Tender Moments

A note to myself: I am postdating this post as there is mention of a not yet revealed surprise in it.
Written 4/28/2017

I've been working in Savannah's room.  As we prepare for her return to the nest from her first year of college, I finally finished the long overdue paint job.  Gone are the navy walls we painted for her brother for a softer gray to match her yellow and gray comforter.  We decided on this color almost two years ago when Andy gifted her with her own room.  Life happened.  Paint did not.  It occurred to me several weeks ago that this would be an ideal time to paint as she has so few of her belongings in there, and I decided that I might as well surprise her with the finished product. Savannah has not yet seen nor heard that her room is now a new color (at the time this is being written, it will be another story once this is published).  One week from today will be the day she takes her first glimpse of it.

As I worked on her room, I caught sight of her guest book from her graduation party.  We used Dr. Seuss's Oh the Places You'll Go as her guest book.  It occurred to me that I had good intentions of taking that book to her graduation to have friends and family who were unable to attend the party sign it.  My dad had just been released from the hospital when we had her party.  His invitation arrived while he was in the hospital, and I counted on my siblings who lived with him to let him know and get him to the party.  That was a mistake as they did not let him know until it was too late for him to get ready, so he missed it.  Dad would not have written anything sentimental in her book.  He simply would have signed it, and I regret that I never put it in his hands to do that.  It's kind of cool to have your grandparents' handwriting on something.

I literally finished painting Savannah's room yesterday.  It was a several week process - long story, but the gist of it is that I started painting on spring break and realized very quickly that I could not move her furniture alone.  Julia and I could not budge it working together.  I had to wait until 11:00p.m. one night for Zach to help me.  We are down to the wire because I believe strongly in letting paint cure for several days or even a week, so we cannot put the room back together until I feel satisfied that the paint won't chip -(I might be a bit OCD about painting a room correctly).  All this to say that seeing the guest book was still not far from my mind when my brother sent this text:

Ira (age 4 years, 11 months) told Jonathan that he wants Jesus to come back now, so Grandpa could come back, and he could go over to his house again.  (tears here)

My response: I'm good with that.

How profound is my little nephew?

It occurred to me that just a few years ago, Andy and I talked about how we long for Christ's return more and more as we get older.  As the losses and hurts pile up, and we start really getting how depraved this world is, we long for all things to be new and for God's peace and protection to reign.  However, that longing does not hit us in our early adult years when we look forward to careers, marriage, childrearing, and all the adventures we see before us in life.

After receiving that text, I prayed that Ira's words would be true, that Christ's return would be soon, but even as I prayed, I remembered that He has good reason to tarry, and my mind wandered to those friends whose salvation is not so sure in my mind.  I live between - wanting His return yet wanting the assurance that the people I love will be caught up in the clouds with Him on that day.