Finally Home

Uncle Andy and I in 2005

Uncle Andy and I at his 90th Birthday party last year

A couple days after Easter my Uncle Andy died and went home to be with Jesus. I loved him very much and will miss him very much. While I will be sad that he is gone, it has been amazing to me over this past week to imagine what it must be like to be where he is and to be able to see Jesus with his eyes and be in God's presence. When I have been listening to my favorite worship songs my mind has reflected on what joy there is for him to be able to praise God in heaven right now at this very moment. I'm so grateful for the hope and expectation God's gives us as believers of our future in heaven and knowing my uncle is experiencing that this instant grows a desire for that in my own heart.

My Uncle Andy loved Jesus very much and sharing the gospel was very important to him. What I love about being at the funeral of believers is to hear about the ways that their ministries touched the lives of so many people - things I never even knew about them when they were here. One of the things that was said at his funeral that has stayed on my mind was the pastor's comments on our perspective about heaven. He said that you usually hear it said that when one dies they have gone from the land of living into land of death. He explained that this is really backwards. Because of sin, we are all now in the land of the dying, all moving toward an eventual death. Because my Uncle Andy knew Jesus, he has left this land of the dying and is NOW in the land of living. What a great check on my perspective. Thank you Jesus for the precious gift of a heritage of faith that You have allowed in my family.