"WONDER"

For those of us born as "Baby Boomers," the majority of us had very practical parents and grandparents. A grandmother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a name for it.

A grandfather who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, granddad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat with grandma in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, dishtowel in the other.

It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my grandmother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So, while we have it, it's best we love it and care for it and fix it when it's broken and heal it when it's sick.

This is true for marriage and old cars and children with bad report cards and dogs with bad hips and aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

The same is true about our Heavenly Father wanting to keep each of us. That's right He certainly does. Despite our numerous sins and rebellion, God's Word tells us… "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Most of us cannot begin to imagine much less think of actually dying for someone who ignored us or was mean to us or intentionally hurt us but God sacrificed His Son Jesus so we could have a way to spend eternity hanging out with God in Heaven. Yes, hard to fathom but the Heavenly Father loves us that much.

Father God, thank You for looking past our sins and rebellious attitudes to love us so much You want us with You in Heaven to love us even more if that's possible. Thank you for practical parents and grandparents who taught us about You and Your immense love. Thank You for making a way we can be reunited with our parents and grandparents as we wonder "What They Are Doing in Heaven Today." Most of all Lord, thank You for Your enormous love for us to give us a gate pass to get inside their Pearly Gates for our eternal home. Thank You Lord for wanting us to be "keepers!"