Skateboards in Heaven

When Tim and I married, I knew that it would open up a whole new realm of understanding about my relationship with the Lord and the ahab (strong affection) and chesed (covenant commitment/loyalty) loves of God (just learned the Hebrew words this week in my Knowing God by Name Bible study). In the same way, when I became a mommy, I knew it would stretch and grow my understanding of the Father in an entirely different direction. I have to say all four of my sweeties have been some of the best theological teachers in my life. This week alone, God has proven Himself at work in the hearts and minds of my children . . . It's amazing what wisdom He offered through their innocence.

The kids have been listening more intently than I thought as I have been gathering a lot of music lately into various playlists - one for this blog, and one for Tim for Father's Day. One of these was actually a Christmas song by Faith Hill about which E and I had a brief conversation a couple of weeks ago. Tim was out shopping with the kids at Target and was preparing to check out when E, who was sitting inside the shopping cart, began repeating a line from the song over and over: "A baby changes everything, a baby changes everything." Of his own initiative, he suddenly stood up in the cart and said loudly enough for the cashier and other listeners to hear this little one preach words of simple but profound truth, "Jesus was a baby; Jesus changes everything!"

As a middle child, poor S must often compete for attention with two very energetic brothers. On one bath night this week, one parent had to take a fussy baby C to bed (who was recovering from an ear infection) while the other took an exhausted 4-year-old-who-doesn't-nap-anymore to bed. Upon returning to bathe her 5-10 minutes later, I told her Mommy was back and she sweetly said "Thank you for letting me play longer in the bath." I responded, "Honey, I'm so sorry you had to wait in here all alone." She then said with full confidence and assurance, "God was with me!" I am so thankful that the Lord's presence hovers lovingly over my children when my human presence is limited by space and time!


This Wednesday, my childhood pastor and cross-country coach, Reverend Clay Thornton, passed away unexpectedly. I shared with E during our nightly bedtime conversation that night how Pastor Clay is happy that he is with Jesus, but his family is sad that they can't be with him right now. E has been pretty preoccupied with death lately and has had some good conversations with his Daddy and his Papi. I could hear both his awe and his fear as he asked, "Mommy, when you are 100, what will happen to you?" We then had a long conversation about heaven and being with Jesus; E said sweetly "If you are with Jesus, Daddy will be lonely." I wanted to soothe his fears some but could tell he was getting uptight until he started asking if there would be rolling things in heaven. I was getting ready to respond that I wasn't sure, until he added quickly "Like skateboards with wheels?" Before I could scramble for an answer, his vision grew larger "with wheels the size of car tires?", and then grandiose "with monster truck wheels?!!". I think my sweet boy gained a glimpse into heaven -- a New Earth, bigger and better and more beautiful with so many exciting and wonderful corners to discover -- in the form of a skateboard with monster truck wheels :) What bliss!

The moment I found out about my pastor, the song playing on the radio was "It is Well with My Soul". Since then this song has also resonated given the unexpected nature of his passing . . .

WITH HOPE
By Steven Curtis Chapman
1 Thess. 4:13-14 / Heb. 6:9, 10:23

This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but ...

We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again

And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father's smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home
And now you're free, and ...

We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything
God promised us is true, so ...

We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope

Let your desire be the vision of God, your fear the loss of Him, your sorrow His absence, and your joy in that which may take you to Him, and your life shall be in great peace. - St. Teresa of Avila

Love you!
Heather