to my unborn granddaughter

To: Nora who remains in the womb

From: Nana who remains in the world

From one who has gone before…

Dear Nora,

Beautiful baby girl, you will soon be joining us here in your new world. Our current world.  I know that must sound odd. You probably have so many questions. What is it like? How will I get there? Why do I have to leave what I know for the unknown? Is the next place better? Is it the final place?

Please don’t ever think that Nana is unkind for not answering every question. It is not because I do not love you, but because I do that I answer your questions only in part at this time.

Don’t get me wrong, I could answer your questions with many details. I have words to describe the world you are about to enter. I have lived here for many years and have seen many things. The challenge is how do I describe it to one who has never seen?

So I will answer your questions in part. As one who has gone before, I will try to help you understand what is to come by associating it to what you currently know.

Now you experience our world through the filter of the womb. In your new world you will still hear heartbeats and feel warmth. Voices will still speak and sing to you. You will feel the touch of your father and the encompassing embrace of your mother.

And more.

In our world your ears will hear more clearly. Your skin will register a direct yet tender touch. Light will enable your eyes to focus on many splendid things. And your body will be free to venture and explore.

Do not fear the passing over from your world into ours. The process actually prepares you for what is to come. There are many who love you, anxiously waiting your arrival. Eager to care for you and train you in your new surroundings. Excited to share with you the many sights, sounds, and sensations. It will take a lifetime to explore all the vastness of this place!

Yes, precious one, you must leave your current home in order to experience the next. In so many ways it is better than your current environment. If given the option, would I return to the womb? No. Not after experiencing this world.

Is it your final place? No. There is one other world awaiting you. It has a special name. Heaven. Can I describe it to you? No.

I have not been there. I know in part because God has mentioned it in His book. In this, Nora girl, I am like you. Trusting the One who has gone before. Accepting what little He tells me. Believing that even though I don’t know, One who loves me does. I choose to trust Him to fill in the details when I arrive.

With much love and great anticipation,

Nana

Accident Forgiveness

"It's not what happens to you that's important. It's what you do when that disaster comes that makes all the difference in the world."  ~Kathryn Kuhlman
 

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"Come down Grand."
"I had an accident."

"Are you okay?"

"I am. But I'm not sure about everybody else."

What began as a routine evening had just turned into a parent's nightmare. And I was the parent.

Our seventeen-year-old son had just left the house to go across town to eat homemade ice-cream with his cross country buddies. He had four friends with him in his late-model 4-Runner.

That night involved hospitals, tornadoes, and a trip to Iowa City. Four walked away with minor injuries. One was taken by ambulance to the university hospital a couple of hours away for surgery. Her hand had hit the pavement and would be disfigured for life.

Her response would speak life or death into my son's broken and guilt-ridden heart.

After her first of several surgeries to clean the wound of glass fragments and road gravel, her first words to our son were, "You know we will have to be best friends from now on." To me she said, "I'm not mad."

That choice makes her a hero in my book.

 

I have a choice!

Would you agree that things are pretty crazy right now? Headlines shout that things aren't the same anymore. Check these out "Iconic Corporate Giants Crumble", "Russian Scholar Says US Will Collapse Next Year", "Analysis: Goodbye Coke and Oreos". Coke and Oreos!?!? Say it ain't so!

Yet, the God of the universe who sits upon the throne tells us in Deuteronomy 30:19

"Today I have given you the choice...

Everyday we are given a choice. Not just a once-in-a-lifetime. Not a now or never. Everyday. Yes, even when today is like no other day we have seen in our lifetime. I have a choice and so do you.

...between life and death...

What???? Not between Coke or RC and Oreos or Kroger brand cookies. He's talking life and death. I don't know about you, but the Coke or RC was hard for me. Life and death? That seems like a no-brainer. Yet the world seems to place brand name versus generic above adoption or abortion...marriage or divorce...forgiveness or bitterness...truth or lies. Now wait just a minute. Those are hitting closer to home than I want to admit. How about you?

...between blesssings and curses...

So now it's saying that my choices have consequences? What I choose makes a difference? And that those consequences can be beneficial or detrimental?

Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make.

Can't I just make these choices in the privacy of my own home? or head? Do I have to have an audience!?!?!

Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!

And that it is not "It's my life. I can do what I want." The choices that I make affect others? I have to consider long term effects for me...and them?

How are you feeling right now? Take out your thermometer and take your psychological temperature. Are you dangerously cold right now? Maybe at a fever pitch? Dangerously high and risking damage to the brain?

Consider this. In a world that is spinning out of control, our good Shepherd, our Abba Father, our Counselor says, "I AM giving you a choice today that can give you life and blessings and can be beneficial to you and your children. And we are watching. And We are for you. Not against you."

Now that is a hope I'm willing to invest in!!

How about you?

Here Once

A friend has "HERE ONCE" inscribed on his knuckles. The reason for this came up in a recent conversation. He explained that his philosophy of life is that we are only HERE ONCE; therefore, we should make it count.

He reflected on his own life and said the season that he felt was the most rewarding was when he helped out at a youth camp. He honestly felt that he had something to give to those young people, so he gave himself to them. He shared his experiences. Even the tough ones. He has had plenty of those. What's amazing is that he didn't use them as an excuse. He used them as tools. Tools to help others build a better life.

There is something deep inside each of us that cries out to make a difference while we are HERE. That's because God created us each for a purpose. Discovering that purpose and living it out can make what we do HERE (as well as in the HEREAFTER) rewarding.

This purpose is not such a hard discovery if you think about it. My friend did. You take what you have been given, the good along with the bad, and you use them as tools to give of yourself to help others. You make a difference.

We are only HERE ONCE and the decisions and the choices we make HERE will affect our lives in the HEREAFTER. The most important choice we make in this life is choosing whether or not we will receive God's gift of salvation. That choice during our HERE ONCE will determine where we live in the HEREAFTER FOREVER.