Bride Story

I am among 101 authors included in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Here Comes the Bride, officially released May 15. My chapter, “My Piano Man,” tells how, when I was 34 and newly orphaned, thinking I’d never marry, God brought a husband into my life. This is my fourth Chicken Soup compilation. I have learned that each book’s 101 selections are chosen from between 2,000 and 4,000 submissions.

I started reading my advance copy last night. The Chicken Soup editors do an amazing job of selecting heart-tugging, inspiring stories.

Just one comment. I noticed many stories told of couples living together before marriage. My husband and I chose purity until marriage. A few weeks before our wedding, I had to move from Chicago to Washington state. My husband-to-be flew to Chicago and helped me drive my car west. Every night, even though it cost twice as much, we had separate motel rooms to honor that commitment. Old-fashioned? I guess so. God-honoring? A resounding yes. For a thoughtful article on this issue, click here.

Mothers and Aunties

Taken in the late 1930s, this photo
is believed to be my aunts Vera
and Agnes (L-R) with three of
what would be six brothers.

“I’m putting Mom on the phone,” said the caller from the other end of the nation. “She can’t hear you, but she wants to talk to you. So just listen.”

At that, my cousin handed the receiver to my Aunt Agnes, deaf from complications of kidney failure. I began crying as I listened to her tired, whispery voice tell how much she appreciated my newsy family letters.
After a few minutes, her daughter got back on the line and said her mother was done talking. As I hung up, I realized how even a little thing—writing about my family and sending photos—meant a lot to this aunt who loved her big sister, my mother, so much. Mom had died at age 59 of cancer, and my dad of a heart attack six months later. I was orphaned at 31, still single. My mother was the second child of a family of nine (two sisters, six brothers) to die.

I think about my mother and her siblings each year as Mother's Day comes. I feel the commercialized hype of gifting mothers that day limits the picture of those in nurturing roles. I do feel blessed to be a mother, having waited for marriage until age 34 and then having children at 35 and 37. Now grown and on their own, those children have honored me by making godly choices. And while I missed my own mother, feeling the pang of her not knowing these grandchildren, I had a dear, servant-hearted mother-in-law. Living next door to us the last 20 years of her life, she had full participation in their lives.

As for my aunts, my letters to them in a small way helped carry on the legacy of my mother, who so faithfully knit her large family of origin together with an investment in postage. All had struggled from their impoverished beginnings (their father was a Norwegian immigrant farmer, the mother disabled with a short leg as a result of polio). The father died young of a heart attack, with the youngest boys still at home to raise.

Because they lived so far away, I didn't spent much personal time with my aunts. One lived a long time in Panama, then in Florida—completely the opposite end of the nation from me. The other lived in Sweden, Malawi, and finally Oregon. Yet both aunts cared about me as part of the family tree. When I had my first baby, Agnes sent a baby blanket richly embroidered with nursery rhyme characters. I’m sure it was her labor of love, as she was a skilled needle worker. My mother’s other sister, Vera, sent my second child, a girl, a couple toddler sundresses she’d sewn. I kept in regular touch with both until their deaths.

When Mother's Day comes with a sorrow of missing our own mothers, we don't have to stay there.  If we're grieving a mother who still lives, but was emotionally unavailable during a vulnerable time, it's important to move beyond resentment and love her despite her failures. And recognizing other adult women (related by blood or just friends) as important to us shows character and maturity. For me, the fruit of caring came on an ordinary day, like the one I answered the phone and just listened to a faraway auntie share her appreciation for the simple gift of letters. Through staying connected with her, more than I realized, I had also honored her sister, my mom.

Heaven: The Greatest Home Makeover--Day 31

KEYS
“On no day will its gates ever be shut.”—Revelation 21:25

“Here are the keys,” the contractor tells the television building team on “Extreme Makeover—Home Edition” when the “building” part is done. Now the race against the house-in-a-week clock continues as they move in new furniture, just ahead of the family’s return from a vacation. The show’s climax finally comes. After the family emerges from a stretch limousine, they and onlookers start chanting, “Move that bus!” The television team has parked its huge office-on-wheels to block the view.

The family is excited beyond words, and when the bus roars away, they often collapse and weep in amazement. Their old home may have been moldy, ramshackle, burned down, or blown away. This one surpasses their wildest imagination. It eclipses anything in the neighborhood for beauty, healthiness, and luxury. “Go check out your new house,” the lead builder says, and the family runs to the unlocked front door. Inside, television cameras capture their delight as they enter rooms especially designed for their needs and tastes.

This, I think, is close to what will happen in Heaven. As we stand in astonishment at the celestial sights, God will say, “Check out your new home.” Oh, the amazement and joy when we begin discovering all He has prepared for us!

But back up a moment. At the earthly “reveal,” the home’s doors were equipped with locks for security after all the builders and fans went home. Earthly homes are vulnerable because wicked people may break in, damage, and plunder. Take heart in thinking about your Heavenly home. Before God’s “great reveal,” all that is evil will be removed forever. The absence of evil is emphatic: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, not will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful” (Rev. 21:27). We’ll have no need of locks, security systems or snarling guard dogs. There will be no night (v. 25), so no surprises lurking in the dark. Its gates will never be shut (v. 25), meaning perfect safety, absolute harmony, and free access. It will be busy. “The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it” (v. 26). Tribute and praise will flow through the gates to the King of Kings.

Best of all, “only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (v. 27) will enter. The Lamb, of course, is Jesus Christ—“the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). What the Old Testament believers did over and over—kill lambs and other livestock for sacrifices to seek God’s forgiveness—Jesus did away with by dying once for all on the cross. His “book of life” has the names of those who believe in Him. Once in, oh—the glory of it: “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev. 21:3).

And while you marvel at God’s open door policy, come back to earth. Remember He won’t lock you out, but you can lock Him out of your heart. Jesus said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20).You can shut Him out forever, or welcome Him in. He won’t barge in. He waits for you to respond. Have you welcomed Him in?

Long ago, when pioneers built their log cabins, they hung their wooden doors on hinges of leather. A latch kept the door shut and no one could come in. But they also arranged for a way to open the closed door from the outside. They threaded a deerskin string, tied to the latch, through a hole in the door. A passerby seeing the latchstring dangling knew that meant someone was home and would welcome friendly visitors. That’s where we get our saying, “The latchstring is always out.” If God had a latchstring, He’d leave it dangling outside. He wants us to come and enjoy His home, now our home, too. He wants us to be with Him. “So we will be with the Lord forever,” the Bible says. “Therefore encourage each other with these words” (1 Thess. 4:17, 18).

No book, even this one, can possibly begin to describe Heaven. We know so little now. But even this “little” is big encouragement to help us wait and hope for what’s ahead.

Eternity with God! Finally Home! What can be better?

Prayer: Lord, how can I thank you enough for Your wondrous plan of an eternal Home in Heaven, and bodies that never die. Thank You, thank You! I love You. Amen.

With this post I end the 31-day devotional on Heaven. My hope is that it encouraged you with a glimpse of what's ahead. If you are interested in a spiral-bound copy of the book ($10 to U.S. addresses) please leave me a note in the comments section.

Heaven: The Greatest Home Makeover--Day 30

HOUSE DEED
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” –Matthew 25:34

The legal paper was titled “Full Reconveyance,” and it ended years of penny-pinching to pay off our house mortgage. In convoluted legal language, it said that the “deed of trust” (the mortgage agreement with a lender) had been “fully satisfied” and “all right, title and interest” was now conveyed to the paid-up homeowners. We left the bank clutching those legal papers and rejoicing over a milestone.

Ours is just a small earthly “starter” home, but we know we also have a home in Heaven whose mortgage was paid by God. “Full reconveyance” of the Heavenly home became possible when His son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for our sins. Instead of monthly payments, we make a life-changing decision to accept God’s offer of eternal life with Him. We have “all right, title and interest” at the point of salvation.

Many have the mistaken idea that they have to “work” their way to Heaven, making regular deposits of “good works” with some divine mortgage company. These “good works” payments, they hope, will offset bad behavior and attitudes. But God’s offer of Heaven isn’t about “doing.” It’s about “done.” Nobody could ever be “good enough” for Heaven. Sin excludes us. But Jesus died for those sins. The door to Heaven has cross-beams. It’s not about good works, “hoping hard,” or having others “pray you there.” It’s about the cross and believing that Jesus was the Son of God.

Many have a hard time accepting that. Jesus faced the same challenge every time religious leaders disputed His claim to be God’s Son. Twenty five times in the Gospel of John, He began His answers with an emphatic phrase. In the King James version it’s “Verily, verily.” In the original Greek, it’s amen, amen. The little word “amen” that we use almost mindlessly as a “period” to a prayer is packed with intensity and urgency in the Bible’s original language. “So be it!” “This is absolutely true!” “Get this right!” “Truth, truth!” This was the urgent, myth-shredding truth He wanted them to embrace: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).

Believing Jesus cancels the mortgage obligation. Paid in full. Heavenly occupancy upon earthly death. The guarantee came with Jesus’ resurrection. That pinnacle event of human history is our guarantee that we too will be raised back to life, given Heaven-ready bodies, and live forever in the presence of God (2 Cor. 4:14).

It gets better. On earth, most people move into old houses and fix them up. Even new houses require tweaking. Maybe they lack landscaping or an appliance gives up before its warranty is out. Our Heavenly homes will be brand new, absolutely suited to us. In the vision of Heaven given John, God emphasized, “I am making everything new!...Write this down for these words are trustworthy and true” (Rev. 21:5). The vision upon which we base our understanding of Heaven wasn’t the wild dream of an old man in exile. It was God communicating. The amazing thing is that Jesus had a preview of our Heavenly homes-in-progress, and told us! “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you” (John 14:1).

Even Israel’s King David, already occupying a king’s sumptuous palace, declared, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” (Psalm 27:4). The great 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “We pine for our Father’s house above, the home of our souls; if we may but dwell there forever, we care but little for the goods or ills of this poor life” (1).

We can be sure of this. Our Heavenly home won’t need euphemisms to get us interested in going there. Nothing like these ads selling earthly homes:
“Cozy starter home.” (Small and shoddy.)
“Quiet neighborhood.” (Back yard borders a cemetery.)
“Close to shopping.” (Mega Mall is across the street.)
“Unique floor plan.” (Remodeled by crazies.)
“Handyman’s special.” (Puts you on first-name basis with the hardware store clerks.)
The already-paid-for Heaven-home is so astonishing that it surpasses any human vocabulary for description. The apostle Paul called it “inexpressible.” Peter reminded us that it will never perish, spoil, or fade while being kept ready for us (1 Peter 1:4).

It’s our inheritance in Christ, millennia in preparation, eternity in occupation. The last home we’ll ever need. Perfect in every way. Already paid for, by a Cross.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for paying the ultimate price, Your death on a cross, so that I can be assured of an eternal home in Heaven. Amen.

(1) C.W. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, Vol. 2 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1891), pp. 2-3, quoted in Debra Evans, Soul Satisfaction: For Women Who Long For More (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2001), p. 136.

Heaven: The Greatest Home Makeover--Day 29

VIEW DECK
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”–Matthew 24:42

A deck with a view—what a wonderful feature for a home! Imagine one of fragrant redwood overlooking a waterfront or mountain view. How about a hot tub on one side and a fire pit for evening conversation on the other?

Will we enjoy “view decks” in Heaven? The Bible doesn’t say. But it does say much about a view that lifts our hearts toward Heaven. Think back to coastal New England in the 1800s, when many homes had a “widow’s walk” platform atop homes facing the sea. There, wives of seamen scanned the horizon for returning ships. When storms churned the ocean, these brave women knew some husbands might never return. Still they watched for that far dot hinting of a vessel headed home.

Our Biblical view deck looks out to the end of time. Now we see the storms of increasing turmoil and wretchedness on earth. But eternity is coming our way. Not all Bible scholars agree on the timing of Bible prophecy, but basic truths unite us. When we die, our bodies began decaying. But our spirits—the thinking-feeling-trusting-expressing part that understands and responds to God—immediately goes to be “with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). The spirits of those who rejected God, however, will go some place away from His gracious presence, where they’ll experience torment alone (Luke 16: 19-23).

The fullness of Heaven (and of hell) waits the end of history, when Christ returns to earth in glory. On that day, known to God, Christ will suddenly return to earth, as fast and spectacular as lightning across the sky. He will come “with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God” (1 Thess. 4:16). It will catch us by surprise, like a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2). At that moment, “the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thess. 4:16b-17). Imagine it! Withered corpses from graves, those lost at sea or burned up, others “lost”—all believers retrieved in a blink and whooshed to Heaven with Heaven-ready, “resurrection” bodies. Then living believers, “caught up” as well with transformed bodies. No rocket ships—just the power of God! This means that some will never die! They’ll be zapped right into eternity.

During this time frame, prophecies tell of a world writhing with lawlessness because of the activity of Satan. The earth will go through cosmic convulsions of natural disasters, disease and war. Some believe Christ will come before this terrible time of history so believers won’t have to go through it. Some say half-way through, and some say at the end. The Bible indicates Jesus will reign on earth for a thousand years (“The Millennium”) while Satan is “bound.” The world will have perfect government. But people of that era will still eventually die, bound for Heaven or hell. At the end of this, Satan will have a brief second chance to vent his fury, but Christ will win. He already won, on the cross. Satan’s defeat will open the jaws of hell where he and his company will be thrown forever (Rev. 20:10, Matt. 25:41).

Now come times of judgment. In the Great White Throne judgment, the “Book of Life” will be opened to reveal who believed that Jesus died for their sins. Those who didn’t will be condemned forever to hell (Rev. 20:11-15). The Bible describes hell as a place or state of unquenchable, eternal fire (Mark 9:43, Matt. 25:41). It’s called a “lake of burning sulfur” (Rev. 20:10), darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12), eternal torment (Rev. 14:10, 11), and the forever “blackest darkness” (Jude 13). There’s no letup of suffering. Why would anyone choose that when Heaven is better by far?

There’s also the “Judgment Seat of Christ” for believers already destined for eternity in Heaven. Their lives will come under scrutiny in assigning the “rewards” of Heaven (2 Cor. 5:10).

Does all this seem too far away on the horizon? Don’t let the passing of years lull you into complacency. Willet and Vera, vibrant Christians in their nineties, put on the door of their assisted living apartment a sign that said, “Perhaps today.” They lived hoping that Christ might come in their lifetime. Both did die, but assured that immediately they’d be “with the Lord.” But the rest of us should never lose sight of that reminder. That speck on the horizon of Biblical prophecy could suddenly become now.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, the phrase “perhaps today” excites me and sobers me. I know You will be with me, whatever is on the horizon. Amen.

Heaven: The Greatest Home Makeover--Day 28

TRASH INCINERATOR
“There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” –Revelation 21:4

Years ago, before pollution crackdowns, many homes had back-yard incinerators to burn the family’s trash. Though they smoked and stunk, incinerators did destroy what wasn’t wanted. In thinking about Heaven, even an incinerator is symbolic--but for something far, far worse: hell. The Bible refers to it as “the lake of burning sulfur” or “lake of burning fire.” Scientists have determined that sulfur burns at 250 degrees Celsius. That’s two and a half times the boiling point of water. Though the burning lake is an earthly description of true hell, it still portrays the horrific destination for Satan and his demons, plus all those who reject God’s love.

Contrary to cartoons and flippant jokes, this won’t be “one hot party.” Those there are “tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:10). This is not annihilation. It is constant, endless misery. And this misery has no company. Hell is solitary aloneness, abandonment, and alienation. Jesus told about a man who trusted in his riches, but not in God. At death he went to hell and experienced utter agony from heat and thirst. He pleaded in vain for someone to warn his five brothers to change their ways, lest they end up there, too (Luke 16:19-31).

People still reject God until it’s too late. The French infidel Voltaire once claimed he’d help bring an end to Christianity. But as Voltaire neared death at 83, his doctor reported Voltaire expressed great emotional torment, crying out, “I am abandoned by God and man!” (1)

Be sure of this: the trash incinerator is outside heaven. It’s nowhere nearby. God planned that all wickedness and sorrow be kept far away from His perfect eternal home for us. Death will not taint it. No more “terminal” diagnoses. No more cancer, strokes, Lou Gehrig’s disease, diabetes, heart attacks, or kidney failure. No more fatal accidents that whisk away life in a blink. We’ll no longer mourn our losses or diseases or fractured homes. God will wipe every sorrowful tear from our eyes. Any tears will be of joy. No more pain. No aspirin or other pain-killers. No codeine or morphine. No laying in bed, moaning in pain because your body won’t quit hurting. All these went in the incinerator because they were part of Satan’s weaponry against God’s perfect order.

These days it’s become politically incorrect to talk about hell. Some avoid the subject, not wanting to offend anyone. They contend, “Why would a loving God send anybody to hell?” They skirt the real question: “Why would a holy and just God allow His heaven to become tainted with sin?” God has already decided who will be sent to the ever-burning incinerator of hell. The sexually immoral will land there. The Bible includes in that description those who live for lust and debauchery, and practice adultery, male and female prostitution, and homosexuality (1 Cor. 6:19, 1 Peter 4:3). The Bible describes them as people who’ve lost sensitivity to God’s Way and lust for more and more wrongdoing (Eph. 4:19). The self-indulgent will be there: drunkards, carousers (1 Peter 4:3). The selfish will be there: thieves, the greedy (1 Cor. 6:10). Slanderers will find themselves kept out of heaven (1 Cor. 6:20). So will idolaters—those who put pursuit or position or possession above following God. The same for those who follow after false gods or religions. “False teachers” who advocate non-Biblical religions will be in hell.

Does this list scare you? Have any been a part of your life? Remember, these are people who died unchanged. Heaven waits if you have turned your back on these lifestyles and behaviors, and believe that Jesus died for every sin in the book. Heaven will be full of people who were once sexually immoral, but purified by faith in Christ. It will embrace those who turned away from excesses or prideful sins. What matters is what they are at death, not what they were. And that is what some of you were,” Paul wrote the believers in the sin-riddled city of Corinth. “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).

No human words exist for the horror of hell’s incinerator. Its occupants will suffer forever and forever. That’s the bad—very bad—news. But this is the good news: Sin will never taint heaven, nor distract from God’s holiness. Be encouraged by this: “There is no condemnation [no hell] for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

Have these descriptions of hell upset you? Do you wonder if you’re bound for Heaven? If not, don’t wait any longer. Make this prayer yours: “Dear God, I know I have sinned. I deserve the worst there is. I also believe that Jesus died for my sins. I claim Your offer of forgiveness and ask You to come into my life. For whatever time I have on earth, dwell within me and prepare me for my Heavenly Home. Amen.”

(1) Luis Palau, “Overcoming the Greatest fear of All,” Pursuit, Vol. III, No. 1 (1994), p. 22.

Heaven: The Greatest Home Makeover--Day 27

THE GARDEN
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” –Revelation 22:1-2

Would your “perfect home” have a garden for food or flowers? Are you inspired by another garden, maybe one acclaimed by travel brochures? Could it be at the home of a friend skilled in coaxing loveliness out of flowers, trees, rocks and water? As you strolled the gardens, did you savor the colors, textures, sounds and fragrance? Or was the best part just the peaceful beauty that spoke nobly of God as Creator?

Was your favorite garden on a grander scale? Did you pull off a mountain highway to drink in the view of a mountain peak, its craggy shoulders softened by snow like an ermine cape? Did you pause in view of the bridal veil froth of a waterfall shooting from the top of a cliff? Was it the forest, where you stopped to listen to birds chatter? Or did you stand on a beach to watch the setting sun ooze tangerine onto the clouds and water?

In earth’s beautiful places, we see God’s shadow. That’s why the Bible says that “since creation God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen” (Rom. 1:20). Nature shouts the reality of a divine Creator. Gardens stir up our longings for God. He began human history in a garden that He planted. We know it by the name “Eden,” Hebrew for “delight.” Scholars say it probably was located in present-day Iraq. There, God enjoyed His plant and animal creations in company with the people He created, Adam and Eve, charged with being gardeners. In Eden they had beauty, shelter, pleasure, food, and reflection.

Then sin ruined the perfect garden. Adam and Eve’s disobedience closed its entrance and removed them from daily intimacy with God. The ground was cursed, and “gardening” became a weary battle with thorns and thistles (Gen. 3:17-18). In our times, those “thorns and thistles” wear names like pestilence, drought, fire, flood, tornados, hurricanes, complex laws, economic woes, and the energy crisis. Deep inside, we still long for that garden. We want to know God fully and have the incomparable pleasure of tending His perfect creation. It will never happen on our terms. It will, though, on God’s.

He began with a garden. He will end with it. The Bible says the earth as we know it—the battered, polluted, evil-stained place where Satan did His destructive work—will be burned up and purified, and there will be a “new Heaven and a new earth” (Rev. 21:1). The Greek word used for “new,” kainos, means “new as to form or quality, of a different nature from what is contrasted as old” (4). It will be “new” in a new way. The “New Jerusalem” will come down from Heaven, so beautiful that even descriptions comparing its loveliness to pure gold and precious gemstones don’t do it justice (Rev. 21:18-21). Within will be elements of a garden.

The Tree of Life, the centerpiece of Eden, will be there. (Eden’s “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,” the sad site of Adam and Eve’s sin, is gone.) Somehow, the Tree of Life will straddle a pure river, bearing a different crop every month as evidence of God’s abundant care. Its leaves will be “for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2)—for in Heaven there will be no more global conflict. That pure river will come from God’s throne. Hadn’t Jesus connected Himself with “Living Water” (John 4: 10, 14; John 7: 37, 38)? The book of Revelation ends before telling us any more. But we can be confident that there’s more, much more. Why? Because God can do it! Many believe He will do it again on our planet, purified by fire, ready for a fresh start without sin.

If God had given more detail of Heaven’s garden, some might have tried to cultivate a similar garden on earth, advertising it as a “must-see” place of pilgrimage. But greed for profit would taint it. And its owners would still fight the effects of Adam’s sin: weeds, pests, and bad weather.

Heaven’s garden—however, whatever, and wherever God creates it—will surpass anything now known for delight. The eternal ache we sensed in admiring earthly places of beauty will find satisfaction. We’ll remember: “The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 119:1).

Thoughts of Heaven’s garden also return us to words of an old hymn (2). Imagine coming there alone, the dew glistening on the roses, then walking and talking with the One who says, “You are my own.” What indescribable joy!

Prayer: Father, the days my heart wishes for peace and tranquility are really my longing for your perfect Garden. Thank you reminding me it’s ahead. Amen.

(1) W.E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words Vol. III (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1940), p. 109.
(2) The 1912 hymn “In the Garden” by C. Austin Miles.