As I thought about the heavenly weekend we just had (see above), it reminded me of a book I borrowed from a friend called, "Ticket to Heaven" by Anthony Destefano. It is the author's idea of what he thinks heaven may be like. It's a book you can't read without feeling good.

Here are some of his ideas of what heaven will be like: We sometimes associate heaven with quiet: even dull and boring...playing the harp and sitting around. We say, "Rest in peace." But although we will have peace, we will be active, alive, alert, and vibrant! Although it will be demanding, challenging and frustrating to get there, it will be beyond anything we can even imagine here on this Earth! It will be full of surprises: new sights, new sounds, new smells, new textures. It will be colorful, bright, and vivid. We will feel healthy & robust. There will be amazing vegetation, and friendly animals. It will be a dynamic place filled with activity, new cities, and places to explore. We will be involved in meaningful work. Artists, teachers, musicians, and everyone will have heightened creativity. We will be "expanded" and love to learn. There will be no crime, illness, death, money, insurance, hospitals, police stations, earthquakes, terrorists, or fear of any kind. He describes it as looking through a dirty window, then cleaning it and looking through the window again and seeing everything so much more clear and vibrant. He also wrote about how children just love every little thing and how excited they get, and how it will be that way for us to be experiencing so many new things (unless you become as a little child you cannot enter.....) All of this wonder doesn't even touch on the fact that we will be reunited with loved ones who will also be healthy and young and able to walk and talk to us. (I remember reading how joyful it will be just to hear their voices again and it made me think of my Grandma......I always loved her Swedish accent....I can almost hear it in my mind!) The beauty there will be beyond anything on the Earth! The joy there will be beyond our earthly joy.

Now I know that these are his ideas that he has come up with from his studies and interpretation of the scriptures. I am NOT saying "This is how it will be". But it does help me put some perspective in my daily life to think about how amazing heaven might be. The reward is so glorious! It's worth it! In fact, if you think about it, heaven is probably so amazing that we should all just be dying to get there!!! Ha, ha!