Funerals and Banquets

I attended a funeral today, of a longtime friend from my home church.  Her first name was Linda as well.  Because my parents' families lived out of town, the church I grew up in really was our "in-town" family--and the kids who went there are like brothers and sisters to me.  My friend has struggled for nearly 25 years with pain from a serious car accident--and most recently had a stroke.  Her death was unexpected, and jarring, because she was younger than me.  The funeral was lovely; she had two brothers and two sisters and her oldest sister gave the most wonderful eulogy.  Linda's most striking quality was her persistent positive attitude throughout the trials of her life--and her capacity for fun.  Her sister also talked about how Linda loved beautiful things, and that now she was invited to a banquet--one that we are invited to as well.  Then the pastor read from John 14, a beloved passage for funerals that has its basis in the Jewish wedding.  The groom would tell his betrothed that he was going to prepare a place for her in his father's house (an annex on the family home), and that when it was ready he would come for her.  That is what Jesus is saying to us in these verses--that He is prepare a place for us in His Father's house--heaven--and that when it is ready, that he will come for us who believe in Him.  That got me to thinking about our remodeling process--we are in the process of putting new floors in the kitchen, living room and dining room, and we have had the ceilings redone, painting and wainscoting done and granite counter tops and new back splash in the kitchen.  It's been two weeks, and while we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, we aren't quite done yet.  It's exciting to see the progress, though--and I suddenly had a wonderful thought:  if it takes this long just to do remodeling on our house, how awesome must the home be that Jesus is preparing for us in Heaven?  The Bible says we can't imagine it--but it surely must be incredible!  And the only thing holding him back is that he needs to build more rooms for those yet to accept Him!

It says in Ecclesiastes that it's better to go to a funeral than a party, because when you go to a funeral you gain a better perspective on what your life should be like.  That's definitely true for me today.  Someday, I will join my friend at the banquet in Heaven--will you?  Jesus Christ died so that you could; and invites you to the table.  You need to accept His invitation--not only to a banquet, but to a full life now--and let Him control your life.  He will not take away the pain and trials of life, but He will give you the best gift of all--His presence, forgiveness and peace.  And a hope that endures, just like the beautiful smile on my friend's face.

Transformation

We are about halfway through the remodel--and until today, it's been more of a mess than anything.  The ceilings were scraped off and redone, which left lots of dust everywhere on the main level of the house--and the stairways.  The boys and I have all had respiratory problems--either from the dust or from a virus--and we've had to eat in the family room.  I've had to make coffee in the downstairs bathroom, and had to get up early in case someone needed to get in.  Life has been topsy-turvy, to say the least.  But, now--it's starting to get exciting!  Painting is done, and they put our hardwood floors in the living and dining room.  I'd never seen hardwood floors done, and I was fascinated by the process--a huge jigsaw puzzle, where the pieces were hammered in with great force to produce a beautiful effect!  It made me think about times in my life where I felt like things were in an awful mess--a big puzzle, with a lot of pieces missing.  But, to God, they were all there--they just needed to be hammered in, and in my case, sometimes they needed to be hammered in forcefully.  The hardest part in the whole process is when all you see looks like things are being dismantled--torn apart, ruined and just generally awful.  At that point, it's a little hard to see what the finished product will be.  In all honesty, this is the first time I've been a part of such an extensive remodel, and I've had a hard time visualizing what everything will look like.  But now, I can get a glimpse, and I'm excited!  Soon it will be done--and then comes the painful part; paying for it!

God, of course, doesn't let us see the whole process.  He does give us glimpses in His Word of his final remodeling project in John 14, where He says that He has a place prepared for us--and he says no eye can see and no one can imagine how wonderful it will be in I Corinthians.  Knowing how excited I am about our humble little remodeling project makes me even more anxious to see what God is doing for me in heaven--and what He is doing right now, in my mess.  Remodeling is messy--but necessary to be transformed--and I SO want that, don't you?

Taking Inventory

The words taking inventory have been monopolizing my thoughts for the last two months.  First, because school was ending--and I always mentally take inventory of what I have done and what could have been improved.  Second, because this was the last year in my current evaluation cycle--a very thorough process--and there are always areas in which to improve.  Third, because I have had to pack up all of my stuff at school; I'm moving to a different room next year.  This has been a good process, because I purged quite a bit and really had to decide "do I really need this?"  And, fourth, because we are starting a huge remodeling project in our house.  We've live here over 20 years and done nothing to the inside--so it's definitely time!  We are putting in new floors, re-doing ceilings, painting, putting in wainscoting, granite countertops, etc.  This meant we had to pack up our considerable amount of dishes and knick-knacks in the living room, dining room and kitchen (actually, Lance did the packing; he's really good at that!) and we had to put all of the furniture and knick-knacks either upstairs or in the garage.  (And my boys, Brice and Evan helped Lance with that.  I've really had more of a consultation role in the whole process.)  It really does make you think about how much stuff you have--and the need to inventory.  I've also been taking inventory personally--where am I now, and where do I want to be?  What kind of a legacy do I want to leave?  In all of this examination I'm reminded of how it says in Ecclesiastes that it's better to go to a funeral than a party--because at a funeral we examine our life.  I'm at the age where funerals are more common--and where friends and family are aging--and I do have to agree with that concept.  Funerals and aging make us think about our life and force us to stop and take inventory and think about what needs to be changed.  This, however, isn't enough; I'm an idea person by nature, and have great ideas about things, but change requires action.  And, I can tell you from our remodeling that change is MESSY.  Sometimes things have to be moved around, even ripped up, in order to make the change complete.  But it is so worth it!  You might have to remind me of that next week, when we are still in the midst of the change process at the house, though!  :)   But change is a part of life, and we need it to be who God wants us to be.  I'm so glad HE doesn't change--that his eternal love is always there, in the midst of the chaos.