July 14 – “A visit to heaven”

Cailyn was waxing nostalgic yesterday before we left for Vacation Bible School.  She said she missed her Grandpa.  He’s the one who just died last week.  But before I could even offer some words of encouragement she asked, “DadDad, do people keep on getting older in heaven?”  I assured her that with the new body we receive, getting older didn’t even matter in heaven.  I told her that her Grandpa could hang out with MeeMaw now if he wanted to.  She was concerned that he wouldn’t know who she was, but we decided that he could sure go meet her and they could “talk about stuff together.”

She pondered for a few minutes, then offered one of her own: “You know what, DadDad?  Up in heaven people can talk any language they want.”  Not wanting to break the train of thought that had her dwelling in such lofty heights, I simply replied, “Really?”  And in a kind of dreamy, far-off, sing-song-y voice that carries out each syllable for an extra second or two, she noted, “Yes.  You know.  Like English, and sign language, and …”  The rest just drifted away with the thought.  And then she was on to something else.  But thank you, Cailyn for that quick little visit to heaven.

Day one of VBS went well.  We had 17 children plus the nine or so adult workers.  The kids seemed to have a great time with the singing and crafts and story time and games.  My favorite interaction of the day came with little two year old William.  He came up to me numerous times throughout the morning, twirled around in his best two-year-old rendition of a ballet spin, and declared, “We go off the map.”  Remember, the theme of VBS is Off the Map.  I think maybe William got it.

John 1:12-13 says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”

Father, teach the little children more about love and trust and especially about you.  Amen.