Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Destination paradise

Suspended 30,000 feet above the earth, I sat mesmerized by the checkerboard landscape below as I traveled home from Colorado. Transportation such as this was unheard of a hundred years ago, yet now so mundane, passengers nodded off to the hum of the massive engines keeping us afloat. Peering out the window we sliced through enormous cauliflower-like clouds. God seemed so big and me so small and finite.

Buzzing through the atmosphere I reminisced on the past week with my friend, Lois. Wow, what a blessed time. It had been in the upper nineties a few days before my arrival but when I landed the temperatures had plummeted and rain soaked the terrain. We spent the first day warmed by a fire, chatting and praying as rain thumped on her patio covering like fat fingers typing madly. The next day “Toy Story” clouds splattered across the china blue horizon as we trekked to an international street fair in Boulder. Then the following day we drove through beautiful Estes Park to stunning snow-capped Rocky Mountain National Park. We were delighted by a herd of elk, not more than ten feet away, meandering through the gushing Great Thompson River. Way beautiful!

But what really impacted me about the week was a woman in my friend’s contemplative prayer group. Her son had committed suicide a year ago this month and she feared her younger son would soon follow suit. The woman had left the family due to an abusive marriage and had fought for custody of her children. The older son had to testify against his dad for the younger son to be awarded to his mom. The son broke under such duress and took his life. In a tense moment we prayed for her family with such conviction that God would act on her behalf in her remaining son’s life. I reflected on this woman’s stellar faith and the scripture she shared was about filling our ever-illusive longings with the essence of Christ.

After experiencing this woman’s pain, my heart yearned to see my awaiting son. I wrestled with the struggle, joy and sorrows of life all mingled together. It occurred to me how much faith matters when we are filled with his wonder as we gaze at a mountain meadow or struggle in the valley of death. Somehow, through it all, we must hold on to the fact that his grace is sufficient for the journey (2Cor 12:9-10). Turning to God is really the only thing that makes sense in this beautiful yet jumbled mess called life. If we believe in God’s promises and his profound love for us, our future will be secure with him in our final destination…paradise! Faith makes all the difference and it matters!

 

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