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        Home has always been a special place for me. I had a phenomenal childhood and lived in the same house for most of it. We lived at the end of the street close to a cul-de-sac. The house sat on an acre and a half of land, and the back yard and side yard butted up against farmland. The rolling hills reminded me of waves in the ocean, and like the view of the ocean, the view from our backyard never got old to me. Growing up, whenever I’d be angry or frustrated or moody, I’d walk out of the house and across the backyard to the fence and sit on the grass, talking to God. So many heart adjustments happened in that backyard. So many conversations with God about life. Looking out over that view added to the awe I felt for Him as I conversed with my Creator. I’d walk down frustrated or upset and walk back up that hill and into the house again having been encouraged or challenged or convicted by the Spirit of my Lord in me. He met me there at the property’s edge time and time again. 

That backyard was also where we played and learned through elementary school. It was where we practiced for the various sports we played through middle school and high school. It’s where we ran around with our dog and created amateur dance routines. It’s where we built forts and did somersaults. So much life happened there, and I felt like I knew it like the back of my hand. 

My parents still live at that familiar address, and several weeks ago my husband, children, and I went to visit them. At one point during our visit, we went out into that backyard and my husband decided to capture some pictures with his drone. When my husband walked over and showed me what he had captured from a bird’s-eye-view, it took my breath away. The shot was stunning. The backdrop was a balayage sky that met the Blue Ridge Mountains. Wispy clouds stretched out thin in one corner, illuminated by the setting sun. In the foreground, rolling hills slumped across the landscape outlined by trees. The tops of the trees were glazed with golden sunlight, casting long shadows against the hills. There in the distance, between the hills and mountains, was that oh-so-familiar house and rectangle of land - my childhood home. Never had I ever seen the property from that elevation. It was like seeing an old friend from a new angle and barely recognizing her - the new image more glorious than imagined. The picture impressed me so much that it earned a frame and a place on a wall in our home. 

        When I look back at this picture, I can't help but wonder if there is a parallel between being speechless after seeing my familiar childhood home in a new light and seeing my Savior and Friend, Jesus, one day. I have walked with the Lord in this life, from the time I was seven. I haven't walked perfectly, but He has always been there - a great and gracious Shepherd along the way. You could say He's familiar to me; although, I know there's MUCH more to know. My life has been a journey of learning more and more as time passes, and by God's grace it will continue. But I look forward with great anticipation to behold my dear Jesus as He truly is. 1st Corinthians 13:10 says, "but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away." Verse 12 says, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face-to-face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." Much can be said about this passage, but this earthly existence for the believer in Christ is like "seeing in a mirror dimly." We can know Him, and I'm amazed at the fact that God allows us and wants us to know Him, but our best knowing of God is still "dim" compared to the "full" knowing that we will experience in heaven. The dim will be made clear. The limited view will be made whole. I think, be it an imperfect analogy, that seeing Him fully will be a little like seeing my childhood home from a bird's-eye-view. Will I recognize Him? I believe so. But will He be more glorious and awe-inspiring than I could imagine? Yes, I believe He will be.

God, You see me from every angle, and yet You love me with a perfect love. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. You had plans for me before time began. You bought me with a price. You forgive. You guide. You catch every tear. You convict and discipline. You help. You extend Your steadfast love. One day I will stand before You humbled in a way that’s hard to describe and so filled with awe and thanksgiving that I will hardly know what to do with myself but fall on my face.

My faith will be sight.

And what a sight You will be. 

Forever home.

“One thing have I asked of the LORD… to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD…” (Psalm 27:4)

“You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.” (Psalm 27:8)

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” (Psalm 27:13-14)

- Stephanie