Heavenly sneak peek

My daughter, Kayley, celebrated her 12th birthday this weekend with a sleepover. It was a great time with memories that we will always remember. However, I think the thing that I will carry with me for the longest time was not the fun activities, but the people. We invited 5 delightful girls who came from a wide range of backgrounds. One was from New Zealand, one from Korea (South, of course), one from Germany, one from Austria, and one Chinese who was born in Germany. Throw in the American birthday girl and it was like having our own mini United Nations Council!

Living in China in an expatriate community we are surrounded by a variety of nationalities. That is what makes living here so exciting -- getting to meet people from around the world! Seven months ago I had never lived outside the U.S. and a year ago I had never resided outside the great state of Texas! I have to admit that I lived quite a sheltered life and never really gave much thought about people on the other side of the world. Basically I never really lived beyond myself. Now my view has changed and I am in awe of how diverse God's people are. There are days when I feel like I have been transported back to the time of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11) and can vividly see that day when God confounded the people's language so no one could understand each other. Just standing at the bus stop with all the other moms easily re-creates that scenario! But even amongst all the "chaos" of sound, I see the beauty of it too because I understand now what Heaven will look like and sound like one day. Zephaniah 3:9-10 states it beautifully, "...I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms....that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder." Can you imagine?? All the scattered people of the world reunited and showering Him with praise in their native tongue, singing "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come". What a glorious day that will be!

We live in a world filled with misunderstanding, hatred, and war, so it was nice to have a night like we had at our house. Different people from different nations speaking different languages all together laughing and enjoying each other's company. Yes, it was heavenly.