Pilgrims, not home yet
In Israel, our guide called us pilgrims; the Bible says that we who live by faith are pilgrims, like our father Abraham. In our travels back and forth across the Judean desert and in Jordan we saw many, many tents like this one.
From now on, I will always picture Abraham living in one of these Bedouin tents, although I'm sure he didn't have a pickup truck parked next to it like nearly all of them do nowadays. In 1 Cor. 5, Paul says we live in tents now, but God has an eternal building prepared for us when we move out of our tents.
Last night Abbie's mother finished her pilgrimage; she moved out of her 88-yr. old tent. It was shortly after I had posted the previous entry, around midnight here in Lisbon, when I saw the e-mail from Abbie's sister asking me to call or e-mail urgently, because she couldn't get through to us (because we weren't home, of course). When I called, she told me the news that their mother was found in the bathroom, where she had probably been dead 30 minutes or so. Barb said that Mom most likely died instantly of a heart attack with a minimum of suffering.
Abbie was already sleeping soundly when I got the news. She woke up about 5:30 to go to the bathroom, but I waited until she got up at 7:30 to break the news to her. Pastor Paulo Pascoal took us to the travel agency in Lisbon to get our flight changed, as we were due to return to Madeira from Lisbon this afternoon. We got flights booked for tomorrow and we should be at Joy's house by 7:00 p.m. We'll leave the States Tuesday and be home a week from today, "if the Lord wills."
Joy and Mark leave Saturday to spend a few days in the UK before traveling on to Madeira a week from Friday, on the 21st. We'll just have time to get home before they arrive.
The Lord's timing was perfect. A couple of days ago, we were in the middle of the desert in Jordan and the Negev Desert. We were practically unreachable, and even if we had been notified, we were in no position to change our travel plans. If Abbie's mother had died today, a day later, we would have been in Madeira, and we would have had to book flights back to Lisbon, with the possibility of airport closings. Had she died next week, it would have interfered with Joy and Mark's visit. This morning was the one day when we could change our plans with the fewest complications.
So, another pilgrim has finished her journey and left her tent behind. She's moved into the building God has prepared, eternal, not built by human hands.
From now on, I will always picture Abraham living in one of these Bedouin tents, although I'm sure he didn't have a pickup truck parked next to it like nearly all of them do nowadays. In 1 Cor. 5, Paul says we live in tents now, but God has an eternal building prepared for us when we move out of our tents.
Last night Abbie's mother finished her pilgrimage; she moved out of her 88-yr. old tent. It was shortly after I had posted the previous entry, around midnight here in Lisbon, when I saw the e-mail from Abbie's sister asking me to call or e-mail urgently, because she couldn't get through to us (because we weren't home, of course). When I called, she told me the news that their mother was found in the bathroom, where she had probably been dead 30 minutes or so. Barb said that Mom most likely died instantly of a heart attack with a minimum of suffering.
Abbie was already sleeping soundly when I got the news. She woke up about 5:30 to go to the bathroom, but I waited until she got up at 7:30 to break the news to her. Pastor Paulo Pascoal took us to the travel agency in Lisbon to get our flight changed, as we were due to return to Madeira from Lisbon this afternoon. We got flights booked for tomorrow and we should be at Joy's house by 7:00 p.m. We'll leave the States Tuesday and be home a week from today, "if the Lord wills."
Joy and Mark leave Saturday to spend a few days in the UK before traveling on to Madeira a week from Friday, on the 21st. We'll just have time to get home before they arrive.
The Lord's timing was perfect. A couple of days ago, we were in the middle of the desert in Jordan and the Negev Desert. We were practically unreachable, and even if we had been notified, we were in no position to change our travel plans. If Abbie's mother had died today, a day later, we would have been in Madeira, and we would have had to book flights back to Lisbon, with the possibility of airport closings. Had she died next week, it would have interfered with Joy and Mark's visit. This morning was the one day when we could change our plans with the fewest complications.
So, another pilgrim has finished her journey and left her tent behind. She's moved into the building God has prepared, eternal, not built by human hands.
posted by EP | 4:32 PM | Permalink
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