Sunday, July 22, 2007

Angels

In the car tonight, on the way home from church, Lex asked me if angels are real. "Of course," I told her, "They're real."

"Hmm. Well, I've never seen one."

"Well, the angels are like God," I said. "You've never seen Him, have you? But you know He's real."

She thought for a moment, and said, "I can't wait to be an angel."

"Um-Lex: you're not angel," I said.

"But I'm going to be-when I get to Heaven!"

"No, no-you're Alexis, not an angel! Angels are-well, they're angels! You're a human being! When you get there, you're gonna be...well, not an angel; like a spirit human, but not an angel!"

She said, "No, I'm going to be an angel." I argued with her a bit more, until she finally said, "Dad, I'm going to be an angel. I know I am, because my Sunday School teacher told me so." I threatened to call her Sunday School teacher just to set the record straight. But she said no, it didn't matter. "Just wait-when you get to Heaven, find me; you'll see that I'm right!"

And with that, she inspired me. Because, you see, she knows me-all my faults; all my idiosyncricies, the fact that any time I have to do physical labor I get grouchy and yell a lot; I never take the garbage out, and then get gripe when the garbage piles up; and I'm impatient. She knows all this-just ask her, she'll tell you. But, even knowing all that, in her mind, it's settled; she'll see me in Heaven!

Now, I'm firmly convinced that if I do make it to Heaven, it'll be due to a typo in God's big book, or perhaps because God told Peter to take it easy-that PJ's always good for a few laughs-because I know me. I see the real me, and, frankly, sometimes, it seems hopeless. But then Lex comes along and reminds me that true love sees past all that, and sees the man I'm trying to be, and that man-he can make it!

And so, no, I'll never be an angel, but I think, if I can remember that God, like Lex, actually loves me, I'll make it! I think I'll be ok!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

But by the grace of God there go I. Not a single one of us deserve heaven. For all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God. But thankfully God is gracious enough to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Ok does that sound like GT and the halo express or what. I'm sitting here singing the verse.lol

Anonymous said...

It's amazing how children have more faith than most adults. I assume that's why Jesus wants us to come to him as children. In our adult minds, we sometimes cannot fathom the love and grace of God. However, in a child's mind, they have no room for doubt because they haven't had time to "learn better." That was a touching post, and I find if simply amazing that God could love us, faults and all, yet still he does. What hope that gives us! Keep striving to be the best P.J. that you can be and we'll all see each other on the other side one day....and the angels.