cardiac and critical care nurse.
She's always full of stories,
ranging from hilarious to touching,
and I much enjoy sitting and listening
to her many adventures at the hospital.
Today over coffee, she told me
of a sweet old couple,
of whom the husband, age 90,
she's had as a patient for a while.
Days prior, he claimed,
"I think I'll be going home from here."
However, the nurses and his wife
later learned that he did not mean
his earthly home, but rather
his home in Heaven that His Jesus
has prepared for him.
Days later,
the wife sat at his bedside
awaiting her husband's death.
He was now far too weak
even to open his eyes,
let alone interact with his wife.
But she continued
to talk to him.
As she sat in the room,
she told Emily countless
stories of their growing up
and growing old together.
They'd been married for
sixty-six years.
She pleaded with Emily,
asking if she thought he
would ever wake up.
Even if it were just for
a minute.
She just wanted to talk to him
once more, before letting him go.
She knew she'd see him again one day,
but she told Emily,
"right now, he is still mine."
In my car on my way to work
from the coffee shop,
I thought about the story.
I thought about the wife
and what she must be feeling now.
She knows she'll see her husband
again one day,
and now it's a waiting game.
She's left only with memories
of their adventures together,
their experiences, trials,
and triumphs.
Before she was wanting to
hold on to her husband to keep
him here with her on Earth.
But now he's in Heaven and
she's awaiting her death so
she can leave this Earth
to go and be with him again.
Is there not pain in the waiting?
Then it struck me.
Isn't this exactly the mentality
we should have about Jesus?
Many years ago He walked with us
on this Earth, then ascended into Heaven.
And now we wait.
We live for Him,
we spend time with him,
much like a husband does
with his bride.
Sharing life together,
experiencing trials and triumphs together.
Yet we wait anxiously for the day
to come when we can spend
eternity with Him in Heaven.
Should we not be continuously
overjoyed at this promise?
Should there not be an
overwhelming sense of feeling
like you somehow don't belong here?
I let out a heavy sigh.
I prayed that God would give
me that strong yearning
and to give my heart
the "bursting at the seams"
excitement for the day we are
face-to-face.
Because once we fix our
eyes on the reward we are
to receive in Heaven,
does that not that make our
current struggles, problems,
doubts, and fears dissolve
into minuscule nothings?
By embracing all of Christ,
our momentary troubles
grow small at the sight
of the vastness of our God.
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