The Third Heaven

In three months hence a nurses will again put dye in my veins.  My body will slide into the gaping mouth of a big machine and I will hold my breath while a picture is taken.  I will slide back out then  glide back in, hold my breath while another picture is taken of my "fearfully and wonderfully made" innards.  Another nurse will move my body around for another part of me to be filmed, then once more that big machine will swallow me;  I will hold my breath while another picture will be taken before I slide out for the last time.  The arm of my daughter or another helper will reach out to take me home to the mountain where I live. As the centimeters that measure this Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm increase,  my life span will decrease.

 I recently was thrilled by a phone conversation with Granddaughter #2.  Lauren Stone is on her way to Stanford  for her next "round" before being assigned to a hospital for residency as a brain surgeon.  She graduated with highest honors from Azusa Pacific University with a degree in music; then she entered medical school at Temple in Philadelphia.  She will always be a musician. ...but her major investment will be in saving human lives from the very cancer that took her Grandfather Ted's life.

We read that Paul visited the Third Heaven. Before he was escorted back forever he would suffer nearly unbearably at the hands of cruel people who hated him for sacrificing his very life for The Gospel. Through it all, he would remember: "To live? Christ.  To die is gain". 

Tonight at the Mulligan Room, outside on the patio, people will come to dine, listen and sing. The stars will come out and the folk will relax in the wonder of His creation.  Some of us will strain to get a glimpse of The Third Heaven. ...for we know that 

This world is not my Home.
We're just a passin'  through.
My treasures are laid up 
Somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me 
From Heaven's open door.
And I can't feel at home
In this world anymore.  

Love,  Jo