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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Tombstones and Flatscreens

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (II Kings 22-24)

Josiah was eight years old when he bcame king and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left." II Kings 22:1,2

Nine year old Rachel and her two year old brother have been staying with us for the last three weeks while their parents and two older siblings are in Africa on a ministry trip for the Navigators. Grandpa and Grandma's lives have picked up a bit of speed. Things have been slow on the blog but fast around our house.

Rachel and I have spent some time at the cemetery watering flowers and sprucing up family graves. One day we took our Bibles and sat by my mom and dad's gravestone and read I Cor. 15 - the resurrection chapter. We shared about the new bodies that we'd get in heaven and all the people that we would see who were already there. I said that we would have a lot of catching up to do.

"Oh, No, Grandma," Rachel reflected, "They will already know all about our lives. I think that when we get to heaven there will be flat screen TVs and we'll be able to look at them and see what the people on earth are doing."

"I don't know about that," I laughed a little. "You know the Bible says there will be no tears in heaven, so it might make us sad to see all the things that everyone is doing. But, I sure would like to see the awesome flat screens that God made!"

"We wouldn't be sad at all!" she replied positively. "God would have the remotes set so that every time somebody sinned, we would switch channels."

I thought, "We might be switching channels a lot!" but I didn't say that because I was thinking about her nine year old mind and how sweet it is.

We walked around the cemetery reading the tombstones and discussing the brevity of some of the lives. Rachel remarked that she wished she knew more about the people who rested in each grave.

"Yes," I said to my young kindred spirit, "Every tombstone has a story."

Rachel was quiet as we drove home. Then she turned to me and said. "When I grow up, I am going to write about people in a book and illustrate it. Guess what the title is going to be?"

"What?" I said with great interest.

"Why," she responded, "Every Tombstone Has A Story" of course!"

Josiah became king of Judah at the young age of eight. His heart was turned toward the Lord and he "did not turn aside to the right hand or the left." What a neat guy! I wonder if he was watching us from heaven on a flat screen as Rachel and I strolled past the flower filled stones. Someday we'll meet him and ask him, won't we?






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