Living Ready for the Unexpected

When called on to pray in my sweet Sunday School class on Easter Sunday, I found myself choking up as I thanked God for a resurrected Savior who is sitting in Heaven at His Father's right hand. I reflected that Jesus is just waiting at God's side for the command to go call God's children home.  My heart was likely recalling the memorable words of the gospel song, "Midnight Cry," that reminds believers that we will hear the sound of a heavenly trumpet that will trigger our journey to our forever home.

But my thoughts were also drawn to the recent memory of my son sharing his handwritten Last Will and Testament with me. The occasion was out of the blue and I questioned whether or not I even wanted to open the leather-bound journal that he offered me. No mother expects their eighteen year-old son to take the time to itemize their assets, beneficiaries, and ultimate wishes. 

I read through tear-filled eyes about the distribution of his assets to the places and people that mean the most to him: his family, his church, and his school. I managed a hard swallow when reading about the money he wishes to leave to cancer research. The crying ventured close to sobbing when reading about his desires for his celebration of life to be a time of joy, not sorrow or grief.

My not-so-ordinary eighteen year-old knows that we should be ready because life as we know it can change in an instant . .  .

A doctor's visit . . .

A seemingly routine procedure . . .

A rainy drive home . . .

Camron has essentially been facing death throughout his entire adolescence. In addition to the awareness of his own mortality, he also faced the death of his childhood best friend last year -- just six weeks before learning that his cancer had returned. At every turn, he is reminded to live life to its fullest and to be ready. But he would be the first to tell you that a Last Will and Testament is of lesser importance to being spiritually ready. 

So what is keeping us from living ready for the unexpected to happen? And I don't mean having your will ready. . . I mean having your heart ready.

Can you say that you live life in light of this momentary earthly existence and a never-ending eternity?

Parents and grandparents, we have a monumental, life-changing task before us to impress upon our children that life in the hereafter is of much greater value than life in the here-and-now. We get to share the transformational Gospel story with them and reflect the joy of a life consumed with a Savior rather than a life consumed by the lures of society.  

I wonder if we have we really taken the challenge of Deuteronomy 6:5-9 seriously:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

As I grew into my calling of motherhood, this instruction became my mission. Preparing my kids to walk with the Lord here on earth and then one day in Heaven became my daily prayer and my purpose. 

I readily admit that I have failed at this mission many times. I have missed opportunities to pray with my children. I have placed greater importance on their attire for church rather than their heart for worship. I have disciplined in anger and spoken obligation-ridden "I love you's." But each morning I get a new opportunity to guide my kids to Jesus and to teach them to place the Him above all else.  

Easter Sunday has me reflecting on the excitement in Mary Magdalene's words after meeting the resurrected Christ. She exuberantly declared to the disciples:

"I have seen the Lord!" 

John 20:18

We likely won't get the great privilege of having a face-to-face encounter with Jesus here on earth like Mary did. So the question we need to ask ourselves is:

"Will we be ready to see the Lord -- whenever that unexpected day might be?" 

Are your children and grandchildren ready to see the Lord?

I'm in favor of doing all the things. 

Buy the life insurance. 

Write the will. 

Secure your spot at the cemetery if you want.  

But most importantly --

Be ready to see Jesus.

Live ready for the unexpected.