Prepare A Place

She found herself in a waiting room.

The pallid room had an ethereal feel to it, almost a dream-like quality. It was all so relaxing and peaceful; she closed her eyes and let the atmosphere take her in. Her sandaled foot bobbed absently to the beautiful orchestral music flowing from what she assumed was hidden speakers, since she didn’t see any, but she didn’t know. Frankly, she didn’t care. She hadn’t felt so tranquil in a long time and decided to revel in it as much as possible. It didn’t even give her a sense of complacency; it was pure, unaltered peace.

Somehow she knew she was waiting for something, but it didn’t make her anxious like waiting rooms usually did. Even the fact that she knew no more than that didn’t frighten her. She had nowhere to be. There was no rush to make it to work on time or get the grandkids to soccer before the game started.  Worry was completely unnecessary.

A man with an extremely pleasant and comforting face poked his head through an open door she hadn’t seen before.

“We’re ready for you, Jenny,” he rumbled languidly. Jenny had never heard a deeper, more cordial voice in her life. He smiled as she got up slowly and grabbed her hand to lead her down a long hallway. It seemed endless and yet she didn’t tire.

“Here you are, my dear,” he said finally, stopping to direct her into a very quaint, very lovely room. Jenny gasped at all the decorations, the bedspread, and the curtains. She quickly overlooked the fact that the only object in the room was the bed. Aside from that, there was nothing; not even a couple knick knacks on a table or some shoes strewn across the cream carpet. In fact, there wasn’t even a dresser.

“It’s perfect,” she breathed, running her hands over the cherry red down comforter. An amused chuckle emanated from behind her and it wrapped her up in a feeling of joy. She hadn’t the slightest idea who this man was and she didn’t care. He was treating her with such gentleness and kindness she almost felt she didn’t deserve it.

“I know,” he replied, stepping forward to take her wrinkled hand in his again. He led her to the side of the bed closest to the humungous window, pulled back the covers, and helped her into the bed with delicate, strong arms.

Jenny sighed blithely and sunk into the mattress with a giddy grin on her face.

“Why are you doing this for me?” she asked quietly. The man smiled and continued to gaze at her face much like a proud father to his daughter.

“Because I choose to,” he replied simply. “And I love you.”

“Who are you?”

This elicited another chuckle from him. He came closer and tucked the sheets around her tighter before speaking again in a soft whisper.

“I have many names, my dear, and my face is one not recognized. But none of that really matters. I love you more than you can fathom and you are my precious daughter. That is all that matters. Now you should rest, Jenny. Good night.”

He kissed her on the forehead and without so much as another thought, her eyelids were closed and she was gone.

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John 14:1-3
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Why Do We Love?

I looked up at the sky tonight and gazed at the moon through a window of wispy gray clouds; it was just a small break, like a crack in time, and a curious thought hit me. I looked confusedly at the almost-full moon and wondered…

Why do we love?

Why do we throw ourselves out on the table and become five times more transparent just for a single soul? A single soul who we don’t know the thoughts of, who we can't know for sure what their motives are, who we can only rely on their words and actions to tell us the truth.

We just have to trust that what they say is true. Trust is the key to the locket of love. Without trust, love is utterly lost.

So again, why? Why do we pour our beings and thoughts and smiles and laughs into a soul who we can only hope trusts us as much as we trust them? And in turn loves us as much as they say?

For some, the reason varies; others just want companionship and the closeness that intimacy brings; others just want someone to always be paying them attention; and sometimes, someone just wants another kind soul to open up to.

But why do we do, still? We crave it, as humans; nearly all of us do. Kudos to those that God calls to be single for life, because I know I couldn’t do it.

So, we as humans are willing to risk everything, our memories, our feelings and emotions, and even our entire selves just to be loved by that one person in return. We invest ourselves so deeply in one relationship that when that dreaded time sometimes comes when the other pulls the plug, it’s like spiraling downwards from cloud nine as if you were a mere rain drop, a small tear to just be shed and brushed away by cold fingers. 

Everything you poured into them was ripped away and you feel like a jagged remainder of what you once were. Your edges are rough and sharp, your emotions and memories shatter you to pieces along with your heart and the mental pain hurts worse than any physical injury.

…why do we risk so much? Perhaps it is because of that tiny little voice in the back of your mind that says, don’t worry, you'll be alright; you're strong, you’re tough, and you will heal with time. It’s okay that sometimes when you fall, you’ve just got to catch yourself, no matter how scraped up your palms get or depths of the gashes in your knees. Then there comes that word again…trust. Trust in yourself, and God, and the people that surround you. Even though you know trusting in anything human is hard because they will always let you down, you continue to anyway because you know you don’t move very fast when you only trust yourself.

Is there really an answer, then? To why we love or why we trust? Not really. Is it just human nature, perhaps? Or a learned behavior? Or maybe something that we all happen to believe?

It’s just life. We love, we trust, we bestow upon each other our faith and hope, even with the preconceived and not entirely unbelievable notion that everything you poured into the individuals may very well have been wasted from the beginning.

Or perhaps, we do all those things because the Father has the grace to do them to us first?

Sunrising

"Samantha! Pssst...Sam!" Samantha sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. She glanced at the clock. "What the heck...who's here at 5:15 in the morning? It's still dark outside..." She grumbled sleepily, tossing her legs out of bed and meandering towards her bedroom door. "No Sam, over here." Three taps on the window spun her around and she found Lyric perched outside it. He waved and smiled.

She bumped the corner of her dresser on the way there but otherwise made it to the window without any other injuries. She shoved it open, the old cracked paint working against her. "Lyric, what are you doing here at this time of morning?" She whispered, nearly hissing as she motioned for him to hop through and into her room. He shook his head, that crooked smile still gracing his lips. "Come with me." His arms extended toward her. "Why now? Can't it wait?" He shook his head and twisted to look off into the distance. He was being utterly mysterious, she thought. "Please, come."
His hands beckoned.

Sam hesitated, debating and wondering simultaneously. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. Finally, when it looked like Lyric was getting anxious and possibly a bit nervous, she nodded her head. His smile reignited. "Let's go."

She went with him out onto the roof and he told her to be as quiet as possible. "Where are we going?" She asked, but he only shook his head and put a finger to his lips. "Later. Now hurry; time is of the essence." She almost couldn't take his mysteriousness and I'm-not-going-to-tell-you-anything attitude, but she let him lead her. She reasoned that he must have a motive for keeping silent about pretty much everything.

They slid down off the roof soundlessly, to Sam's delight. Lyric jumped on his motor bike and Sam wrapped her arms around his waist as she slipped on behind him. "Hold on tight." He grinned and revved the engine. With that, they were zooming down the street.

Sam saw that the night was just barely beginning to melt away when they reached the base of a small foothill. Her hair whipped wildly about her face and she continuously squinted her eyes against the rushing air. Lyric took a short road that twisted and wound up the hill, kicking up dust in his wake.

Lyric pulled off on a small, flat parking area that overlooked the city, silencing the purring bike. He turned to her with a twinkle in his eyes and his smile reflected it. "I want to show you something my Father made." Lyric grabbed her hand in his; it was still warm from the bike handle. He led her over to a plaid blanket beneath a giant tree; it's bowed branches gave it an old, weathered and wise appearance. If it could transform into a human, Sam decided, it would take the form of an old man, shoulders hunched and face owlish and twisted.

They lay down on the blanket, wiggling together on their stomachs until they were shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip. "Had I known we were going this far I might’ve put something on a little more covering and public." Sam murmured, trying to pull down the long sleeves of her night shirt to cover her hands. Lyric sat up momentarily and slipped out of his jacket, draping it over her shoulders. She felt his heat radiate around her as well as his musky scent. She nuzzled her nose into the neck of the jacket and breathed in deeply. "Thank you." She pulled it tight around herself and gazed up at him.

"Oh, look." He breathed as he laid back down, pointing to the horizon. "What?" Sam asked, following the direction of his finger. "Watch." He grinned and stared at the undulating tops of the opposite foothills. Light was leaking over them, illuminating the dark sky in beautiful hues of blue, pink and orange.

In mere minutes, the sun popped out from behind the mountains and spread its beam everywhere across the sand and dirt like someone opening their arms for an embrace. Sam couldn't find any other words for it than "wow" and "so amazing." The hues continued to vary and gradient out from the rim of the sun, changing every few minutes. There were no clouds dotting the sky that morning and it made everything seem so much clearer.

"This is so beautiful. I've never watched a sunrise in my life, much less with someone I care a lot for." Sam beamed, showing teeth in her genuine smile. "But...your Father made this?" An eyebrow rose as she glanced over at him in obvious disbelief. His grin never faltered.

"Yeah, God made this."