The Laughter

Psalm 133 Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.

When we arrived at Shevet Achim in Jerusalem there were seven families living at the house in various stages of recovery from heart surgery. Seven families sharing one living room, one kitchen, one bathroom, one bedroom, one TV. No privacy, no car, no air conditioning. These families were away from home; away from their spouses and other children. They are in a foreign country, with a foreign language, religion and culture. They were in essence in the land of their enemy. And do you know what sounds drifted most often downstairs to the staff quarters? The laughter of children, brothers, dwelling in peace. Cramped, hot, unfamiliar. Amazing.

Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.

I am missing them today. I am uncomfortable today. Unsettled. Out of place. I am in my own home, fire in the fireplace, warm, fed, physically well. But restless.

Maybe one reason that life is hard is that we will never feel totally at home here. We are not at home here. For a follower of Christ this is a foreign country. The culture is different, the currency is odd, the language is unfamiliar. We are away from our spouse and our real home. Something is missing. And as much as we accumulate and as many friends and good times that we enjoy, we are not completely satisfied.

God has placed eternity in the heart of every person and until we achieve that we will never be entirely whole.

A lesson can be learned from the families at Shevet Achim. This place can be crowded and unfamiliar. We can feel out of place. We can miss our husband and our real home. We are not completely well yet. Sometimes it is hot and we feel frustrated.

So, what do we do? Make friends. Play with the children. Pray to our Father for grace and mercy. And look ahead to the time that we will be at home, reunited with our husband and finally be whole. Until then let the sound of laughter drift upward to heaven.

Father thank you for all the good things in my life. For this summer, for this blog, for the trip to Israel, for my husband and our children, for our church and for our home. Thank you for placing eternity in our hearts. Thank you for the promise that one day we will all be together in a heavenly kingdom, with a heavenly body, free from sin. But most of all we will be in Your presence and will never be separated again. I love you Lord.