Reunion

 Brenda and I are anticipating the reunion with a close friend later today as she passes through town. We have not seen her in months. Our last meeting was briefly shared at a wedding. She had two weddings to attend on the same day and rushed off in a cloud of dust. We look forward to catching up. Laughing. Reminiscing. Sharpening one another spiritually. We are really looking forward to it. 

We are also looking forward to the reunion of our son Tanner. Of all our sons, we get to see him the least because of his work. He is coming in later tonight or tomorrow. I look forward to hugging his neck. Laughing with him. Enjoying some family traditions. Eating with his place at the table filled. That will content my soul more than any gift under a tree could do.

There is another reunion I am looking forward to. A heavenly reunion. Make no mistake. The first person I long to see in heaven is Jesus. To fall at His feet in worship for several thousand years. To lovingly adore Him, perpetually praise Him, and to enjoy Him endlessly. To thank Him for all He did for me. That is the focal point 

There are other reunions I look forward to seeing. Three in particular. My mother, sister and grandfather. I miss my momma. She died when Tanner was only three months old. She held him once. She never even got to meet Tucker and Turner. She would have loved them and spoiled them just like she did with Taylor. I miss her excitement at Christmas. She loved this time of year. She loved to bake. To decorate. To give gifts. She struggled as a single parent, but we always had great Christmas presents. She also loved to cook for us. The heart attack that caused her slow demise over three months occurred while she was cooking a large meal for a church event. I miss her smile. She knew heartache. She survived two abusive marriages. The death of a daughter. The struggles as a single parent and nursing student. I sat proudly when she graduated watching her walk across the stage to fulfill a lifelong dream. I miss momma. She died on Mother's Day weekend in 1998. That was 23 years ago. My last conversation with her was about Jesus and the hope of heaven. I will see her again. 

I miss my little sister Jamie. She drowned in 1976 when she was only four years old. I can barely make out her face in my memories. I came home from school to find a distraught mother who could not find Jamie anywhere. She had slipped off while my mother took a nap due to working the night shift. I rode my bike furiously all over the neighborhood trying to find her. They found her lifeless body in a pond where she slipped in among some tall weeds. They do not even think she saw the water because of the weeds until it was too late. She was younger than me. I wonder what she would have become? What our relationship would have been like? Would she be married now and have children? She would be 49 now. Hard to believe. 

My Papaw died when I was a sophomore in high school. We were very close. He instilled in me a love for sports. He never got to see me play in high school or college. He came to my junior high games, but the last year he was able to attend those games I sat the bench and never got to play. We used to watch football and baseball games together on television and he would teach me the fundamentals. He and I used to go on drives alone. I was the only one of his grandchildren who shared his love for sports. He even took me to meet some of his old football buddies when they got together for lunch. I idolized him. A four letter man in high school excelling in football, basketball, baseball and track. He served in the navy. He worked a well paying factory job for decades providing for the family. We lived with him and my grandmother most of my childhood. I cried one of the three hardest times I have ever cried in my life when he died. I can still recall my last conversation with him. I asked him how he felt. He commented, "Well, I would not win a footrace." I told him I would help him run and we would win together. I never spoke to him again. I came home from school one day to the tragic news he died. Later that night I fell to pieces. I long to see him again. 

I am thankful for earthly and heavenly reunions. One of God's great gifts to us is relationships. One of the sad realities is how those relationships get separated by distance and death. There will be no more goodbyes in heaven. Hallelujah. When I get there, I will get to celebrate Jesus with those I have loved the most. If I could send a message to each of them, I would say, "I will meet you at the pearly gates." 

That reminds me of what Brother Bob Harper says to me each time I go to visit him. He is in a retirement home. He served as pastor at Spring Creek for 14 years. He was the pastor here when I served as the youth minister. When I leave our visit he without fail says, "Matt, if I don't see you again down here I will see you up there." Yes sir Brother Bob. There will be a reunion up there.