After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Revelation 4:1-3 (NIV)
Husband likes to drive at night and prefers to split long trips into two days. So, we planned on leaving work early and heading out mid afternoon. M. took the day off, the dog sitter arrived on time and we were on the road by 2:00. When we leave early like that, we avoid the massive traffic jams of rush hour traffic around Tampa and Gainesville. With a MapQuest print out, GPS and AAA maps, we had plenty of options how to proceed. The GPS tried to send us across the state in a “short cut” from I75 to I10 on US301. We learned a long time ago that while the route may appear shorter on a map, it is actually longer because most of the way is a heavily enforced 30 mile speed limit. The GPS squawked and fussed directing us off the Interstate until we finally turned off the sound. With surprisingly light traffic and only a couple of rainstorms, we hustled down the road in record time making it within three hours of our destination by 11:00. Since we couldn’t check into our cabin until 3:00 today, we spent the night in a hotel and hit the road again this morning. We had only one concern as we headed north. How we would get in touch with youngest son. He spent the week between the end of his job as a whitewater guide and meeting up with us camping, rock climbing and hiking in Virginia and North Carolina. After five days without access to electricity, his cell phone battery was dead. Timing our rendezvous with him looked like it would be tricky especially since we were not sure where he spent the night last night. After about an hour, he called to check in stating that he was already in Lake Lure and giving us his location of a parking lot of a church down the street from our cabin. So, we pushed our own journey forward eliminating extra stops because M. was getting antsy. For miles and miles, she had been a great traveler, but her eagerness to be with youngest son again was evident. After five weeks apart, she was anxious to see youngest son. We started the countdown at 10 miles, announced aloud as each mile passed. And then, we saw his car, pulled up beside it and she jumped out of the truck before husband even put it into park. It was a sweet reunion. Her eagerness to see youngest son and her reaction to his appearance reminded me of what it will be like when we finally go home to Heaven. No matter how sweet this earth can be, there is a part of us anxious for that final reunion. We do not know the day or the hour or the length of our journey, but when we finally stand face to face with our Savior in a place even more beautiful than Lake Lure, it will also be a sweet reunion.
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