Heaven continues to be on my mind... The thing I find the most comfort in is that we will know each other in heaven. We will still be ourselves, we won't "morph" into something or someone else. Relationships here on earth MATTER and will continue in heaven! God originally made us for companionship, and fellowship with friends and family will be deeper, sweeter and more joyous in heaven. Why wouldn't they be? It's heaven! Thank you Kristin for the reminder of our discussion. Often we feel so limited by time constraints and want so much to spend more time with our family and friends. Just think, in heaven, we'll have all the time in the world, and Beej will be waiting to greet us. A quote from Dr. Alcorn "God is our father, and fathers delight in their children's close relationships."

My mom was telling me about a pastor who was killed instantly in a car crash but came back to life when a minister stopped to pray for him. It's a book called "90 minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper. He waited two years to share his experience partly because it seemed too sacred to put into words and partly because he thought people would think he was nuts. Even though his experience has been well received, he continues to feel the vulnerability in sharing and we can definitely relate with that.

Still considering all the things we can know and think about heaven, what a great place to look forward to for Christians, yet it feels so far away... I still want to argue with God and be mad at times, our lives are forever changed with the loss of BJ. He had so much potential, we need him, his boldness was so rare and on and on. Sometimes I'm still tortured by "what ifs" and "why didn't we," when the bottom line is that God had the power to save him, no matter how sick he was. We believed. We definitely had adequate prayer cover. Don Piper only had one person pray him back to life, so the power lies with God. All of you and your responses have really helped us know "why" all this happened. It doesn't bring BJ back of course, but to see a purpose in the grief, to see how God is working in so many other lives is good. This thanksgiving, we can be thankful amid our grief.

When I got to school yesterday, I found some very thoughtful things on my desk: A gas card, a Starbucks card, a CD and a "sharing your heartache" card. Friends continuing to reach out and care and I am so appreciative.

"These three remain: faith, hope and love but the greatest of these is love."
I Corinthians 13:13

For such a time as this, my friends.
Love,
Mom


(AweStar reports that the Memorial DVD's have all been shipped. They are still available to all interested.)