a wonderful place
remember that song from when we were seven?
“Heaven is a wonderful place. Filled with Glory and Grace. I’m gonna see my Savior’s face, cause heaven is a wonderful place! (I want to go there…)”
::then you sing it in a round::
anybody? remember that? is that just me? oh well….
The point of that digression into my childhood, is the fact that I can’t get that song out of my head.
Sunday night at the Austin Stone, I experienced an amazing time of worship and praise. It was closer to heaven than anything I have experienced in a long time (the last time might have been on a beach in Thailand or a hotel room in Vietnam, but that is another story for another time.)
Sunday was incredible. I wept at the joy and the hope of seeing Jesus face to face. I cried knowing all the children that I’ve seen fight and lose their cancer battle will be in Heaven waiting for me. I cried at the LOVE that He has for me. Love so big that he has made a place especially for me.
Did you get that? The CREATOR of the UNIVERSE has made a home for me for ETERNITY.
He made the stars, the planets, the mountains.
He controls the weather, and the tides.
And He can’t wait to hang out with me forever.
… it floors me every time.
After I finished crying, I started laughing.
And I kept laughing.
And laughing.
There was no stopping me.
Long after the music stopped, the choir exited the stage, the lights came back on and the chairs began to pile up, I continued to laugh.
Uncontrollably.
The JOY of the Lord was so tangible. So manifest. So real. All I could do was let it out and LAUGH!
It was the best laugh ever. It was cleansing. It was theraputic. Nothing else mattered. The crazy looks I got from people. The fact that I couldn’t speak or breath. None of that was important. Only that My God loved me, and likes me. And is delighted by me. And was laughing with me. (The CREATOR of the UNIVERSE was having a good laugh with ME?? Whatt?!?! I know…. wrap your head around that….)
The only other word I can come up with for what that small bit of heaven was like is “delicious”. Maybe that sounds weird to you, but I really like food so it makes perfect sense.
Remember that really tasty thing you ate that one time? The black truffle gnocci in Florence? or your Mom’s chocolate cake? Or the macaroni and cheese with bacon and jalepenos? Trudy’s stuffed avocado with suiza sauce? (ok, so those are all really tasty things I’ve eaten…)
Remember that first bite? (I do. vividly.)
All you wanted to do was stick your fork back into its yummy goodness and keep eating. Devour the entire thing. You would have been happy eating only that forever.
That one bite left you longing for more. Yearning for the next. Wishing there was more where that came from…
And there is. A whole eternity of it. A place where there aren’t moments of heavenly experiences. All there is is heaven. Forever.
I can’t wait.
I can’t get heaven out of my mind. It is a wonderful place. It is filled with glory and grace.
And I’m gonna see my Savior’s face.
‘Cause Heaven is a wonderful place.
