Heaven

Before you start to read this post, go to http://www.hopepublishing.com/html/main.isx?sub=31&workid=1589 and click on "listen in the Hope player." This is the song we sang for choir tonight. It's one of my favorite choral pieces to sing. We do it a little differently (not the same volume the whole way through as is done here), but it makes me feel like I'm standing right at the feet of Jesus before His throne, surrounded by the angels and the "bloodwashed throngs."

Pastor Leeder is starting a series about Heaven in the Sunday evening services, and I realized tonight that I'd never pictured Madeline Kate in heaven. I'm so anxious to give her the best life possible here on earth, but tonight I pictured her in a perfect body...no wheelchair or crutches, no shunt, intestinal trouble, no club feet or feet scarred from surgery, no long scar on her back, sitting on Jesus' lap--swinging her legs!!!! Wow!

On an entirely different note, we have a new nephew! David Elijah Asbury was born this morning while we were in church. I'm so happy for Jacinda that he is finally here! For one thing, the child was supposed to be almost three weeks old when we got there. Now he'll be a whopping 6 days old! His mommy keeps insisting that she'll be really mad if we cancel or postpone our trip, but man, intruding on a home with a new baby for 2 1/2 weeks seems rather presumptuous to me. But oh well. She and Glen were the ones who planned the date! So I'll blame them. I'd hoped for May, but is definitely a blessing that we didn't plan that way, as May may have been out of the picture with me travelling. I'm just glad the doctors are wanting me to go on this trip at all.

I'll try to update this blog with pictures of Alaskan grandeur during our trip!