The Missionary Convention was so great for getting to see old friends... college, high school, and even before that.  It seemed like everywhere I turned, there was a new/old familiar face, and we'd spend an hour catching up on life.... talking about their ministries, heartaches, families, successes, joys and failures.  In my simple human brain, I imagine that is what a little bit of heaven will be like.  But then it got me thinking.... there were lots of friends I enjoyed catching up with the past few weeks, but there were so many more friends who weren't there... and even beyond that, there are a few special friends who, at this moment, I don't think I'd see in heaven.  Oh, how I want all my loved ones to know the Way, and spend forever catching up on life with them and praising our Creator together.  My uncle (ok, he's not really my uncle, but we've known him forever... more than 20 years... and he's better than family) was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  He has always had a great outlook on life... truly the life of the party.  He's been sick for months, losing a lot of weight and finally, only at his insistence did the doctors do the right tests to figure out his diagnosis.  Uncle Bill came over on Monday, and after talking for a while, he said to us "you know, I'm pretty much ok with all of this."  And I know he is.  And so are those of us who love him.  It sucks and doesn't seem fair that his life will end shorter than we would want, but his assurance rests in knowing where his true future lies.  There are so many people from this life that I look forward to seeing in heaven... first and most of all, my mother-in-law.  But for every person I am anxious to see again there is one who I am not sure I will see again.... does that make sense?  Anyways... all that to say, the past few weeks have been filled with sweet reunions, a dull shadow of what I imagine heaven will hold.  But its also got me praying for and thinking harder than ever about my friends who I am not sure will be there... and looking for the open doors to talk with them.

The missionary convention was full of people with amazing testimonies of what God is doing all over the world.  Too often, I am numbed by the "Western Anesthetic"... you know, the tendency to resist God's working in supernatural, powerful ways.  I become skeptical of how God can work, or just get so blinded by life happening that I don't take time to listen to how God wants to move ME.  All that to say, it was nice to have a reminder that God is a God of all nations, boundless and unlimited by my human thoughts.  I wonder what amazing things God wants to show me or how he wants to use me... but I am just not listening, seeking, or open to.