October Joy (Moments In Paradise 1) (31 page)

They welcomed him and the few other “guests” in attendance, including his own father who had been here once before but had never mentioned it.  He saw his dad on a regular basis, but he hadn’t talked to him today, so it was a pleasant surprise.  They’d had a close relationship on Earth but hadn’t spent a lot of time together.  Their priorities as adult men had been similar.  God and ministry came first, then family, then anything else.  It had made them good at what they did and gave them a lot to show for their efforts, but also distanced them from their wives, children, and each other.

Tonight they didn’t discuss regrets of the past or how Joshua was using them here in similar ways, as they had on other occasions, they simply enjoyed the meal set before them by Joshua, the interesting stories others had to share, and a special time of taking the “Lord’s Supper” Levi had never encountered before.  Not only because Yeshua was here with them, as He had been with the Disciples that first time, but also because His love had never been so real to him.

On the way home, Levi let Joshua lead because he had no idea where he was, and he got the feeling Joshua took the long way, but he didn’t mind.  He talked more openly and honestly than he had since being here, and instead of asking Joshua a lot of questions as he had mostly done so far, he simply shared his heart with Him:

His concerns for Sarah and his children.  His requests for their well-being, happiness, and to live as the beloved sons and daughters they were to Joshua.  His desire to know that love for himself he had somehow missed so often on Earth, and his desire to experience Paradise for all Joshua wanted it to be for him, and to help others do the same.  He was still a pastor here in so many ways, and he welcomed that, but he didn’t want to miss the relationship with his God like he had done for so many years.

He wanted to make disciples, but he first and foremost wanted to be one.

Epilogue

The week of Thanksgiving was a flurry of activity from the moment Sarah arrived.  Grace had taken care of some details regarding the wedding planned for this Saturday, and Sarah was appreciative of all she had done.  She had taken care of some of her own wedding plans at the same time, and she enjoyed having a part in making it a special day.

The one thing she hadn’t been able to do for Sarah was pick out a dress, and Sarah hadn’t wanted to look for one in Minneapolis she would have to bring across the country, so they went shopping together on Monday.  Sarah wasn’t sure what style dress she wanted, but she found one she liked.  It wasn’t a formal wedding gown, more of an elegant white dress with lacy sleeves and a flowing skirt.

Grace looked at a few gowns for herself but wasn’t seriously looking until Sarah insisted they go back a second night to look for her too.  Tabby went with them, and she found something.  Standing there in the dress was more of an emotional experience than she expected it to be, and Grace missed her mom in that moment.  She rarely cried in front of others, but she couldn’t help it.  Tabby reached for her hand and told her she looked really beautiful.  Sarah offered her a tissue and held her close for several moments.

“I miss her so much,” she said.  “I used to tell my friends I was going to have my mom be my matron of honor because she was my best friend, but now she’s not even going to be there.”

“She’ll be there, Grace,” Sarah said.  “We can’t see our loved-ones once they’re gone, but I believe they can see us, and I know she’s been praying for this day for you for a long time.”

Grace smiled.  “And she’s been praying for you for a long time too, Sarah.  I know my mom, and I know she wouldn’t want my dad to be alone.”

“I know she wouldn’t either.”

From Grace’s perspective, Thanksgiving Day was one of the most wonderful ones she could remember having.  Besides her family sharing the day together as they always had, the new additions made it extra special, and her brother and Kanani announced to everyone they were expecting their first baby.

On Friday Sarah’s family arrived, and Grace enjoyed meeting them.  That evening she overheard Sarah talking with Chandler and Faye.  She had been in the family room but needed to go upstairs to get something, and she heard Sarah crying in the front room.  Her dad wasn’t here.  He’d gone over to the church to get some things set up for the wedding tomorrow, and Grace wondered if Chandler or Faye had said something to upset her, but standing in the hallway to listen, she found the opposite was true.

“We really want to do this, Mom,” Chandler said.  “Heather and I talked about it from the moment we heard you were moving.  I can set up a business here as easily as I did in Minneapolis, and we have nothing holding us there.  Dad’s gone.  You’re here.  Heather’s parents are up in B.C.”

“How do you feel about that, Faye?” Sarah asked.

“I’ll be all right, Mom.  Jamison will take care of me, and I’ve thought a lot about what you said.  We need to have our own life right now, and maybe in a few years we’ll end up out here too.”

Grace went upstairs to get what she needed, and she didn’t hear the happy news officially until the following day when she was helping Sarah get ready before the wedding.  Sarah told her because Heather had been in there with her grandson but then left to go change him, and it was like she was bursting at the seams to tell someone.

“Does my dad know?” she asked.

“No.  I decided to wait until tonight to tell him.  He’s been praying for that for me.”

Faye had stepped out of the room also, and Grace asked her a question as if she hadn’t overheard any of this last night.  “What about Faye?  Is she planning to move here too?”

“Not right now.  Maybe eventually.  Jamison’s family is in Utah, so it’s not like they have anything keeping them in Minnesota besides their jobs, but I think Faye knows she needs to invest herself in her marriage right now.  When Levi died she became really unsettled about life, and she almost didn’t get married, even though I know she loves Jamison very much.”

Sarah didn’t have time to say more, and during the ceremony when Grace was sitting beside James, watching Sarah and her dad exchanging their vows like she and James would be doing in another month, she thanked God for His perfect timing.  She knew if she had gotten married sometime during the last five years, it would have been difficult for her to give herself fully to her husband.  She would have felt torn between him and her family that needed her.  But He had brought Sarah and James at just the right time.  She didn’t fully understand her mother’s death that seemed so untimely, but she believed God had His reasons.

She also knew her mom was smiling as she watched Dad marrying Sarah from the heavenly realm, and she smiled too.  It wasn’t hard.  Her dad had too much joy, and Sarah had too much peace and thankfulness written all over her face.

“I can’t wait to marry you, Gracie,” James said later when Sarah and her dad were cutting the cake.  He was standing behind her, holding her close.

“I can’t wait either,” she said.  “I bought my dress this week.”

He smiled and whispered in her ear.  “I bought something for you to wear too.”

She laughed.

“I also finished making all of the reservations for our honeymoon.”

James had originally asked where she wanted to go, but she said she didn’t care, so he had decided and was keeping it a secret from her.  “Oh, you must have bought me a warm parka for that ski resort we’re going to.  How thoughtful of you.”

He laughed.  “Yeah, and I’ll keep you warm at night.”

***

Annika’s attention had turned from Sarah and Andrew to see James and Gracie having a private conversation, but she couldn’t hear what either of them were saying.

“What’s that about?” she asked Joshua.  “What is James saying to make my baby smile?”

“Sorry, Annika.  That’s just between them.”

“Please tell me they're really going to get married.  I can’t stand the suspense one more day.”

“I think you know the answer to that.”

“I hope so.”

“They are, Annika.”

She smiled.  Joshua had told her a secret.

She leaned into His side, and He wrapped His arms around her.  He held her close, and she felt the way she had on her wedding day to Andrew.  It hadn’t just been Andrew loving her but Joshua loving her through her husband.

“Did I love Andrew like I should have?” she asked.

“You loved Andrew well.  Very well.  Just listen to this.”

She listened as Andrew held up his glass to make a wedding toast.  Holding Sarah gently at his side, he spoke with great emotion, and Sarah’s expression silently echoed his words.

“To our children who have helped to make this day so special for us, and to Annika and Levi who loved us well that we might love again after they were gone.”

Annika let the tears flow quietly down her face, and Joshua wasn’t too quick to brush them away.

“From your earliest days you believed in My love for you, Annika, and you never let go of that.  A heart filled with My love, loves well.  And it’s eternal.”

***

Andrew opened his eyes and saw it was morning.  Reaching for Sarah, he realized she wasn’t in the bed beside him.  Lifting his head from the pillow, he looked around and saw her standing in front of the window, gazing at the ocean from their hotel suite.  She heard him stir and turned around to face him.  He held out his hand, and she came over to the bed to sit beside him.

“You’re up early,” he said, sitting up enough to give her a kiss.

She smiled.  “I slept well.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“How did you sleep?”

“How do you think?  I had a beautiful woman to snuggle with.  You were in my dreams all night long.”

She smiled.  “Who are you, and what are you doing in my honeymoon suite?”

“I’m your husband, and that’s an amazing feeling.”

Yesterday had been a bit of a blur with all the activity and people surrounding them.  But today felt real, and they could simply enjoy being together.

“How about if we go for a walk on the beach and catch an early breakfast?” he asked.

“That sounds nice.”

They both got ready for the day and stepped into the cool morning air.  They walked down to the water, and he did enjoy the simple pleasure of being with Sarah in a beautiful setting.  Yesterday had been nice, but stressful.  Today he didn’t have a care in the world.

“I have something to tell you,” she said.  “I was going to tell you this on the way here last night, but I fell asleep, and then I had other things on my mind after that.”

“Other things?  Like what?”

She smiled at him with a sweet expression.  “I was so nervous.  Isn’t that funny?  All those years of being married, and then suddenly I was twenty-three all over again.”

He stopped to give her some passionate kisses.  He could have stood there kissing her for a long time, but he gave her a chance to speak.

“What do you have to tell me?”

She smiled.  “Chandler and Heather are moving here.”

He mirrored her smile, and his heart lightened instantly.  He knew having Sarah here with him was the right thing, but moving her away from her children and only grandchild had been burdensome to him.

“That’s good news.  Did they tell you yesterday?”

“On Friday.  I wanted to wait and tell you as a surprise.  I know you’ve been praying about that.”

“How soon?”

“Chandler has some appointments already booked up through Christmas, and he has two weddings in January he needs to follow through with, but after that they’ll be coming so he can get his business set up here.”

“Grace will be married by then, so they can live with us until they find their own place.”

“Will you give them your bed?” she teased him.

“Our bed,” he corrected.  “And no, they cannot have it.  That room is for you and me now.”

“I’m looking forward to that.”

“Do you want to go back to the room and order room service?”

She laughed.  “Now you are acting like we’re twenty.”

“I feel twenty,” he said.  “You make me feel young again, Sarah Morgan.”

“Like the beginning of another lifetime, huh?”

He’d been having similar thoughts yesterday during the wedding.  “Yes, I’d say so.”

They began walking again, and Sarah asked him something else.  “Why do you think God took Annika and Levi and left us here to find each other?”

“I don’t know.”

She seemed thoughtful, and he wondered why she asked and what she needed to hear.  He thought about her question and tried to come up with a better answer. He’d had similar thoughts before about why God had taken Annika, certainly, and he’d seen answers to that here and there.  But why were Annika and Levi gone?  Why were they still here?  He didn’t know.

Stopping her with a gentle hug and some sweet kisses, he said the only thing he knew for sure.  “All I know, Sarah, is this is our reality now.  We can’t change the past.  We can’t bring back those we loved.  But we can choose to live the life God has given us now.  We can love each other.  We can trust Him to lead us on from here.  We can live today.”

She appeared at peace with that answer.  “I think today is going to be a nice day.”

“Yes,” he said.  “I believe it is.  And that’s all I need to know.”

Dear Reader,

Do you ever imagine what Heaven will be like?  I think I have for as long as I can remember.  My descriptions of Heaven in this story are based heavily on my imagination.  I have attempted to be as accurate as possible with the things the Bible tells us, but many of those details are subject to interpretation.  My objective for the “Moments In Paradise” series is not to say, ‘This is what Heaven is like.  This is what you will see and do when you get there.’  And I don’t want anyone to get stuck in my version of it.  So please don’t.  God has given you the same Bible, but a different imagination.  Use both for yourself when you feel the need to imagine what Heaven is like.