"I Catched It"

One of my mother's favorite stories was about bubbles. One morning, my mother was blowing soap bubbles while my little girl danced around trying to catch them. As a big bubble settled gently on my daughter's fingertips, she exclaimed, "I catched it! I catched it!" My mother would always cry just a little, when she told the story -- the innocence and joy of the moment always filled her with nostalgic tenderness. So it only seemed appropriate that the day my mother went to heaven my granddaughter and grandson would celebrate her new life in heaven by blowing bubbles up to her.

The Hope of Heaven: a comfort and motivation to those of us who have lost loved ones. Not an empty hope, but a promise fulfilled through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we remained gathered around my mother's bedside my oldest sister reminded us that although we were still seeking for signs of our mother, she was no longer there, she had gone on to fullness of life -- out of the earthly restraint of her weak and worn out body. "Why do you seek the living among the dead"?

Scripture tells us that,

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,  but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Luke 24:1-9

Because Christ fulfilled the plan of redemption for all men, because He who was without sin, suffered the consequences of all man's sins, those of us who accept His gracious gift have more than hope, we have the assurance of heaven. Jesus said, 

...the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:14-17

So today, on Easter, as we celebrate the fulfillment of God's great promise, somehow I am sure that my mom "catched" those soapy bubbles.

To those who have lost loved ones, I wish you a Blessed Easter.