Heaven

loss + gain

/ kmmccaleb / Leave a comment

So many old years ago, you gained a new life. We lost a husband,
a father, a brother, a fellow believer, a hero, a comforter, a biggest-fan, a friend.

You claimed the instant victory won for you by the One we both serve and follow.
We await that victory with each slow-moving day and fast-moving year.

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You serve Him in eternity.
We follow Him in this short, temporary, beautiful, painful span of time called life.

The Life you gained is eternal, golden, peaceful, in a Kingdom that cannot be shaken.
We live out our fragile days in this momentary world, shaken by the unknown.

We see His Hand in sunsets with strands of Gold. You see Him, and walk with Him in Golden Thrones.

You were taken up, your purpose on earth finished, gaining your crown.
Our time with you was done, but we still feel the deep loss, these long-short decades later.

We look to that reunion-day with hope and courage, tippy-toe-expectation,
Wanting so much to see what you see, wanting to walk with you, wanting your touch,
Wanting your encouraging words.

Our wanting is our loss, only to be fulfilled on the Day we join you.
We look to your eternal gain, through our small days,
Embracing the loss, knowing that it speaks loudly to our future gain.

founded and established

/ kmmccaleb / Leave a comment

“On the holy mount stands the city he founded…the Most High himself will establish her. ” Psalm 87:1 and 5

Last night while traveling home I had a couple moments of feeling weak and vulnerable. At one point the plane felt like it would be rattled apart by turbulence. Another moment, a wave of tiredness came over me while I waited for the next flight from Dallas to deliver my bag.

I awoke this morning thankful for my own bed, warm sunshine in the window and homemade coffee instead of hotel coffee. In the midst of these earthly comforts, I found myself searching for something Solid and Strong. I “randomly” opened to Psalms 87 and found the words “he founded” and “himself will establish her”. These words are in reference to a city that the Lord builds, but I take comfort them, because this is the character of the God I serve in this challenging season. I know he is also founding and establishing me, all the while he holds planes together and gives me grace while I await a delayed bag at the end of a long day.

#hardfightsoftheart

This strange earthly life

/ kmmccaleb / Leave a comment
This is a strange walk, this earthly life.
One of faith and frailty, fears and
failures. You say we’re spirit,
But all we can see are hands and
Skin and bones. You call us to faith,
And hope in the Unseen.

But all we can sense is the
Seen, the heard, the tasted, and the
Touched. You give us faith, and then call
Us to trust in a future that is eternal and glorious.
But all we can feel in these earthly bodies
Are goodbyes and loss
And sacrifice and missing joy. 

You came and conquered. And then left,
Telling us you would one day return. It’s
Been a long time and too many of those
We love have left and gone to you, without a
Word, never to be seen, this side of
Our own death. Yet, you say to have hope.

Hope in the unseen. Dear Lord, we
Are earthly creatures, our physical senses
Far out-pacing the spiritual. You call
Us into the spiritual realm, in surrender,
In faith, and trust and hope. And yet we cannot
See past these hands and skin and bones.

So Lord, have mercy on our skin-bound
Souls, and our weak minds who try to
See the unseen, but are left with a
Sense that all is not as it should
Be or how it will be. Forgive us our
Frailties and our fears. Give us the 
Courage to walk like Joshua, in
Hope that what is beyond our sight is true and
More real than all we can see.