LIKE DIAMONDS

LIKE DIAMONDS

LIKE DIAMONDS

On the way to pick up my dad to take him several places, I go the back way and drive by a lot of land. There is a beautiful horse ranch with horses framing the beauty of the countryside. I was also noticing the deer tracks and other animals’ tracks interweaving into the snow. The sun made the snow just glimmer, like little diamonds! A dear friend of mine had passed away the day before and my first thought was, ‘Oh, how Lillie would have liked to see all that beauty.’ That night while watching the news, they showed a little boy about 2 or 3 helping his daddy shovel the snow in their driveway. He even had a little shovel. I thought ‘Lillie would have loved that sight.’

My mother and I liked to watch several series on tv and there was one she and I particularly liked. The actual home it was filmed in is a huge mansion in England. I was born in England and I had dreamed that we could go back there to visit the places that I had been to as a child and also go tour the mansion shown on the show, with my mother. She has been gone five years now. I remember the last show of the series, thinking ‘Oh, no, mother is missing the end!’

Isn’t it funny the things that our minds think about after a death of someone we love, in our process of healing amongst the grief? I know exactly where they both had gone after their deaths. They both lived lives, shining their lights for the Lord, every day. They were an example of what a Christian woman should be, for others to follow. They both influenced so many people, including me, to be a better woman of God.

As I am writing this in my car, while waiting for my dad, I mentally called myself a ‘ding-dong.’ Then, I started smiling through the fresh grief of my friend. My friend, in heaven, is seeing such unimaginably shimmering sights that are far more beautiful than the sun glimmering on the snow like diamonds.  I could picture her loving on and playing with all those children who have been murdered through abortion or other tragic ways of death. She was experiencing much more joy, than I am and will ever see!

Then, I thought about my mother in heaven and what she was experiencing. She was seeing the best “show” than we will ever see here on this earth! My mother loved to research about gemstones and loved her diamonds. She did a speech at one of my ladies’ days about gemstones and how they connected to the vision of a heavenly home. There are so many verses in the Bible, that talk about our heavenly home, but I will only show you one.

Revelation 21 shows us a view into heaven, spoken so that our earthly minds can try to understand its grandeur. Some of what is mentioned there are: “…city of pure gold, like clear glass…”   “…the foundations of the walls of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones…” Some of the stones listed here are: jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, beryl, topaz, amethyst. The text tells us the gates to this magnificent city, are a huge pearl. “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it.” “…there shall be no night there…”  “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

That last verse hits all of us in the year we just put behind us. 2020 will be written in history books as one of the most difficult year worldwide.  Those who died of the pandemic, did not have any family to help them transition into the eternal part of their souls. But God was with them helping them to go thru the door from earthly to heavenly. The first two months of this year of 2021, have not started out as fresh and free from suffering as we had hoped. The people who stormed the capitol that day in January were painful to watch. What about the families of those killed in that horrible riot? I cannot even imagine the fear of the police, security and the people who were hiding in fear of their lives that day. Once we, who have done our best to follow God’s law, are blessed to go thru that door into eternity, we will not feel fear, pain, suffering, darkness and what it might hold, no more loosing those we love to death and all the sorrow and grief that brings us through the rest of our earthly lives.

The sinful-evil-hateful people of this world also are told what will happen to them, if they do not turn towards God and turn away from their sinful ways. There are many verses in the Bible that tell them where they are headed when they leave this earth thru death. One of the passages is in Mark 9:42-48, which gives us a picture of what hell will be like. The verses tell us that if sin tries to wiggle its way into our hearts, that it is better to cut that out of our lives. The verses are Jesus speaking and He uses the symbolism of three parts of our physical body that we should cut off if it is causing us to sin: the hand-foot and eye. They tell us that if we do not repent and get rid of what is causing us to sin, that we will be “…cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched where their worm does not die. And the fire is not quenched.” It also tells us if we cause someone or ourselves to practice sin, it is “…better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.” A millstone is an extremely heavy circular stone, three to four feet across and about a foot thick, used to grind grain into flour, etc. So, in other words, if we had this around our necks, we would definitely sink to the depths of the sea and die.

Which one of the eternal places would you like to go? I know I want to strive to go to a heavenly home. It does not mean I am perfect-that my mother was perfect-or that my friend was perfect. We have all made and will make, bad decisions in our lives in the past, present or future. But the difference in one trying to live their lives for the Lord, is that we have learned, do learn and will learn from those mistakes and make a better life so that we can have joy in an eternal home in heaven!

I have shed many tears in the last few days and the grief is fresh. But as I have found after losing my mother and the fresh grief I experienced then, that the grief never totally goes away, but that grief can be changed into joy, because of the beauty they are seeing and experiencing-the sights and the “shows” that sparkle like diamonds. I will see both of them one day. I have to try to live the best life I can here on this earth, learn from my mistakes-my sin, and try to shine my light for others to see Jesus reflected in that light. I will make the choice when those sad times come, to remember the good times and the fact that I am a much better person because of the light and love they showered over me.

My first book, “Finding the Light in the Darkness,” I dedicated to my husband who has been gone for eleven years. My second book, “God’s Beauty Plan,” I dedicated to my mother. This blog I want to dedicate to my precious friend, Lillie. Thank you for your laughter and fun times we had! Thank you for confiding in me and letting me cry on your shoulder when the hard times came for each of us! Thank you for your example and strength to help me live a better life as a Christian woman! With tears in my eyes, I will miss you on this earth but will rejoice one day when we can see each other once again.

I hope you will give these words some thought. Think about your life and maybe there are some changes you need to make. Keep shining your light, like diamonds in the snow, to help lead others to Christ and the promise we have of eternal life one day when we leave this sinful world.

Thank you, Lillie, my precious friend!

Till next time!                                          Keela