Jump for Joy!

Monday will begin my 79th trip around the sun.  While age is just a number, I am aware this will be my last orbit while I am in my seventies.  Time for a little senior reflection.

When I was young, I looked forward to getting older. When people would ask how old I was, sometimes I would say with great excitement, “I’m almost six.”

The next year seemed full of promise and new things I would be old enough to do.

I was excited about growing. When my mother performed the annual marking on the kitchen door that showed how tall I was, we both marveled at how much I had grown in a year.

I was really excited about reaching “double digits.” It brought being “grown up” into the realm of the possible. Never again would I be stuck with the little kids in single digits.

But I still longed to be old enough to be called a teenager.  I eventually got there, but I was still reaching.

Age became tied to real rewards. If I was a certain age, I could drive. If I was a certain age, I could vote.

Age became attached to performance. If I was old enough, I could graduate from high school or college.

Age became attached to dreams. If I was old enough, I could be a real nurse. I might marry. I might have children.

But somewhere in my thirties and forties, the joy of getting older began to wear off.

The commercial world around me began to have its influence. 

I bought makeup to cover what I considered the flaws of aging. I dyed my hair to cover the emerging gray.

Especially when I reached the forties, I began to get those birthday cards that predicted a dismal future of wheelchairs, dentures, incontinence, memory loss and a host of other maladies.

Doctors no longer said, “We can fix that.” They told me whatever ailment I had was what “happened to everyone when they got older” and I just needed to adjust.

Becoming older became something to hide, something to dread. The joy I once felt in getting older was slowly being sucked away.

In my latter fifties and early sixties, I noticed another disturbing trend, not only in myself, but in others.  Recounting all the things I had done in my life seemed to label me as a dinosaur.

Any acknowledgement of a long, rich history brought about comments like, “Wow! How old are you?” If I actually revealed how old I was, I was given the questionable compliment of, “You look good for your age!”

When I was headed for being Medicare eligible, I noticed people were treating me differently. I felt the same, but I processed I was being treated differently. 

If I took a misstep, a perfect stranger would swoop in and grab my arm. That didn’t happen with younger people.

And so it came to be that I no longer revealed how old I was. 

I tried to stay up to date on the latest expressions and events that would be of interest to younger people. I hung out with young people … carefully selected young people who actually seemed to enjoy my company and didn’t make age an issue.

And then the “fountain of youth” was delivered to my husband and me. We were asked to lead a Sunday School Class of people who were in their 80s and 90s.

Not only did we feel instantly young again, but God also provided a way for us to see up close and personal what it was like to be excited again about aging.

Our new friends proudly announced their ages. They looked forward to the next birthday. Just as I had once said, “I’m almost six,” they said, “I’m almost 90!”  Or “I’m almost 100!”

Or they would say with great anticipation, “I’m almost Home!”

Most of those dear friends are Home now.   And now, having served on this planet for 78 years, I can say with great anticipation, “I am one year closer to going Home!”

I no longer wear makeup.  I do not color my hair.  I am the happy owner of a full set of teeth, bought and paid for.  (It would have been less expensive if the tooth fairy had paid all she owes me.  Why should age matter to her??🙄)

I enjoy my memories of a rich, full life.  Being able to look back not only gives me joy in remembering happy times, it also gives me gratitude for God’s Mercy in carrying me through bad times.  

I anticipate that glorious future where I will be free of some of the physical challenges I now have.  I look forward to a great reunion with all who went before me.

I look forward to experiencing God on an even deeper level than I do now.  Face to face, oh the wonder!  Oh the Joy!

But for now, I am enjoying earth’s daily gifts of joy.  I am aging in earth time, 

but in God’s time, I am really quite young!

A thousand years in Your Sight are like a day that has just gone by!

Psalm 90:4

My father’s mother died before he met my mother.  He said he wished his mother could have met my mother and my brother and me, who he called his “precious children.”

Daddy said he did not know how heaven worked, but he hoped somehow his mother might be able to see all of us.

My parents were childless for the first ten years of their marriage.  They had no idea that God would not only give them children, but would also multiply their line with children after they had been promoted to heaven.

After those ten childless years, my brother was born.  Eleven years later, I was born.  Our parents, who are now in heaven, today have two children, four grandchildren, ten great grandchildren and five great, great grandchildren!

And they gained even more grandchildren and great grandchildren through second marriages of some in their line.

There was once another couple who thought they would be childless, but God gave them a Promise.  

He said their line would be as numerous as the stars in the sky or grains of sand.  And it happened!  But they saw only the beginning while they were still on earth.

We are the fulfillment of God’s Promise. He brought us, all who went before us and all who will come after us to earth at the precise time He planned.

Gloria Gaither, Dony McGuire and Dottie Rambo wrote a beautiful song about The Promise God made to Abraham and how he fulfilled it.

The song ends with God revealing to Abraham just how far his line continued, even after his departure from earth.

As I listened to this song again, I thought about our parents, who waited many years to get their son and daughter.  I felt them smiling from heaven, as they witnessed their son celebrate his 90th birthday.   

I thought of all the ways each person in our parents’  line has faithfully carried God’s Word to the next generation.

Like my father, I don’t know how these things work, but I hope our parents can see us.

They gave us a rich legacy of God’s Word and showed us through their life what it was like to live in His Love.  

And now as a family, we continue to do as the song says,

We are the children 

You had promised for so long

We are the sands.

We are the stars.

We declare Your faithfulness, 

the wonders You have done.

Stars that pierce the darkness 

and fill the endless sky,

We proclaim to keep Your Word.

Your children testify!

I declare Your Power to the next generation,Your Mighty Acts to all who are to come!

Psalm 71:18

God sends missionaries with interesting cover stories.  Sometimes they do their best work because people don’t recognize them as God’s emissaries.

God sent one to earth about ten years ago.  He was little and quite innocent looking.  But he already understood the mission. Give unfailing love in every circumstance, just like his Father God.

I did mention he came from God incognito.  If I had been looking closer, I would have figured it out.  GOD spelled backwards … dog.

On earth he was called Bronx.  His home base was with our daughter, son in law and grandson.

From the beginning, he was the love puppy.  He never saw a stranger.  He never judged anyone.  We often joked that if someone broke in, their main danger would be possibly being licked to death and choking on all the love dumped on them.

Initially Bronx just had our daughter and son in law to supervise.  Then a baby was added.  Bronx became his little shadow as that baby grew into a little boy.  

Then Bronx’s territory expanded.  He was put in charge of two sisters.  Bronx dutifully trained them in the quirks of the residents and the best ways to get treats when they wanted them.  Bronx became the leader of the pack.

Bronx loved his family.  He was at their side for every up and down.  No matter what was happening, Bronx was the great equalizer, always ready to give love and lapping up any love that came his way.

Then came perhaps his toughest assignment.  The grandma.  Yes, that’s me.  Time for a little revelation.  Don’t judge me.  Stay with me for the end of the story.

I once did not like dogs.  When I was growing up, we did not have pets.  I did not feel deprived.  I had a wonderful childhood … except for the dog down the street, who chased me every time I rode my bike that way.

After I grew up, I became a cat person.  By the time of the unexpected pregnancy of the cat I did not get fixed fast enough, I had had a total of ten cats … no dogs.  The line was pretty clear.

When our daughter and her family  moved right up the road from us, we were excited.   The prospect of frequent visits was wonderful.  Then she arrived with the dog.

I could not imagine a dog in my house.  I told her sweetly when the dog was with her, we needed to visit on the porch.  Bronx was perfectly content with this arrangement, but I think he was already sizing up the place … and me.

No matter how many walls I put up, physically or mentally, Bronx jumped over every one.  I went from petting to holding him on my lap.  I began to actually enjoy having my face licked (a clear sign of weakness 🙄).

But there was that last barrier for Bronx.  Every time I started to go in the front door, he looked at me with pure pity that any human could be so mean as to leave him on the porch.

Like the grinch at Christmas, I felt an uncharacteristic warming of my heart.  Our initial visits were in the summer, but then it got cold.  My heart broke.  I could not have a frozen puppy on my porch.

Bronx smiled as he gleefully trotted through the front door and settled into the couch as if he owned the place.  He was welcomed from that day forward.

And yes, whatever sprinkles of heaven he deposited all over the house worked.  Grandma became a dog person!

Some years later, when I was recovering from surgery, our daughter brought Bronx to visit.  He jumped up on my bed and immediately started emitting healing love.  I actually felt pain leaving my body with every lick and tail wag.

Bronx was pretty much an indoor dog, but recently he was part of the great family travel adventure.  He, like our grandson, saw the ocean for the first time.  As I look back on the videos now, I see what I did not see then.

Like the tiny waves are made to return to the ocean, so Bronx was made for a purpose far beyond his tiny body.  And so today, Bronx went Home to receive his next assignment.  This Mission accomplished.  Lots of love left on earth, including converting one grandma.

We will see you again one day, sweet boy.  Looking forward to the licks and tail wags again.  And maybe we will speak the same language and we can reminisce about your time on earth!😘

Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

Hebrews 13:2

We sometimes read The Beatitudes as Jesus’ Advice for someone else.  We may think we will be blessed when the rest of the world starts living what He said and we benefit from it.

But our being blessed really begins when we choose to live Jesus’ Words.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is The Kingdom of Heaven.

How blessed we are when we are emptied enough of earth’s distractions, so we can be filled with the treasures of Heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

How blessed we are when we have loved enough to feel Love’s expansion to other places and we realize Love truly does go on forever.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

How blessed we are to notice and care for the meek, the ones no one else notices.  How blessed we are to see like God, Who sees everyone.  May we rejoice together as co-heirs of the earth The Lord has given us.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

How blessed we are to continue to desire all that is right in God’s Sight.  How blessed we are to know He waits to fill us with His Righteousness.  We need only to recognize our hunger and thirst is for Him.  Nothing less will satisfy.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

How blessed we are to share The Mercy God has given us, even with those who are most unmerciful.   May we forgive and be forgiven in mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

How blessed we are when we have been cleansed of all our sins.  And the deep cleaning has purified us even to the depths of our heart.  How blessed we are at that moment to see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Children of God.

How blessed we are when we desire peace so much that we make it a part of our life.  May we always look to The Peace Jesus gives that will always be far beyond the peace the world cannot give.

May we bring that Peace to everyone around us.  May we be the conduit through which Jesus says, “Peace be with you!”  And may we hear Him say to us, “And also with you!”

Blessed are you when you are persecuted for My Sake.

How blessed we are when we are not offended by those who speak or act against us as we work for The Kingdom of God. 

May we rejoice, not for their acts, but because of the opportunity to pray God’s Blessings upon them.  May our prayer not be that they become like us.  Rather may our prayer simply be that God create in all of us pure hearts.

Create in me (and all of us) a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me (and all of us).

 Psalm 51:10

We have just completed the most amazing vacation.  I will tell you about it.

First I will give you a little background.

Jay and I began our married life by going to Disney World.   We then went back many times with our daughter and even just the two of us after she grew up.

We got older, but we never lost our ability to appreciate the magic.  Then health problems set in for both of us.  Travel was not possible.  We tried to accept Disney was just a memory.

Our trips to Disney always included side trips to my South Carolina home places.

I grew up with frequent exposures to Carolina coastal waters.  The waves of the ocean still call my name.  

I love my Kentucky home, but again being sidelined from travel … no beach, no ocean, no jumping the waves. 😢

However, our Creative God always gives good gifts in interesting wrapping.  And so it came to pass that our daughter, son in law and grandson went to Disney with side trips to the beach.

What could have been a giant dose of envy was turned into a wonderful vicarious experience.  They videoed and FaceTimed with us for every precious moment.  

We got to see our grandson experience the ocean for the first time.  We saw the glee.  We heard the squeals of delight.  We heard the waves!

And then they went to Disney.  They took us on every ride from standing in line (while we sat on our comfy couch) through the ups and downs, twists and turns, and music.  They even took us along for the fireworks show!  

Between our old memories and their new memories in progress, it was truly magical.

But beyond that manufactured magic was the real love that permeated every part of the trip.  It was a true family vacation and we are so thankful they were willing to share it with us.

As they settle back into work and school, Grandma and Poppy are enjoying all the videos and pictures all over again.  And I am once again being awed at how God continues to make dreams come true.  

As our grandson said, “It was epic!”

There is a thrill that never gets old.

Seeing God transform what He placed inside my heart into physical form as a book! 😍

Today was a red letter day as we received the shipment of our latest book, Destination Heaven, Welcome HOME!

We hope to do with these as we have done with all our previous books.  We purchase them to give away as God directs.

We do what we do, knowing what an honor it is to get to go with God while He works out His Perfect Will for all of us.

God allowed us to get this far.  Now the next part is listening very closely to how He wants us to share what He has given us.

We would like to invite you to pray with us, first of all, in giving thanks for all that God has provided.

And then, pray about whether you or someone you know is the intended recipient of a book about Heaven.  

It may be that God is prompting you to be the next link in His Delivery System.  Think of someone you know who might be blessed with the Gift of a book.    

And finally, if you feel so led, share this message with others.

Destination Heaven is also available for purchase through Amazon.  It is both in print and ebook.

The audio book is free on my blog site at

carolynpriesterjones.org

As always, besides being thankful to God, I am also thankful to Jay, who does the lion’s share of all our projects.  

Today that included getting very heavy boxes from the front porch to inside the house … and being our poster person to announce the latest Jones adventure.

P.S.  Today we followed what has become a tradition with us.  After the Amazon delivery guy hoofed all the boxes to the porch, we got him to wait while we opened the first box, and we gave him the first book.

We could tell this meant a lot to a tired, over worked young man.  He never expected that something he was carrying was actually a gift for him.

That’s the way God works.  You are carrying His Awesome Gift inside you, and maybe you didn’t know it was for you! 😘💞

Every moment of life is precious.  Children enjoy the moments, blissfully unaware the moments are slipping away.  For a child, it is always today.

One of the gifts of age is being able to return to that child like state.  With age comes the realization that there may not be a tomorrow … at least not the way we are used to experiencing tomorrows.

That realization should not prompt regret or dread, but a heightened valuing of every moment we have.  

I am married to a man who is ageless. He does not conform to the limits of time.  

Jay has always been the perennial Peter Pan. Most of the time, that makes him endearing and adventuresome.  But sometimes he is also the object of my frustrated sigh of “when are you going to grow up?”

So when I get pensive over my upcoming birthday in November, he does not understand.  While I opine that I am about to enter the last year of my seventies, he shrugs and says, “Age is just a number.”

While I am wanting to make plans for the next decade, Jay is focused on the wonders of today.  

When he points out the sun, moon, and stars, I get the feeling he misses Never Never Land.  And I realize Wendy would have never seen it without Peter.

I’ve always told Jay if he gets the urge to fly, he has to take me with him.  You will know where to find us.  Second star to the right and straight on ‘ til morning!

(Disclaimer about the attached picture.  This is not Jay’s usual attire.  But it speaks well to his Peter Pan nature.

Some years ago, a neighbor was not having much luck in selling things at her yard sale.  She told Jay, “I might have more luck selling this thing if you were wearing it!”

So Jay being Jay said, “OK, bring it on.”

It sold almost immediately.  And I am sure the buyer had some stories to share about the weird neighbor!)

This post is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Pearl Priester, who was promoted to Glory on October 12, 1997.

The Trip of A Lifetime

In the fall of 1997, my parents were in an automobile accident.  My mother spent a couple of months in the hospital, never able to return to her earthly home.  

My husband and I had planned to go on a cruise to celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary.  We decided to cancel it.  

However, my mother was insistent that we go.  In fact, she was so insistent that she told everyone from family to friends to her doctor that we “had to go on that cruise.”

And so we did.  We left on October 12th.  It was described by some of the seasoned cruise staff as the worst turbulence they had experienced in years of sailing.  

As soon as we left port, the ship began to toss and turn and tilt from side to side.  Everyone held on to anything they could find in an effort to regain stability.

Finally, we decided we might fare better if we went up on deck and tried to visually equilibrate with the horizon.  It seemed to work.  As we stared into the heavens, the sea seemed calm.  In fact, it was no different, but our focus was different.

Now that God had our attention, He outdid Himself with artistry.  He painted one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen.  

We spent some time on deck, just admiring His work before we went back inside to attempt supper.  Jay took a picture of me with the sun going down behind me.  

Later that evening, we received the call that my mother had passed into Glory earlier.  I was stunned.  At that time, my only comfort was that I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that I was where she wanted me to be.  But I did not know why.

God Began to Give Clues to His Word!

Weeks later, God revealed the first clue.  My nephew had been present at the hospital at the time of my mother’s death.  He had been asked to step out of my mother’s room for the nurses to care for her.  He had done so.  

Before the nurses came in, my mother quietly left for Glory.  He was concerned that had he remained, she might have remained.

I assured him that my mother, being the lady she was, would never have left while he was there.  She would have considered it rude!  

And besides, I wrote him,  I believed God’s Glory came and filled her room. It was a private, intimate moment, just for God and my mother to share.

I stopped in mid-sentence and thought, “Wow Lord, wouldn’t it have been wonderful to see Your Glory!”  

At that moment, I heard Him say in my spirit, “You did.  Your Mother and I arranged it!”

Suddenly I thought of the sunset.  I asked Jay when he had taken that picture.  He replied that it was easy to remember, since it was just before we went inside for supper.  

The sunset occurred at the very time of my mother’s death!

I now knew with absolute certainty that I had been sent to that place in time to have a front row seat to His Glory!  But God had more to reveal.

Sometimes God Plants Seeds 

Long Before We Know They Are There!

While I was reflecting on the wonder of the time of the sunset, God brought to mind a memory from the past.  

As I was studying the pictures of the sunset … for just a moment, I moved back in time to high school.  

In my English class, we received points for every poem we memorized.  Mother loved poetry and eagerly helped me select poems to memorize.

As I remembered, it was as if I was transported back home with my mother.  We were both searching through books of poetry.

I could hear her voice, spoken with enthusiasm.  “Why don’t you memorize this one?  I just love this one.  It’s got such a good message.  It would be a good one to remember always.”

So I memorized Crossing the Bar by Alfred, Lord Tennyson … without knowing that God had planted seeds… and that many years from that moment, those seeds would sprout into a beautiful sunset on a turbulent ocean, within moments of my Mother’s ascension into Glory.

God allowed me to remember that poem with a new understanding.

Sunset and evening star,

and one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar,

When I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,

Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless deep

Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,

And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell,

When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne (meaning stream or small brook) 

of Time and Place

The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face

When I have crossed the bar.

The bar is that point in the water when the currents are stirred up the most by the force of the waters from the sea and the movement from closer the land colliding.  We had indeed been present at the crossing of the bar!

Sunflowers — God’s Promise

Many years later, I was looking through old photographs and looked again at the picture of Mother’s Sunset.  I had concentrated so much on the sun and the clouds, that I had not really noticed myself.

Then God brought my shirt into focus.  It was one of Mother’s favorites.  It was covered in sunflowers.

Sunflowers are amazing flowers that bloom in the fall.  They have the unique ability to follow the sun from the time they are just buds.  

They literally move through the day from east to west and back to the east before dawn each day.

When they are in full bloom, the stem freezes in the eastward position, signifying an eternal dawn!  

God reminded me that I was not just a spectator of the sun.  I was actually connected to the sun!

I decided to take a picture of the picture of me with the sunset in the background.  I wanted to post it for my Facebook Friends.

I took the picture with my phone.  I was completely awed when I saw the picture and realized that “somehow” there was a bright light coming from my heart.  Light of the camera …. or Light of the Lord shown through the camera?  

Just Look Over Your Shoulder!

One of my favorite songs is “You’ll Be in My Heart” by Phil Collins.  After seeing the picture with the light coming from my heart, I was drawn to listen to the song again.  

As I listened, I saw God smile and I heard Him speak for both Himself and my mother in the closing lyrics.

I’ll be with you.

I’ll be there for you always,

Always and always.

Just look over your shoulder …

Just look over your shoulder,

Just look over your shoulder …

I’ll be there always.

And so as I sign off, I’m looking at a picture of me in a shirt covered with sunflowers … and over my shoulder is the sun, which on first glance appears to be setting.  

But, as with the real sun, setting one place means rising in another.  

My Mother lives on in the same place God lives … in my heart!

We are happy to share that the third book in the Heaven trilogy is now available!

Destination Heaven, Welcome HOME is in print and ebook from Amazon.

The audio book is free on my blog site.  It, along with my previous audio books, can be heard by simply selecting the book title at the top of the home page.

At the risk of sounding like a commercial, I will mention that I think books are a lovely gift for those who like to read.  😍

And for those who like to listen, just sharing the link will be a gift too.  And it’s free!  Our gift to you that you can share with others.

carolynpriesterjones.org

I have the easy part of our book projects.  I just write.  Jay does all the rest.  And “all the rest” is a long list of things.  

So today and every day, I am thankful to God and also to Jay, the man behind the books!

I wrote this several years ago.  It is still happily true.  It is a good post script to our anniversary reflections.

In this world of so many negatives, we often forget that true love stories really do happen … and sometimes you do get “happily ever after.”  

Jay,

The night I met you, you asked me if I was happy.  At that  time, I didn’t know.  Happiness seemed a transient feeling, like a butterfly that touched me for the briefest of moments and then flew away.

I wasn’t sure happiness would ever light on me and stay.  More than that, I wasn’t sure I knew how to make anyone else happy.  

But then a strange thing happened.  Happiness blended into love.  I’m not sure how or when it happened.

I do remember the empty feeling that nothing could fill when you left.  

And I remember the giddy exhilaration that filled all the empty places when you returned.

I remember deciding that the feeling of being full was so much better than the feeling of being empty.  

And so amid some fears that emptiness might coexist with full, I took the chance and married you.

On our honeymoon you talked me into riding Space Mountain at Disney World.  It was a prophecy of the many years that followed.

It was thrilling.  It was frightening.  It was unpredictable.  We climbed to the heights and dropped to the depths.  And the dizzying curves threw us together. It was nothing like I expected.  

In 49 years, you have totally redefined what I thought happiness and love were. 

I wanted you to bring me flowers.  You didn’t go to the florist.  You went to the seed store.  You planted me a flower garden.  You tended it and watered it.  You weeded it.  I was happy.

I wanted to go out to a fine restaurant.  We did, but it wasn’t enough.  You cooked meals for me with all my favorites.  And you served it.  We ate together.  I was happy.

I wanted to watch a romantic movie.  You said, “Let me show you something better.”  And you showed me the wide expanse of the sky.  

You showed me clouds, sunrises and sunsets.  You showed me fields of golden grain.  You showed me flowers, trees and animals.  And we beheld God’s Creation together.  I was happy and at peace.

I was nearsighted.  I said I couldn’t see what you saw.  And you said that was ok.  You said I could look through your eyes.  You told me I was seeing better than an eye chart.  You told me I could see the sun and it was 96 million miles away!

You found things I could see.  You took pictures of things I couldn’t and zoomed in and we looked at the pictures together.  I did see!  I was so happy.

Less anyone reading this think that all those years of marriage were all hearts and flowers, they weren’t.  But the times of unhappiness made the times of happiness shine even brighter.

The whole is truly more than the sum of the parts.  

I know you likely won’t be writing poetry or reflecting on the past or the future.  You truly live each day as it comes.  And your love songs to me are written, not on paper, but in our life together.

Thank you, Jay.  I am blessed and I can answer your original question now.  I am very happy!