Oh the places they'll go...

Yesterday our youngest graduated from college. The day was filled with celebrations. Family lunch. Photos. Graduation ceremony. More photos. Family dinner.



Nothing brings back memories like a life event. The memory of a two year old climbing in the clothes dryer when mom was doing laundry. Memories of that same two year old helping Grandpa wash his car. The skinny kid with huge feet playing basketball like it was his job. Memories of family vacations spent with grandparents on both sides of our family.



Oh the memories.

And then the flood of emotions comes. The longing for a dad and grandpa to be present at graduation. The heart ache of missing hugs, untold stories and the absence of that familiar scent of cologne. And while my dad's been gone for nearly nine years, yesterday there was a tug in my heart and more than a few tears in my eyes.

And then, as if God wanted me to remember his promise, I turned to Matthew 22 where the Pharisees questioned Jesus about a woman married seven times. They asked whose wife she would be in heaven. Jesus replies with these words of promise:

"You don’t know your Bibles, and you don’t know how God works. At the resurrection we’re beyond marriage. As with the angels, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. And regarding your speculation on whether the dead are raised or not, don’t you read your Bibles? The grammar is clear: God says, ‘I am—not was—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’ The living God defines himself not as the God of dead men, but of the living.”

The promise of seeing my dad again one day brings joy to my heart and wipes away the tears of sadness. And so Dr. Seuss' book, "Oh the Places You'll Go" reminds me that the place that is promised for us as believers will be filled with great celebration. A home coming. A great reunion.

Congratulations, Barry. Grandpa would be so proud of you!