Carson got in from his trip, last Saturday around 5:00. I didn't really have much to do that day, so I spent most of it getting ready for his arrival. I found myself cleaning, doing laundry, putting clean sheets on his bed, and doing some meal prep for his homecoming dinner.....none of which he'd notice or care about except the food part. He'd been eating out for eight days and I knew he'd be ready for some home cooking. He's a pork chop kind of guy, so I had bought some of those, gotten some fresh squash from the farmer's market, (because he likes fried squash) and thought I'd make some homemade mashed potatoes and a couple of other fresh veggies. We'd top the meal off with one of his favorites, apple turnovers and ice cream, and I had all of that ready to cook at the appropriate time. When I knew they were getting close, I turned on his fan and bedside lamp just like he likes it and placed all of his accumulated mail on his bed.  

I've always done that. Whenever one of the kids was coming home from a trip or college or wherever, I'd always want everything to be so nice when they got here. When I know that Blair and John Samuel are coming for the weekend, I always ask, early in the week, what they'd like to eat while they're here. I try to have the house all clean and the lamps on in their bedroom as I just think lamplight makes a room feel more inviting. I turn on the fragrance warmers and have a dessert in the oven that makes the house smell good and put out fresh towels on their side of the bathroom with fragrant soaps. I turn the tv to one of the music channels for a soothing background for our much anticipated conversations. Since they usually travel after they get off of work, they don't get here until close to 8:00, so I try to time the food so that it's coming out of the oven as they drive up, because I know they'll be really hungry.

On Saturday, when I was mopping and dusting and waiting on Carson to text me to come and pick him up, I thought about why I was doing all of that. Why do I always want the house to be clean and smelling good with their favorite foods in the oven and their sheets fresh and crisp? I thought about it and I guess it's because, well, I love them and when they come home from being away from me and I know they're weary and drained, I want their souls to step over our threshold and exhale....feeling as if they've arrived at a warm, most comfortable place to rest and be loved. Whether they've had tough exams, a hard week at work, or are weary from travel, I want them to find an oasis of their favorite things and the comfort of the familiar here. In this world that's so unpredictable, I want this to be a place they can always count on to give them encouragement, joy, laughter, and the warmth of their parents' love.

One of our neighbors passed away yesterday. He was a father and husband- just a couple of years older than Davis. He'd been fighting cancer. I didn't know him very well, but I did know that he was a Christian. A couple of his kids are our kids' ages and the news of his death had me thinking about those preparations I make for our children's homecomings. I thought how it must be kind of like God preparing Heaven for us. He said He's gone to prepare a place for us. He's making arrangements for our arrival. Like a parent welcoming a child home, who's been away. He's gathering all the things we'll love....unspeakable wonders, unimaginable sights, incomprehensible beauty, the souls we've loved and lost, and His glorious presence ...and He's getting everything ready for our homecoming. With love in every little detail.

I think about all the love that goes into the prep for the modest welcomes we have here in our home. How I want everything to be a perfect blend for their senses when they open the door. I can't imagine how much more God wants for us as His children knowing how battered and bruised a trip around this sinful world can leave us when we arrive at His doorstep. I don't claim to understand everything there is to know about Heaven, but I do know enough to believe that our tired and weary souls will take a deep breath when we get there. At Heaven's threshold, we'll find that place where we are, at last, completely at rest. And we can finally exhale in the presence of our Savior.

Until then, we share that hope.   

"Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going."

"No, we don't know, Lord," Thomas said. "We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."  John 14:1-6