Longing

This morning I'm overcome with thoughts that I want to share. Hopefully they will make sense.

The life I have is not one that I imagined I'd have. Growing up we rarely went anywhere and most of our family was relatively close by. I never even went on an airplane until I was a senior in high school and I bought the ticket myself. I always had a yearning to go places and do things, but the resources were just not there. So I stayed close to home for the most part.

When I got to college, I slowly began to travel. At that time in my life, I was really just wanting to go anywhere to get away from me. Does that make sense? I was running, but ultimately I was running from myself.

It was on one of those college getaways that I met Chuck. My relationship with Chuck required travel since he lived 4 hours away. Marrying him meant moving away, which I gladly did. I was still running from myself, but didn't know it.

When I met Jesus in 2001, everything changed. For a few years already I had been working on the things about me that had me running from me. I thought a relationship with Jesus was bound to be dull and boring and I couldn't have been more wrong.

No longer running, I found that God was calling me on a wild adventure. I have traveled more as a Christian than I ever did before. We also travel a lot to see family, and we like to do that.

So now I'll finally get to why I'm sharing all of this. Along the way in our travels, Chuck and I have met some awesome, awesome people. It always saddens me greatly to realize that I'm probably not going to see most of these people very much in this world. There is something about mission trips that fosters strong relationships between mere strangers. Some of the people I have come to love the most are people that I've only spent a handful of days with in a third world country.

This morning I was reading in 1 Thessalonians about how Paul longed to see the people in Thessalonica. I have friends all over the country whom I seriously long to see. I have joked with some of them by saying, "We are for sure hanging out in Heaven." It's kind of funny to think about, but I'm serious. I won't even pretend to think I have any idea of what Heaven is going to be like. Yes, the Bible talks about it, but I just don't think our little minds are capable of wrapping around what Heaven will be like. Perhaps you disagree, and that's okay. It's just my opinion.

This morning I find myself longing to see some of these friends, some of whom I've completely lost touch with. And I draw comfort from knowing that one day we will be in Heaven together. Unfortunetly, there are some special people in my life that I'm not certain I will see in Heaven. I'm just gonna lay it out there - not all people go to Heaven, not even all good people. The Bible is absolutely clear that you get to God and Heaven through Jesus and only through Jesus. If you disagree with that, I beg you to check it out for yourself. Don't just trust your own ideas or things you've heard somewhere. Look for the truth. It's out there.

Well, I didn't mean to go all evangelical, but I guess that's what's in my heart this morning. If you're reading this, I definitely want to see you in Heaven. In fact, I long to see you there.