Heavenly Reunion

Heavenly Reunion

by Jodi Decker

            This month’s theme is “reunion.”  Perhaps you just had a Thanksgiving family reunion.  Perhaps you have relatives who live out of town or out of state, and you had a virtual reunion, via Skype.  We’ve done that before. 

            I recently attended a reunion, of sorts, of my high school’s 50^th anniversary.  Although there weren’t many of my own classmates there for this celebration, I enjoyed reconnecting with a few childhood and high school friends. 

            Something about being in a family, or attending a certain high school, just gives us a sense of belonging and feeling connected, even if we haven’t seen each other in a very long time.  I look forward to these reunions.

            Sometimes I think about a “reunion” we all hope to attend, eventually.  Yes, you know which one I’m talking about.  Someday, we’ll all be reunited in Heaven, with Jesus, as well as with our Christian family and friends.  No, I’m not being morbid, doom and gloom, or wishing for an early demise! 

            I look forward to seeing my mom again.  I want to meet the sister I never knew.  Will I recognize my ancestors I never met?  Or will everyone seem familiar and like one big happy family?  My daughter did a fabulous family history project this summer, and she traced our ancestors back to the 1500’s.  Will I just “know,” you’re my great-great-great grandmother?  So many unanswered questions!  What an interesting plot twist to our life stories.  And, how does that whole aging thing, work?  I’m thinking we’ll  all be about the same age…because if my great-great-great grandmother died younger than I am now, it would be strange to have her be younger than me in Heaven.  These are the kinds of questions that can keep you awake at night. 

            I enjoy books and movies like “Heaven Can Wait,” by Todd Burpo, and “Nearing Home,” by Billy Graham, and songs like “I can only Imagine.”  Before my mom passed, I witnessed her speaking to her deceased mother, father, brothers, and sisters.  She was so excited to “see” them.  I want to look forward to heaven with the same wonder and awe as a little child, and with the same sense of excitement as my mom did.  And, we can look forward to experiencing our reunion with our Christian families.  I don’t even have to worry about losing weight before I get there, or what will I wear, or will this match my wings?  All of us will be the homecoming kings and queens.  Yes, that is one reunion I don’t want to miss, as I’m “longing for a better country—a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16).

“One thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phillippians 3:13-14).