Getting Older and Asking Questions



Our 100 year old Gunner!
Yesterday Gunner celebrated 100 days of being in school this year!  He dressed up as a little 100 year old man to celebrate the occasion….and I might add that he played the part well!!  His acting reminded me of life’s frailty…The Bible talks about our lives as a vapor—here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:14).  It also talks in Ephesians 5:16 to “…make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil…”. What makes the days evil?  The fact that it shortens the time we have to share the Gospel!  
People are dying daily and although it is often sugarcoated, the reality is that they are perishing and headed into eternity without the Lord….heartbreaking!!! Gut-wrenching!!! Unbelievably hard to swallow!!!  However, we are NOT without hope if we have Jesus!!!  
This past week I had a conversation with Gunner on the way to school.  He was sitting in the back with Moriah and seemed to be enjoying the quiet, when out of the blue, he hit me with a brave question….. “Mom?” he began, “…if you could wish for ONE thing in the whole wide world, what would you wish for?”  I thought about it a minute and responded honestly, “I’m not sure, Bud, what would you wish for?” (I had an inkling that he had been thinking about it…😀). He looked thoughtful and gave some silly response like "candy for breakfast….” However, it wasn’t long after his giggles that his tone changed and he became serious and thoughtful.  “Mom, I think if I could only wish for one thing, I would wish that everyone could go to heaven.”  I was stunned.  I lifted up a fervent prayer for wisdom and articulation and responded, “Ya know, Gunner?  God wishes that too!”  He questioned immediately, “Then why doesn’t God just let them in?”  I heaved a huge sigh in my heart (due to the weightiness of the question) and continued… “Gunner, God has made a way for all to go to heaven, but there are people who aren’t willing to follow God’s way.”  
It’s a hard reality to grasp as an adult why people wouldn’t choose God’s way if they really understood the implications.  However, the Bible says clearly in John 14:6, “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Is it unkind of Jesus to be exclusive?  Compared to what we deserve, I think it is incredibly, undeniably, merciful
In the hymn “Day By Day,” written by Lina Sandell, the line that cuts me to the quick every time sings, “He, who’s heart is kind beyond all measure/gives unto each day what He deems best/lovingly it’s part of pain and pleasure/mixing toil with peace and rest” (emphasis added).
I once heard a missionary speaker ask the question, “Is it unkind to suggest that there’s only one way to get to heaven?”  In our current time and culture as it is, it is a weighty question to consider….and also one that can strike up controversy.  However, people’s lives depend upon knowing the truth!  If we truly believe that the Gospel is Truth, Absolute Truth, then it is beyond kind to share the knowledge we have…..in fact, we have a spiritual challenge in Matthew 28:19-20 from Jesus Himself to make spread this news and disciples across the globe!!!
We each are getting older, day by day…and while our time here on earth is getting shorter, it’s important , it’s critical , it is the meat and potatoes of our faith to place our hope, our futures and our lives in the capable hands of the Savior, Jesus!!!  If you haven’t made that decision, today is a good day to do it!!!  We know not the day or the hour, but we know that Christ is coming back…..are you ready?

“Please!  No more pictures!” -Gunner

“Oh!  My aching leg!” -Gunner

The two handsome men in my life…..!

Gunner putting in a hard days work at school….

Moriah is getting older too, so her eyes needed to be checked!





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