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Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. -John 17:24

All of us will lose loved ones during this life. As much as we wish it were otherwise, it just comes with the territory on this broken planet. Yes, sometimes God chooses to answer our prayers for healing and grants a reprieve. At other times, we're left wondering why it didn't happen for us. A man who recently lost his wife to breast cancer took comfort that, while his prayer for healing wasn't granted, another prayer was answered. In today's Scripture, Jesus prays, "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory." It's the heartfelt prayer of God's Son for all those who love Him. So the length of time we live on earth or whether or not we get healed isn't really the point, is it? The point is, we're all headed for heaven - the place where in the end Jesus wants us to be.

-From A Spectacle of Glory by Joni Eareckson Tada; p. 90

This July marked the one year anniversary of my mother-in-law's passing. Last summer was incredibly difficult in every way imaginable. While it was a shock at how quickly my mother-in-law declined in the hospital, her illness and passing were not really a surprise as we had seen her health declining gradually over the previous year.

The past year we have missed her very much. There have been numerous things that I know Mom would have loved to hear about or be a part of. She would have enjoyed hearing about how the kids did with their projects and cookies at the fair. We missed celebrating her birthday with her in October as well as having her with us to celebrate ours. Thanksgiving and Christmas were very different without her there because she was always with us on those holidays adding her yummy side dishes to our table. She would have been proud to hear how well Ellie did with club volleyball and to know that Josh was teaching an object lesson to the 1st through 3rd graders on Sunday morning. Her presence was also missed at Easter and we honored her at Mother's Day in spirit. And I wish we could have shared our Alaska trip with her.

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But while I know she would have loved to have been a part of all those things, I believe she is experiencing the best of the best of experiences in the presence of the Lord. And as much as she would have liked to have known about her kids and grandkids, how much greater that she is fully knowing her Savior.

As this devotion stated, death is a part of this sinful world. Sometimes God chooses to heal this side of heaven, sometimes He doesn't. We don't fully understand His reasoning, but we can trust Him because His knowledge far surpasses what we can understand. I know that my mother-in-love was facing a decline in health. I know she was beginning to feel depressed over having to give up so much of what she loved. I know that if she had had to face a hip surgery and recovery it would have been very painful and difficult for her. For these reasons, we can be grateful she is where Jesus is. She no longer faces health issues or sadness or pain. And as I've said before, my joy for her outweighs my own grief.

Chris Tomlin's song "Home" came out this year. So appropriate as we can rest in the knowledge that Mom is "home." And we too can say, "we're going home."