, 2018: I have been encouraged by a recent report that Lynparza, the maintenance medication I am taking, performed excellently in three studies involving late stage ovarian cancer.  Still, I’m not depending on that for my hope, but rather on Jesus.

I have been enjoying this Christmas season with the family, with an added depth of appreciation for them and for life.  As a friend pointed out recently, none of us knows how many, or even if, we will have more Christmas-times together.

Dec. 26,2018: “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; [your eyes] will behold a land of wide distances that stretches afar.” ~Isaiah 33:17  This promise for my future beyond this life make that “hope ember” glow in my heart.

Jan. 6, 2019: “Ah, Lord God, behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and outstretched arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.” ~Jeremiah 32:17 

I am gazing at the awesome beauty of the morning sky here in Sanibel, Florida, planets Venus and Jupiter lighting the eastern horizon above the sea as morning stars. The Almighty God Who created them, by His “stretched out arm,” also created me. And, because of Jesus, I am His—and He is mine.  There is no safer place to be.

January 23, 2019: The sea is roaring today, and I love the sound of it. A strong wind has whipped the waves into a frenzy.

Celebrating my 72^nd birthday tomorrow! As my grandma used to say, “I can’t believe I am this old!” I have come to the realization that each new day in my life is a gift to be celebrated with thankfulness.

I am thankful also for the medication that allows me to continue on this journey. I’m feeling quite well, although my strength is compromised and I’m dealing with some mild to moderate side effects lingering from my summer chemotherapy treatment. But I can live with them.

January 24, 2019: It is 6 a.m. and I find myself meditating on the fact that 72 years ago this morning, at this time, my mother was in labor at a hospital in Hamtramack, Michigan, about to give birth to me in two hours at 8:25 a.m.  My uncle was her attending physician who delivered me. I had no choice in the matter—no choice as to the hour or day of my birth, no choice as to the family I was being born into, no choice even in my own existence.  All that was predetermined for me.

However, I do now have choices—how I live my life and with whom, whether to put my faith in God, trusting the Lord Jesus with my life and my future—innumerable choices as I walk through life, day by day. This life, that begins with choices being made for us, ends in the same manner. We don’t have the right to choose when our life here on earth is to end—although some people usurp that power and do end their own lives. But only God, who is the Giver of life, has that right to decide when earthly life is to end.  I trust Him—He is kind, He is loving, I am safe with Him. This is my choice.

In the Valley of Baca Journal #17

Nov. 24,2018: “You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.” (Psalm 18:28)

Nov. 27,2018: I started my maintenance chemo medication today. It is called a PARP inhibitor and is to continue indefinitely or until the cancer returns. PARP inhibitors have been shown to prolong the remission time following chemotherapy, so I am encouraged to be taking this medication. Another advantage is that it is in pill form, so I won’t be having the IV infusions now.

Dec. 2,2018: I woke up in the middle of last night with a song playing in my mind.  It was a familiar hymn about how Jesus loved me more than anyone else could ever love me. Oddly, I had not heard or thought about this song for years. It played a couple of times, and I thought about it and what it meant to me—and then it faded away as I fell back asleep.  And now this morning I can’t remember the song, but I do remember the message—that He loves me more than I can know! I believe this was the Holy Spirit speaking to me. “…God my Maker, Who gives songs of rejoicing in the night.” (Job 35:10)

Dec. 4,2018: That song that I heard in my mind a couple of nights ago, that I couldn’t remember in the morning, came back to me this morning: “No one ever cared for me like Jesus/ There’s no other friend so kind as He;/ No one else could take the sin and darkness from me;/ Oh, how much He cares for me!”

Dec. 6,2018: I am continually amazed by how a Scripture verse can suddenly touch me. Today’s verse: “How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them they would outnumber the grains of sand.” (Psalm 139:17,18)

Dec. 11,2018: I felt a spark ignite in my heart a couple of days ago—I’m not sure what touched it off, but I think it was a Christmas song I was listening to that made me think of Heaven. I felt this intense glowing—like a candle flame—that when I considered it, was intense and bursting with joy—pure and powerful JOY!

This cancer that I have is aggressive and high grade they tell me, and has caused me to think a lot more about dying—and, in God’s time,it’s likely to take me there.  When I think of leaving my family behind—my loved ones, my dear ones, I am reminded that I am still in the Valley of Weeping, as tears flow freely.  But I know also that God’s timing is best—and He loves them more than I ever could. He will care for them.

A poem by Amy Carmichael comes to mind called “For My Beloved”: “For my beloved I will not fear;/ Love knows to do for him, for her,/As hitherto, whom my heart cherishes/ Are dear to Thy heart too!”

In the meantime, I’m not expecting to die anytime soon—the maintenance medicine I’m on holds promise of buying me some time yet. But the ember of hope and joy that now burns in my heart, with more intensity than ever before, opens the horizon to me of life and more life to be.  And so my quest each new day continues to be: How can I praise and glorify You today, Lord?

In The Valley of Baca Journal #16

October 30, 2018: For some reason I don’t understand entirely, until the wee hours of this morning, I hadn’t been able to ask the Lord to heal me.  But in the dark and quiet of this morning, the prayer bubbled up from deep inside, “O Jesus, please heal me—heal me please!”  All through this day the prayer kept repeating, quietly, urgently—“Please—heal me!”

October 31, 2018: I learned today the results of some genetic testing I had done that I have a “broken gene” and that it may lie at cause of this cancer.

November 9, 2018: I had a surgical repair done 3 days ago of a suture line from my previous surgery—a “wound dehiscence” they called it. I have been feeling quite well ever since and am thankful to God for that.

November 11, 2018: This verse speaks to me today—He will quiet you with His love…” (Zephaniah 3:17) My inner spirit has felt so peaceful and hopeful all the way through this ordeal (once the initial shock had passed)—it has to be from the Lord. I feel confident that I am in the center of His will as I pass through this Valley of Baca.

November 13,2018: “Surely God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2)

November 14,2018: As I am passing through this Valley of Weeping, and making it a “place of springs—of pools of blessings,” I am thinking about how the depth of my trust in the Lord has increased—how my hope in Him has grown—not only for this life, but to think beyond this life—to consider with more seriousness than ever, my hope for the next phase of life—beyond the grave. These are some of the “pools of blessing” in the Valley.

Another pool of blessing has been experiencing the love of so many friends, and of my family, as they have reached out to me and prayed for me.

November 15,2018: “Your God has commanded your strength; O God, display Your might and strengthen what You have wrought for us!” (Ps. 68:28)

Many friends have complimented me on my “strength” as I am going through this trial, but I know that it is God Who has strengthened me, and strengthened my faith, for on my own I would surely have succumbed to fear and sadness and hopelessness.  I am totally dependent on Him for the strength to face this cancer and for the faith He is building in my heart.

“And as your days are, so will your strength, your rest and security be.” ~Deut. 33:25

November 17,2018: “How great You are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like You and there is no God but You!”  ~2 Samuel 7:22

The sky was clear this morning while still dark just before dawn, and I stepped outside briefly to look at the stars—they always take my thoughts right to God—how amazing He is that He could create this immense and immeasurably vast and complex universe by speaking it into existence!  I am ever in awe!

And then to think—that He loves me! That He came to earth as a man to give His own human life to pay the ransom for me—for anyone who will believe—so that we can be with Him forever!

“The Lord will be your everlasting Light and your God will be your glory.  ~Isaiah 60:19

In the Valley of Baca Journal #13

“Your trouble began the hour He saw best: it could not come before, and He has marked the degree of it to a hair’s breadth, and a duration to the minute.”  ~John Newton

 September 4, 2018: I received my diagnosis of metastatic carcinoma, stage IV, on April 19, 2018, though it began long before when I didn’t even know—but God knew, and planned for me to go through this with Him as my  Shepherd.

“When illness, bereavement, opposition or troubles of all kinds find us, we must choose to depend solely on God’s help, and He will never, ever let us down. In fact, God even offers His wisdom to help us (James 1:5)” ~Scripture Union commentary.

 September 13, 2018: Had my 5^th chemo treatment a week ago today and I’m emerging from it, gradually feeling stronger and more energetic.  The first week after is always the most difficult, though it could be so much worse (for one thing, I haven’t been plagued with nausea and vomiting, as so many are).  I have been getting a cumulative effect of months of chemo—the side effects   grown somewhat more intense, but still on the relatively mild side. But I only have one more big dose of chemo to go in 2 weeks, after that I’ll be on maintenance, which I’m told is easier to tolerate.

September 14, 2018: I’m so thankful for the faithful prayers of family and friends—I have been uplifted in hope and encouragement through this all. Scripture tells us in James, “and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” This is what my people have done for me.

September 15,2018: My prayer in recent years upon waking each morning has been this: “How can I glorify You today, Lord?” And then I would look for some way during that day that I could praise Him, or say something about Him to another that would lift Him up in their thoughts. Recent developments in my health have turned my thoughts in the direction of trusting and praising Him through this valley of sickness—and of facing the brevity of this life, the promise of the next life, the hope we have in Jesus of eternal life. How can I glorify Him today?

 …When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold [pure and luminous].” 

~Job 23:10 (Amplified Bible)

 

In the Valley of Baca Journal #10

July 20, 2018: Psalm 40:1,2 is speaking to me today:

“Patiently I waited, expectantly for the Lord. / He listened and heard my cry.

He drew me up out of the horrible pit/ Out of tumult, destruction, miry clay and grit—

Set my feet on a rock –firm, established, definite. / He listened and heard my cry.”

 

July 23,2018: Today is the day before my surgery, and I am praying this prayer with another who was actually walking in the Valley of the Shadow—one who was dying of pancreatic cancer: “We live and pray one day at a time. We pray each day and say, ‘Thank You, God, for the healing You gave me today. Please heal me tomorrow.’ ”

July 25, 2018: First day after—doing tolerably well. There’s pain, but it’s being managed and controlled.

Going into surgery, I felt no anxiety or fear, just very secure in God’s hands and the surgeon’s, and very prayed for. As the nurses were rolling my stretcher into the OR, we passed a large window in the hallway out of which I caught a glimpse of the sky and clouds. The thought struck me (the Holy Spirit so often does this) of how I was in God’s hands, and of all the lovely people (many of whom don’t even know me personally) who were praying for me, especially that morning. The thought brought such a tender feeling followed by tears. As I lay on my back with my ears filling up with tears, (and putting me in mind of the old, funny country song, “I’ve got tears in my ears/ Layin’ on my back/ Cryin’ over you!) my nurses were concerned and were asking if I was all right. And then my dear Dr. Liu saw my tears and took a tissue and wiped them away for me—such compassion is the sign of a really good doctor in my book. That is in addition to her reputation for being one of the best doctors in the country at what she does.

I woke up from the surgery in a lot of pain—apparently the epidural drip pain relief wasn’t kicking in as it should. After a little bit I did get some relief, thankfully.

This first day post-op has been a day of gradual improvement—getting out of bed, walking, eating hospital food…Each time I’m getting up it is getting a little easier.

Feelings of gratitude to the Lord are strong—what a wonderful Savior, Who doesn’t necessarily take us out of our troubles, but goes through them with us. I’m safe with Him, no matter what—and with Him is the most wonderful place to be.

 

July 26, 2018: “I am poor and needy, yet the Lord takes thought for me/ You are my Help and my Deliverer. / O my God, do not tarry!” ~Psalm 40:17

This day was a more difficult day with a lot of stomach discomfort. I was originally planning to go home today, but as it turned out, wasn’t ready yet.

 

July 30,, 2018: This is my 3^rd day at home now, and I’m feeling a bit stronger in some ways. The abdominal swelling has gone down quite a bit and I’m getting up and down more easily. Had a much dreaded vomiting episode yesterday morning, and although it was painful, it wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be, considering my large incision. On anti-nausea med now that is helping.

 

August 1, 2018: The picture accompanying this post is of a sunrise, not a sunset, and is symbolic to me of the promise and hope for the future that I have in Jesus—for this life and the next.

               

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In the Valley of Baca #7

June 7, 2018: My second infusion was yesterday and went well with a couple of hitches—I reacted to the first medicine (Taxol) which was being rapidly infused by developing serious back pain and flushing of my skin. After the pain subsided, some adjustments were made to the rate of infusion, and the procedure continued until the last infusion, which was the study drug (or placebo). I had another issue then again with back pain, though it was of a different nature. The infusion was again slowed. And so it turned into another long 10 hour day.

Today I’m feeling the steroid effect—energy, light spirits, a little jittery. It doesn’t last long, but is nice while it does.

June 13,2018: I’ve been down for the past week with tiredness, weakness, stomach issues and lack of zest. I’ve been forcing fluids every day to see if that would help in this recovery stage.  And today (Day 1 of the 2^nd week after infusion) I woke up feeling rested, and I feel a zest for the day.  Perhaps this is the pattern (first week down, then following weeks better) for future treatments as well.

June 14, 2018: Today I feel overwhelmed with HOPE! Everywhere I look—no matter how my health issue resolves—I see only HOPE! What a wonderful gift Jesus has given us with HOPE for this life and HOPE for the next. He Himself is our HOPE!

“Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him Who is the Help of my countenance and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)

June 15, 2018: This passage from Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge speaks to me:

“ …‘Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.’

“The Lord wants to set you ablaze with the zeal for the face of Christ so that you might shine with the light of a relationship that enjoys intimacy first. If this fire of love is pure and bright, the Lord will set you on a lampstand so that you might give light to the entire household of faith.”

I have to wonder: Is this what is happening here to me? Am I being put up on a lampstand to shine for Him in this Valley of Baca experience? If it is, can I truly say with Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”? (Job 13:15 KJV)

My answer is “Yes, yes, yes!” How could I not trust Him? He has proven Himself to me again and again—that He loves me, that He has my best interests at heart… that He is everything to me! And again with Job I find myself saying, “He knows the way that I take [He has concern for it, appreciates and pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold [pure and luminous].” (Job 23:10 Amplified Bible)

In the Valley of Baca Journal #4

May 19, 2018

Side effects of my chemo treatment are now kicking in. I think it was the steroid I received during treatment that got me through the first day and a half with flying colors. But I have been aching all over now since last evening—feels like when I have the flu. Its’ tolerable, but not very pleasant. At least there’s no nausea—not yet anyway.

May 20, 2018

I slept better last night as the aching has subsided. Each morning I find myself asking the question, “Why am I here?” It’s a question I began asking when I was just a young teen. I had a favorite tree—an old oak tree on the farm where I grew up—and often on a summer day, in my off-time from chores we kids had to do each morning and evening, I would lay on the ground under that tree and look up through the branches at the clouds floating by. “Who is God? Who am I? Why am I here?” were questions that floated through my mind, along with a deep yearning feeling. I know now that it was the Holy Spirit preparing my heart for when Jesus would present Himself to me when I was 15.

Now I’m asking it anew—and I feel now that I know the answer. I am here to know God, to find my life in Him, and to glorify Him with my life. For a while now I’ve been greeting the Lord each morning, saying, “How can I glorify You today, Lord?” With these recent developments, it seems He is showing me a new way to know and glorify Him—in the way of suffering.

 

C.S. Lewis observed, “In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.” So here I am, learning about new ways to enjoy Him. And I have found that it is true that worshiping and glorifying God is one of the most enjoyable things there is to do.

True North

“Mom, which star is the North Star?”  My three daughters have each asked me that question at least once in their growing up years.  I explain that the easiest way to find the North Star is to first identify the Big Dipper, also known as Ursa Major. The Big Dipper revolves around the North Star, Polaris, so it is a reliable signpost. No matter what time of year you look, the two outer stars in the Big Dipper’s bowl always point to Polaris.  Draw a line with your eye, and you will see a faint star shining in the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper.  That is the North Star. It seems like it should be one of the dazzling brilliant stars like Sirius, Rigel or Betelguese—glowing with their intensity.  But it is not an obvious star.

Though dim and hard to find, and not directly overhead as one might expect it to be, the North Star reigns unrivaled  as the most important navigational star in the night sky.  The other stars are bright and beautiful, but there is a navigational problem with them: they move into various positions in various times of the night and seasons of the year; even from hour to hour they are traversing the sky.  You cannot navigate by them.  If you are without a compass, it is the utmost in importance to find the North Star if you wish to know what direction you are traveling at night.

So it is in our lives that we must search for and find true North.  Many people go through all of life following the brightest stars, but are consequently confused because there is no sure sense of direction. Only Jesus is the North Star of all of life.  He is True North.  As we align our inner, spiritual compass with Him and His Word, we will find our way.  But He is not so easily found—at least not so easily as those other brighter stars.

“Then will You seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) 

Searching with all one’s heart implies a desperate longing, a yearning, a “requiring of Him as a vital necessity”—this is much more than just a vague wondering or an uneasy feeling.  Yet if you know where to look, as in looking for Polaris in the north sky, Jesus is faithfully there, always in the same position.

Not easily found…and difficult to receive Him?  Perhaps, because it is humbling to admit that we need Him, but yet it is so simple that a child can find Him.  Implicit in receiving Him is the matter of repentance and faith.  These are the pointer stars—repentance and faith. Of repentance the Scripture says, “(God) commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).  Of faith He says, “For by grace are you saved, through faith…” (Ephesians 2:8).

Repent of your sins and place your faith in the Savior and you will be pointed due North.  Follow that direction, via the Word of God, until you find true North—the living Word of God, the Person of Jesus Christ Himself.  When you have found that Reality, the real Person of Jesus–and entered into relationship with  Him–then no matter what happens around you, no matter how the other “stars” may revolve and change position, you will be focused and steady and on course.  For the Jesus, the true North Star never changes position.

“He [God] Himself has said, ‘I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax my hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]’ ” ~Hebrews 13:5 (Amplified Bible)

 

Homemaker

“The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for the one purpose only—and that is to support the ultimate career.”  ~C.S. Lewis

I was out in my backyard one day when my neighbor beckoned to me to come into her yard. She led me to the end wall of her garage, and there, mounted near the peak, was a threatening looking nest of hornets.

An intimidating, swirling design on the nest suggested the appearance of one of those alarming war masks seen in Africa—an angry warning to stay away.  The bald-faced hornet residents, sadly for them, had to be disposed of and when they were gone I carefully removed the 12 inch long, cone-shaped nest from the garage.  I was surprised at the lightness of the paper exterior—several wafer-thin layers.

The interior architecture manifested an amazing skill in building.  A two-story honeycomb filled the space inside—hundreds of compartments, each a perfect hexagon.  Appearing to have been built from the top down, the larger, lower comb was attached to the upper by means of a single, solid, peg-like column.  All this had been constructed from wood fibers that the hornets had shaved from telephone poles, fence posts, wooden beams, and trees; the fibers had then been chewed and made into a paper, which they then plastered into the shape and interior hexagon design of this nest.  How would the hornets know how to construct such a home?

Homemakers are everywhere in nature…Outside my bathroom window, an orb-weaver creates another kind of home. Reluctant to disturb this rather impressive, quarter-sized spider, I have watched for successive years as first the parent and then the offspring have intricately woven their spiral webs.  Two kinds of thread are used to build this home: sticky thread and dry thread.  The spiral is the sticky part which traps the hapless insects flocking to the bathroom light. The spider is careful to only step on the dry threads, which are the spokes of the wheel-like web.  Specially designed legs and feet make this possible for the spider. A web of this sort is never totally vertical—it inclines so that the spider can maneuver from underneath safely.  The blueprint for construction of this beautiful web, inscribed on the spider’s tiny brain, is complex and is repeatedly done the same way. For example: half-way down thread A, it starts thread B, which will attach to thread C…

 

It seems each of God’s creatures has a built-in desire to make a home. Birds make nests of various sorts.  Some, such as the common house sparrow, merely toss together a loosely piled nest of grass and feathers.  The killdeer lays her eggs in a grass-lined hollow concealed in weeds or grass on the ground.

Other birds are more intricate in their designs. The hummingbird, for example, literally weaves her nest with fine grasses, hair and most commonly cobwebs.  Like a tiny acrobat, she builds almost entirely while on the wing.  She pokes these long threads around, over and under the supporting branch or leaf, sewing with her beak as with an embroidery needle. Using her own saliva, or perhaps some sticky nectar, she glues the first threads of the nest together, then, more threads are woven in.  When finished, these miniature nests usually measure less than an inch across.  Tiny and hidden among dense foliage, these homes provide a safe haven for the new generation of hummingbirds.

The skills that hornets, spiders, birds and a host of other creatures, including people, demonstrate are merely reflections of the skill of the Master Builder—no one knows how to build a home like Jesus. Ironically, while He was on the earth, it was He Who said that “the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

But though He was homeless while in human flesh, He now longs to make His home in our hearts.  In John 14:23 Jesus tells us “If a person loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”  To think of it—our hearts His home!

Furthermore, Jesus said to His followers “I go to prepare a place for you,” a place that will be our eternal home.  Such a magnitude of skill, such an intricate care He is giving to the designing of that home.  Think of the most wonderful place you could ever be and you will not have come close to imagining what Heaven will be like.

“I go to prepare a place for you…” ~Jesus

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for them that love Him.”  ~I Corinthians 2:9

Those who have come to know God deeply and personally, in whose hearts Jesus and the Father have already made their home, have experienced something of the riches, the treasures that are found in that relationship.  They have come to know already the delight and pleasure of His Presence in their lives.  If knowing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in this life can be so wonderful, if being God’s dwelling place can be such a blessing, what will it be when we reach our Heavenly Home?

“Just think of stepping on shore–and finding it Heaven!
Of touching a hand–and finding it God’s!
Of breathing new air–and finding it celestial!
Of waking up in glory–and finding it home!”

~ “Just Think…” ~author unknown