This time it seemed harder to leave… We have 4 beautiful, loving, grandchildren who are far too young to understand why these grandparents seemed so intentional with the goodbyes this time… They don’t yet understand where and why we have to go. And then there were the goodbye kisses planted on cheeks of aging parents who well know without expressing the words that it could be the last kiss until eternity. Yes, eternity –
I hold that as a promise. Because if this life were all there was, then our ministry in PNG would be a worthless waste of years and emotions. But there IS a heavenly Eternity to consider, and I have hope that this sacrifice will result in more people making it there… Would I prefer it to be easier? My flesh does. Yet I am spurred on by reading that David would not sacrifice an offering to the Lord that cost him nothing (2 Sam 24:24). We are here on earth with our one brief life, the only shot we get here, to spend honoring and bringing glory to God – and to present it back to him as an offering. A costly offering. Romans 12:1 calls us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice – that sounds costly all right. And then, as a bonus, the Comforter comforts me, because God knows full well what hard goodbyes feel like. And so these years spent far away from warm familiar bear hugs and sloppy 2-year-old kisses will someday seem like a mere breath when compared to the forever togetherness to come. I’m counting on it!