I Could Almost Hear the Heavenly Choir

This summer our family took an amazing vacation to Family Camp, at Pine Cove.

And it's all I can talk about. I'm obsessive that way.

There were so many incredible activities, motivational sessions, and just good old fashioned fun that we have already booked our week for next summer!

But I must tell you about my favorite part out of the seven day, 168-hour trip: the first 5 minutes.

After a not-so-pleasant four hour drive with a toddler who wailed, you could say we were anxious to arrive at Family Camp. With deep relief, we sighed when we saw the sign.

As we turned onto the gravel road and traveled down the winding path, we heard something. My hubby turned the radio off and rolled down our windows. It sounded like voices. Excited voices.

We slowed our car down because there seemed to be an obstruction in the road:

and

The counselors were out in the blazing hot sun, cheering us into camp. They were jumping and yelling and chanting and screaming. And it was the single best welcome we've ever received in our whole lives.

And then they handed me a red rose, my hubby an ice-cold root beer and asked us to get out of the car and go on a tour of the grounds, while they parked it at our cabin and unloaded it.

Oh, yes, I could practically hear the Hallelujah chorus.

It was a reception like no other. We felt special. Honored. Welcome. Wanted.

Once we were in our cabin, my kids watched from the window as they hooped and hollered and yelled and bounced until every family arrived.

And do you know what I kept thinking about?

Heaven.

I think that's how we will feel at The Pearly Gates: Special. Honored. Welcome. Wanted.

And do you know who our tour-guide will be?

Jesus.

Sometimes in our busy lives filled with baseball games and grocery lists, I think we simply forget that HE is preparing a place for us. A home without maintenance or sorrow, where HE lights up the city with His Glory.

In that small moment, I felt God tug my heart and remind me to look forward to the homecoming that will be like no other and I thought of this Scripture in John 14:2 :

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

And when I get there, I won't just be imagining the Heavenly choir.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for preparing a place for me in Heaven. Thank you for Your Presence in my life here on earth, but help me to remember that this life here, with all of it's victories and defeats, is only temporal. Help me to long for my Heavenly home. Amen.

join Kristen daily at We are THAT family where she serves up a dose of humor daily and an occasional Hallelujah of her own!