Friends Past and Present

I am so excited. Neil and I are planning a trip to see a dear friend whom we haven’t seen for 10 years. The last time we saw each other, she was in New York for a wedding. We picked her up in New York City, did a tour of ground zero and then brought her to the Jersey Shore for a few very happy days.
We were best friends in Seattle and saw each other through so many fun and sometimes emotional events, job turnovers, and friends lost and found. What a joy it is to just think of visiting with her.
There is no direct flight to Tucson, so we are planning to use the stop in Houston to visit our niece, whom we haven’t seen for at least five years.  
Those shutdowns sure did take a toll on our connectedness with our loved ones who live at a distance.
Of course, we all still keep in touch, but it isn’t really the same as being hugged and talking and getting excited at just being in the presence of another person we love, is it? Oh, what a joy to see someone in person after such a long separation.
Don’t you think it will be the same in heaven? We will be hugging and crying for days or months as we meet and laugh with people from every year and every stage of our lives.
And Jesus! Can we think that won’t be the hug to last an eternity! 
I’m excited just thinking about visiting my earthly friend, so you can imagine how much I am looking forward to seeing my Savior face to face.
The anticipation of the visit with my friend is wonderful, but the reality of the visit will be so much more. I am sure it is the same with heaven when we will be in the presence of our Holy God.
I know what Linda’s house looks like, so I can see myself in her living room or sitting at her kitchen counter chatting with her over coffee, but I have no idea what heaven will be like, and I cannot picture what I will see other than the descriptions from the Bible.  
I admit I do love the vision of the emerald rainbow surrounding God and His throne, the 24 elders praising Him, the Seraphim singing Holy, Holy, Holy, and, most mercifully, I’ll be able to hear the music clearly.
I know it will be so much more wonderful because I have not the imagination to deduce what God has in store for us. Our God is so gracious and loving, and He is looking forward to having us with Him for eternity. The love of the Father will surround us just as the air does on Earth. Wow!
In the meantime, we have work to do before we get home to visit all our past family and friends. God has a plan for me now, and I need to follow through with it.
First, I need to make sure it isn’t my plan but God’s plan. Right now, I feel as if God has laid a project on my heart to ponder and pray about.
I cannot move forward without further direction, so I am praying and considering the facts, the possibilities, and the potential for success.   Those things help me feel more confident, but, really, once God says, “Do it,” it won’t matter what my thoughts are because if He has decided it will get done, it will get done.
I can’t say I am looking forward to the task, which appears difficult, but I am looking forward to seeing God move in ways that only He can. I pray I am up to the job when the time is due.
When I was working with the senior highs, we studied a book by Henry Blackaby, entitled, “Experiencing God.” If ever you have the opportunity to have a group study with young believers, this book was quite a challenge.  
As we went through our weekly sessions, one lesson asked the question, “What possession do you have that you treasure most?” A lesson or two later, as part of the plan to know and trust our God better, we were told to give that item away. It was a hard lesson for each of us. 
I had a daily devotional that I read year after year, which always hit the perfect verse and note at the time I needed it. I did not want to part with that book, but I did. I sent that well-used devotional with a letter of explanation across the country to this very dear friend that we are going to visit. I never heard whether she liked it or not, but God had a plan for me, and her, in the giving and receiving. It was a wonderful lesson in obedience that I have never forgotten. 
This year, let us anticipate with joy the work that God has set aside just for us. I pray you will see the fruit of that work, but if not, know that God’s work is never without fruit – either in us or others. 
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.