At our church each week we have new people stand up and introduce themselves. We also have people stand if it is their last Sunday with us. One guy who was visiting stood for both the comings and goings since he was just there a week. I thought that was pretty funny.
Yesterday we had quite a few new people. Each year at this time we have people moving to Delhi to either work in the schools or the embassies. There was only one lady who stood to say it was her last week. She was returning to Denmark or somewhere. The pastor said, "We aren't going to let you go." Then he prayed for her.
As the pastor prayed I started thinking about saying good-bye. It reminded me of death (which I probably think too much about). I was thinking about saying good-bye to someone when they are dying. How the person will be going to a better place (if they are Christians) and how they are happy and ready for the homecoming. Sure they will miss parts of their lives while they were here. They will miss people. But what is waiting for them when they get home is even better. They have family and friends waiting for them. The culture is familiar or at least feels more normal. There is food that is exciting to think about. So many good things.
And that is what heaven is like. We have family and friends waiting, but we also have our heavenly father waiting for us. It will feel like the place we were created to be. It will probably feel familiar and we will be at home. And the food! I bet the food will be better then anything we have ever tasted before. So many good things!
It is hard to say good-bye. It is hard for those we leave behind. All those people who are also wishing they could go home, but it isn't their time yet. Our home going from India will feel good, but imagine how our home going from this life will feel.... Amazing!
Yesterday we had quite a few new people. Each year at this time we have people moving to Delhi to either work in the schools or the embassies. There was only one lady who stood to say it was her last week. She was returning to Denmark or somewhere. The pastor said, "We aren't going to let you go." Then he prayed for her.
As the pastor prayed I started thinking about saying good-bye. It reminded me of death (which I probably think too much about). I was thinking about saying good-bye to someone when they are dying. How the person will be going to a better place (if they are Christians) and how they are happy and ready for the homecoming. Sure they will miss parts of their lives while they were here. They will miss people. But what is waiting for them when they get home is even better. They have family and friends waiting for them. The culture is familiar or at least feels more normal. There is food that is exciting to think about. So many good things.
And that is what heaven is like. We have family and friends waiting, but we also have our heavenly father waiting for us. It will feel like the place we were created to be. It will probably feel familiar and we will be at home. And the food! I bet the food will be better then anything we have ever tasted before. So many good things!
It is hard to say good-bye. It is hard for those we leave behind. All those people who are also wishing they could go home, but it isn't their time yet. Our home going from India will feel good, but imagine how our home going from this life will feel.... Amazing!
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