Two conversations I don't want to forget.

Haven't written in a while, but that's OK. Does anybody but me even read this? :)

Anyway, I had two conversations yesterday that I don't want to forget, so I thought I'd record them here. If, by chance, anyone is reading, please don't think that this sort of conversation is representative of every day here or that we're something akin to the Walton's, always having heart-lifting moments at every turn. If it was that way, I wouldn't be recording them here as something unique and special. Anyway, here's the first:


MARANATHA: "the best thing in the whole wide world"
I was combing Maranatha's hair after a bath:

She said:"Mom, you are doing the best thing in the whole wide world, you know dat?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Her: "Like, you take care of us, you brush my hair, you play with us, you read to me, you teach us so many tings, you love us, .... like that."

(Yes, she said tings, not things... I want to be able to remember just how she talked.)

I have no idea if she grasped the blessing she was speaking into my heart and life. But she's absolutely right. Though it's devalued by our culture as something meaningless, mindless, or something anyone can do, there's nothing I could be doing right now that would be as eternally or personally meaningful to so many people as "just" being mom and wife to these five, going on six, people. :) And on days when I forget that, I wanted to have this special minute of life recorded here to re-read.

BAXTER: About that bright sun
We were driving home from a mall after buying a birthday present for a young Turkish friend:

Him: "The sun is so bright!" [note: it really was-- it's been hiding for days after snow and rain... so it was particularly bright and shining right in our faces, bouncing off the wet road]

Me: "Yup, it is very bright today."

Him: "I'm so glad that in the next world, there won't be a sun."

Me: "God Himself will be our light and we won't need it anymore."

Him: "Yeah. [pause] Will He stop shining at night time when we sleep?"

Me: [slight chuckle] "I don't know. The Bible doesn't say anything about nighttime or darkness in Heaven. It only talks about days being divided up on earth. It does say that God is light and in Him is no darkness. Maybe we won't sleep in Heaven, but I'm not sure."

Him: "But then we will get so tired at the end of the day!" [keep in mind, this is our nearly 6 year old who still on his own opts for a nap every now and then... the kid likes his sleep. :) ]

Me: "Maybe not. It says He'll give us new bodies; maybe our new bodies won't get tired. Or maybe we'll be able to peacefully sleep even in God's light."

Him: "Yeah. Well, anyway, it sure is a bright day today!"

I loved that... the way natural life just flows right together with Scripture and anticipating Heaven in his heart and mind. I only remember this subject (about Heaven not needing a sun, because God Himself will be our light) coming up a time or two, and not recently, but his little five-year-old brain has stored away this important piece of information and faith, and I'm so glad.

And it WAS a bright day yesterday. :) In many ways.