We have been studying the book of Revelation in the Bible for the past several weeks at our church. While studying chapter 21, our pastor challenged us to write a paragraph on “why you want to be a part of what we see” in Rev. 21:1-5.
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new....” (Rev. 21:1-5)
Because I have thought a lot about this passage for the past several months, I quickly wrote the paragraph which follows:
I can't wait to be a part of what John saw! It will happen just as he said, and I will know fully what I only see in part about this passage and about all of life. I love letting John's words transport me with hope to this time and place. Knowing this passage is real gives me hope to face the next day.
As I mulled over this passage and the following verses, I decided I had more to say, so I wrote the following essay:
“Why I Want to Be a Part of What We See in Revelation 21”
“It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.” As the words of this old hymn say, we need a reason for why we put up with all we go through here on earth. Just today I heard a radio broadcast with a Christian dad whose fifteen year old daughter had to have her leg amputated. Understandably, this event caused him a great deal of grief and despair. His summary after three years was that he had to choose either despair or faith in a God who is infinitely bigger than we can understand.
There is no middle ground when faced with extreme circumstances that forever alter life as we know it. We each have a choice: despair or faith in God, faith in a God who may not seem to have kept his promises, or seem to have made good choices though we trusted Him, or seem to care about us as His children.
I have spent the past 21 months since the death of our son trying to figure out how to trust this very big God who says He does all things for my good. I have always believed He is sovereign and that He is good, but when it all boiled down to my own life, He had never tested me like this. Every day I have been faced with despair or trust. I wish I could say I chose to trust and that was the end of it, but because of grief, emotional pain, and uncertainties of the future, it seems I have to keep choosing again and again, each and every day, to trust Him.
Here is why I want to be a part of what we see in Revelation 21-- because it is TRUE! When choosing despair or faith and trust, the one piece that has an overriding factor is TRUTH. These words are true! God has a bigger plan than we can see, and these events will happen just as He describes!
I have memorized Revelation 21:1-8 and meditated on these verses over and over because I have to know that God really is that big! If He truly is that big, and completely sovereign, and 100% good, and overwhelmingly full of love for me, then the truth makes the choice for me of faith vs. despair.
I can make it through the moment, and the hour, and the day, regardless of the pain, because I know my God is just about to make all things new. When I hear, “...the former things have passed away,” and then God says, “Behold, I make all things new,” I will be there to witness it with my own eyes just as He said it would be. I will worship and know that my God was certainly, in every way, worthy of more praise than I knew how to give Him. It will truly be worth it all, and we will have only just begun....
Barbara Watson
March 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Saturday, June 12, 2010
It's been a year.
Hello Friends,
I wanted to check in since its been one year since our precious Isaac went to heaven on June 13, 2009. It was a shock to us, and we have spent the past year getting used to this new plan our Father has given to us. All of life is a journey, and life with Isaac was no exception. To recap, we had the privilege of adopting Isaac the day he turned one month old. His birth mom had made an adoption plan for him, but when the chosen adoptive couple learned he had a heart defect and Down Syndrome, they opted not to follow through. What a blessing when we realized God had chosen us instead! No one can ever know what the future holds, and this adventure was no exception. Isaac's heart kept getting worse and worse those first few weeks, then he survived a very risky heart surgery at 6 weeks of age, survived leukemia and chemo starting at 10 months of age, another heart surgery and near death event at age 3, and he was due for his third heart surgery in the fall of 2009. He was 8 years old. Isaac was not well through the spring of 09 and had 2 grand mal seizures which doctors were unable to account for. We moved at the end of May to my childhood country home, and one week later he contracted a fever and died at our regional hospital within a week. He was being treated for a staph infection. The autopsy showed he had a pulmonary embolism.
Whew. To say we were heartbroken is an understatement. We were devastated. We loved this child dearly. His absence leaves a big hole in our family. In spite of all the therapies and special needs, we lived each day with joy, love, and enthusiasm to the best of our abilities. We are extremely grateful for the time we had with him.
Can I tell you a little about Isaac?
He was small for an 8 year old, only 40 pounds. He had a very vivacious, outgoing personality. He loved conducting music as if he were a "real" conductor with lots of flourish, he played the violin and had graduated from his "Twinkles" in Suzuki violin, and he had songs of all kinds in his head and coming out his mouth both night and day. He could imitate his big brother and sister on their violins, moving his bow across the strings of his pint-sized violin and playing Bach and Vivaldi dramatically-- the only things missing were the right notes, but never fear, he had them in his head and was singing them! He sang many hymns, all the verses, after picking them up from listening repeatedly to a set of hymn CD's and also singing them along with our family. He rode his "Skuut" bike (no pedals) all over the neighborhood with me when we walked his little Chocolate poodle, making friends with everyone we came across. He could talk fairly clearly, probably because I had to be in his mouth constantly doing those little oral motor exercises through his formative years in order to get him to eat-- he had stopped putting food in his mouth while being treated with chemo around the age of one, and it was quite a process to get him going again. (Thank you Linda Kane and other therapists! We did it!)
Of course I could go on and on. We had fallen head over heals in love with this lively, active, somewhat stubborn, smiley, joyful, blond-headed singing boy. Then Jesus called to him and I am certain he never looked back. Those first months I studied everything I could about what the Bible says about heaven, Isaac's new home. I can confidently say we truly have a lot to look forward to! We are standing on the promises of God and the finished work of Jesus. We did before, but we are thinking about it more now. I still crave input on the sovereignty of God. God is who He says He is, and He has a plan bigger than we can see. Of that I am sure, but I need to hear it again and again. I did not realize it as strongly then as I do now, but we were preparing this child for eternity-- as we are to prepare all our children for eternity, but Isaac is with Jesus now! He loved Jesus with a pure love, and I am certain he is continuing his music and all the things he loved, because this is who God made him to be. Isaac and I memorized Bible verses as part of his school and therapy, and we were working on Psalm 139:13-16 during the weeks preceding his death. Notice verse 16...
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
We did not know, but God knew. God has given us many moments of comfort, and He is teaching us to trust His plan. It is a process. We know God can make good things come out of this difficult situation for us. We miss this child greatly every day-- hopefully the pain will lessen in intensity, but we will never forget him. There is so much we don't understand, but as I have been sharing with my dear friend Patty Cosby, here are some truths we keep coming back to for comfort...
Heaven is real. Jesus is real. Isaac is real. God's plan is bigger than we can see. Isaac had a job. We have jobs. We are going to be together again. God is good. Heaven will prove it!
I hope you receive some bit of encouragement from our update. God is stretching us and we want to be on board with His program and bigger plan. We really appreciate the acts of love and kindness that have been shown to us over the past year. Grief is hard, but God is definitely good, His ways are higher than ours, and heaven will prove how wonderful the whole plan is! (Something about faith...)
With love,
Scott and Barbara Watson
P.S. A friend is going to help me make a scrapbook of pictures and memories that others share with us. I know most of you don't have pictures, but if you would like to share a memory of Isaac or a way that Isaac's story has helped your faith or walk with God, please write it down for us. We will start working on this June 24. (Barb)
I wanted to check in since its been one year since our precious Isaac went to heaven on June 13, 2009. It was a shock to us, and we have spent the past year getting used to this new plan our Father has given to us. All of life is a journey, and life with Isaac was no exception. To recap, we had the privilege of adopting Isaac the day he turned one month old. His birth mom had made an adoption plan for him, but when the chosen adoptive couple learned he had a heart defect and Down Syndrome, they opted not to follow through. What a blessing when we realized God had chosen us instead! No one can ever know what the future holds, and this adventure was no exception. Isaac's heart kept getting worse and worse those first few weeks, then he survived a very risky heart surgery at 6 weeks of age, survived leukemia and chemo starting at 10 months of age, another heart surgery and near death event at age 3, and he was due for his third heart surgery in the fall of 2009. He was 8 years old. Isaac was not well through the spring of 09 and had 2 grand mal seizures which doctors were unable to account for. We moved at the end of May to my childhood country home, and one week later he contracted a fever and died at our regional hospital within a week. He was being treated for a staph infection. The autopsy showed he had a pulmonary embolism.
Whew. To say we were heartbroken is an understatement. We were devastated. We loved this child dearly. His absence leaves a big hole in our family. In spite of all the therapies and special needs, we lived each day with joy, love, and enthusiasm to the best of our abilities. We are extremely grateful for the time we had with him.
Can I tell you a little about Isaac?
He was small for an 8 year old, only 40 pounds. He had a very vivacious, outgoing personality. He loved conducting music as if he were a "real" conductor with lots of flourish, he played the violin and had graduated from his "Twinkles" in Suzuki violin, and he had songs of all kinds in his head and coming out his mouth both night and day. He could imitate his big brother and sister on their violins, moving his bow across the strings of his pint-sized violin and playing Bach and Vivaldi dramatically-- the only things missing were the right notes, but never fear, he had them in his head and was singing them! He sang many hymns, all the verses, after picking them up from listening repeatedly to a set of hymn CD's and also singing them along with our family. He rode his "Skuut" bike (no pedals) all over the neighborhood with me when we walked his little Chocolate poodle, making friends with everyone we came across. He could talk fairly clearly, probably because I had to be in his mouth constantly doing those little oral motor exercises through his formative years in order to get him to eat-- he had stopped putting food in his mouth while being treated with chemo around the age of one, and it was quite a process to get him going again. (Thank you Linda Kane and other therapists! We did it!)Of course I could go on and on. We had fallen head over heals in love with this lively, active, somewhat stubborn, smiley, joyful, blond-headed singing boy. Then Jesus called to him and I am certain he never looked back. Those first months I studied everything I could about what the Bible says about heaven, Isaac's new home. I can confidently say we truly have a lot to look forward to! We are standing on the promises of God and the finished work of Jesus. We did before, but we are thinking about it more now. I still crave input on the sovereignty of God. God is who He says He is, and He has a plan bigger than we can see. Of that I am sure, but I need to hear it again and again. I did not realize it as strongly then as I do now, but we were preparing this child for eternity-- as we are to prepare all our children for eternity, but Isaac is with Jesus now! He loved Jesus with a pure love, and I am certain he is continuing his music and all the things he loved, because this is who God made him to be. Isaac and I memorized Bible verses as part of his school and therapy, and we were working on Psalm 139:13-16 during the weeks preceding his death. Notice verse 16...
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
We did not know, but God knew. God has given us many moments of comfort, and He is teaching us to trust His plan. It is a process. We know God can make good things come out of this difficult situation for us. We miss this child greatly every day-- hopefully the pain will lessen in intensity, but we will never forget him. There is so much we don't understand, but as I have been sharing with my dear friend Patty Cosby, here are some truths we keep coming back to for comfort...
Heaven is real. Jesus is real. Isaac is real. God's plan is bigger than we can see. Isaac had a job. We have jobs. We are going to be together again. God is good. Heaven will prove it!
I hope you receive some bit of encouragement from our update. God is stretching us and we want to be on board with His program and bigger plan. We really appreciate the acts of love and kindness that have been shown to us over the past year. Grief is hard, but God is definitely good, His ways are higher than ours, and heaven will prove how wonderful the whole plan is! (Something about faith...)
With love,
Scott and Barbara Watson
P.S. A friend is going to help me make a scrapbook of pictures and memories that others share with us. I know most of you don't have pictures, but if you would like to share a memory of Isaac or a way that Isaac's story has helped your faith or walk with God, please write it down for us. We will start working on this June 24. (Barb)
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