The last two times I saw her, she was walking. Walking along the greenway--once with two of her dearest girlfriends and the other with her dear husband and her sweet old chocolate lab. A beautiful sight.
Both were on sunny mornings--remarkably lovely mornings, each in the midst of a mostly cold late winter and reluctant early spring. But these were the kinds of mornings that put a song in your soul, hope in your heart, and whispered of heaven. Warm, bright, delicate spring scents, the beginnings of green buds all around--the certain promise of renewal and rebirth.
When I heard the sorrowful news just yesterday that God had called her on home, I wept...but then recalled seeing her on those two lovely walks. Her friends walking alongside her--one on each side--as they talked and laughed and looked around and shared as only girlfriends who have been in the trenches of life together can do. Oh what an inspiring, indelible picture it was. A picture of how Christ made us for community...to walk with one another on this sometimes hard, sometimes wonderful journey of life. We're to walk alongside...encouraging, helping, exhorting, challenging, forgiving, and loving one another with everything we've got. Ever pointing one another to the Redeemer who walks before us, behind us, beside us, and within us--reminding each other we're never ever alone for He will never forsake us, never leave us.
And then the last time I saw her--walking beside her beloved husband, their big old lab leading the way. Oh how many times had I seen them out there on the greenway while I walked our old Moses? Such a treasured sight each morning to glimpse a husband and wife walking along (at a brisk clip, I might add), chatting and sharing comfortably and happily as two who have lived and loved together long and well. Thank You, Lord, for the joy of marriage and for the gift of seeing two people who obviously adored one another. Thank You for the beauty of Your creation and for the happiness of being outside in Your great, colorful garden. And thank You, Father, for the simple, sweet consolation of a dear old lab.
But as I thought about those two sights, a song came to mind--"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." Strange I know. Just a few months back, I cried as I watched another person I love walking...walking to this song. Only she was dressed in pure white, wearing my mama's wedding veil, and walking down the aisle on the arm of her daddy. Her sister, Janie, sang the words and just as she began the third verse, the back church doors opened, and Mary Norris and her daddy walked down the aisle. Janie sang--
O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.
Oh the glorious, wondrous, joyously good news of the Gospel! We're great sinners with wandering hearts...but Christ is a Great Savior who poured out His grace upon us at the cross and has taken our hearts and sealed them for heaven above. Saved us and given us the gift of eternal life...and the hope and wonder of heaven.
And all I could think was--that is Rebecca! That is Rebecca right now! Because of what Jesus did for us, Rebecca is the bride of Christ, pure and spotless and healthy and happy and whole. No more tears. No more pain. No more struggle. No more fear. No more limitations. No more sorrow.
Yes, today she is walking...walking this time not with her two dear girlfriends nor her wonderful husband and dog...but with her Savior. Walking down the aisle of heaven in glory and savoring the faces all around her of those she's known and loved. Walking to the joyous songs of heaven, laughing with the wonder of heaven, and experiencing for the first time the glory of real life as it was meant to be lived.
While we weep on earth, she rejoices in heaven. We don't understand it all--this grieving is so hard...but in those gaps where understanding fails, we choose to trust in the One who died for us and trust in His Word and His promises which will never fail.
So thank You, Father, for Rebecca's life. Thank You for the hope of heaven. Thank You for the hints in this life of the wonder of all that we have ahead for the real and glorious life You died to give us. As long as we remain on this earth, help us to walk faithfully and lovingly...with our gazes and hearts fixed upon You...
until that glorious day when, like Rebecca, we'll walk right into Your presence...as Your bride.
To God be the glory.
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