Forever Free

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where theives do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:19-21 

July 10th…a day I can’t help but think of as our last day of naive living.  A day when pediatric cancer was not a word in our every day vocabulary.  A day when, what feels like, a big part of our destiny had not been revealed to us yet.  This day three years ago we were going to church, shopping for some new clothes for the kids and I was starting to really freak out about Zach.  He stumbled when I picked him up from church and I immediately became suspiscious that it had to be related to his left arm weakness.  My fears continued to spiral out of control as I realized he was no longer able to ride his bike and his facial expressions were not symetrical.  I look back on all this now and wonder how I could have been so naive to not even suspect a brain tumor…the thought NEVER entered my mind.  I guess it was a way to try and desperately cling to the naive world that made up our existence then.  A world I never realized could disappear so completely and quickly. 

Now fast forward to July 10th three years later - I still look longingly back at that naive world we once had - but I have found it is possible to live undefeated in this crazy broken world - through the grace of God.  I say it over and over again, I am afraid to think of where I would be if I did not have this hope and assurance in my life!  The scripture above from Matthew took on special meaning to me after Zach left for heaven.  I always wondered what “treasures in heaven” truly meant.  It is clear what treasures on earth means - we see many examples of these paraded in front of our face every day.  We live in a world filled with such extreme extravagance we become numb to it.  But what does a treasure in heaven look like?  As I pondered this I realized I already had one very big treasure in heaven along with a big piece of my heart - Zach.  Then it became clear to me what our true treasures in heaven must be - all those we hold dear to our hearts!  I know I certainly want to spend eternity with all those I love.  And so I continue sharing God’s message in hopes it will help assure that we will all be together forever!  What bigger treasure could we need?? 

The book signing at Joffrey’s yesterday was wonderful!  It was such a relaxing environment to have a chance to speak with many friends and share some thoughts about the book.  I am really looking forward to the signing this evening.  Lexi and I will be starting things up at 4:00 and be hanging out until 7:00.  So if you haven’t had a chance to pick up a book - come on by!!  Joffrey’s serves great coffee, snacks and sandwiches - a good excuse to get out of cooking dinner!

Sending love to all,

Sherry