It caught me completely off guard and I was shocked at how that love affected me.
The other day someone how I know surprised her sister by travelling overseas to where she is living to meet her and celebrate her birthday.
Her husband filmed the encounter.
To say it was a surprise is an understatement. It was a truly unexpected surprise. There was shouting and tears and hugging and confusion. And the truly beautiful thing about the whole encounter was that the two women were completely overjoyed to see each other.
And I have been reflecting on that joy today. You see, those two sisters love each other. And that means that when they do not see each other they are sad and miss each other. But like any normal siblings, I am sure that those sisters have their disagreements. I am sure that those sisters argue and even fight. I am sure that there have been times in their lives when they were not best of friends or even very happy to see each other. And yet, because they love each other as sisters do, all of those things are forgotten at times like this when they connect with each other in such a lovely and unexpected surprise.
When I had my first child, I was completely unprepared for how I would feel as a mother. And yet, when they placed that first little baby in my arms, I had such a surprise at the depth of feeling that I experienced for that tiny little soul! It caught me completely off guard and I was shocked at how it affected me.
And I have been reflecting on that surprise as I have been reflecting on God.
You see, I have a feeling in my soul that I will like to see God. I have a feeling somewhere inside me that tells me that it will be a GOOD thing to see God one day in Heaven. I am certainly working towards that goal in as much as a weak little soul like mine can work towards it.
And yet, I really do not know how that will feel.
After all, if two sisters – both of whom are imperfect and both of whom have had their good times and bad times in their history together can experience such an overwhelming JOY at being able to see each other and spend time with each other, surely the joy that I feel at being in God’s presence will be a joy that surprises me in its ferocity.
And in being unable to imagine a joy like that – having not been able to imagine my own joy at carrying my own child after his birth – surely that surprise will be so joyous that the world could not imagine it.
And thinking of that today, I am glad. For I believe that just as I experienced great happiness in watching those two sisters reunite in that surprise, I believe that God will experience much joy at watching my surprise in experiencing His love for me in eternity. And a part of me is just so grateful that I will be able to give God something like that!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.