Talking About Heaven -

{Photo credit to my dear Shannon, from our Wintery beach walk this evening on Ormond Beach}

"I'll be traveling far from home, but I won't be looking for to roam.

I'll be crossing o'er the Great Divide, in a better Home to reside." 

~ Glory Bound by The Wailin' Jennys ~

It may not seem apparent visibly to most people, but I am almost constantly thinking about Heaven. 

After Avery died, I often would raise my hands towards the sunset because I felt as though Heaven was ripping the sky open and pouring through into our world. But I stopped after awhile because people simply didn't understand and I got tired of their blank looks after I explained. 

I talked about Heaven often, for the past 5.5 years, because Heaven was the Hope & Joy in the midst of terrible grief. 

Heaven is our Promise. 

I can't tell you how many adults told me that "anyone your age shouldn't be talking about Heaven, you should be thinking about your great life...". 

I'm not even going to get into how bad that theology is, but I will say that I felt like an old soul in a young body.
Maybe they weren't dreaming about Heaven at 50 & 60 years old because thankfully they hadn't just been to 10 funerals in a year. 

To me, Heaven is and always will be: a Place where the people that I life and miss live on; 

it is our Far Better Land, it is Peace, it is Glory; it is no more sin, it is no more tears, it is no more goodbyes. 

It is wellness, wholeness and seeing the face of the Savior we long to see. 

It is where every sad thing will become untrue, it is the restoration of the relationship that was broken by sin. 

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen....

But now they desire a better, that is, a Heavenly Country. 
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a City for them." 
~ Hebrews 11: 1 & 16 ~

Heaven is where I'll see my grandparents again and meet the family members I never knew. 

Heaven is where I won't ever worry about being good enough or that I'll lose my family before I die. 

Heaven will be the beautiful goodbye to a broken tempestuous dying world, and a fragrant hello to undying JOY,
as we SEE God make all things new in the Holy City, which needs no sun, for He is the light {Rev 21:22}. 

For Heaven is Heaven because Jesus is there. 

So yes, I can't wait, and no, I won't stop talking about it. 

With love always,

~ Jean Marie ~