About noon, we think…

Noon Passes…

Well, maybe one PM…

Possibly even two…

Certainly, not later than three.

We are moving.

We’re guessing how long it will take to load our stuff onto a truck.

Noon arrives…

The movers are still loading…

Two or three won’t be so bad, we think…

Two and Three PM both pass…

5 PM…

An Eternity.

“Sorry we’re taking so long,” says one mover.  “Joe called in sick and Dan had to go to another job.”

“At least another hour,” I say to my wife.

My wife smiles…

A smile that says, “at least”.

6 PM…

“You know,” says the crew chief, “I told them we should bring a regular-sized truck instead of this small one.  We’ve called for another truck.  We’ll take a beak while we wait.”

6:30 PM

The truck arrives.

Loading continues.

8 PM

“Good news,” a mover calls as he hefts a box into the truck.

“That’s the last one.”

He swings the doors shut…

The movers jump in the cabs…

And the two small trucks disappear around the corner,

My wife and I look at each other.

“Well, that was an eternity,” I say.

We both laugh.

“But here’s the good news,” she says…

“No matter how long it seemed, It was really only one day.”

“One day…”

“And in exchange for that one day, we get to spend a whole lot of days closer to our family and grandkids.”

In case you haven’t noticed, my wife is the wise one in our family…

And her wisdom about eternity seems to extend beyond the length of a moving day.

Some days seem to last an eternity…

But even our lives are only a moment…

For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  James 4:14

Lives that Jesus warned would be filled with trouble…

…Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows…

Trouble for which He is the answer…

But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

And in that promise is the good news …

The good news that our troubles will be momentary…

That we will exchange those momentary troubles…

For an eternity without pain or trouble or tears…

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…  2 Corinthians 4:17

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16