This Is What Happens When You See Into Heaven Now
I am sitting in a small room. There is no rug. No pictures on the walls. Just four walls without windows. Four chairs are arranged in pairs, facing each other. Everything is bright white.
Two men sit across from me. One is young, late teens, maybe twenty, clean-shaven. His buzz cut makes me think military. The other is in his forties, possibly fifties, with a beard and mustache.
As the three of us sit talking, the younger one makes a fist with his right hand and punches the other man in his left arm. He’s grinning so big his face cracks. “Dude!” he exclaims. “She’s your daughter!”
The other man smiles, nods, and replies, “Yes, yes, she is!” We hug, and I don’t want to let go. The younger man is so excited he’s bouncing on the balls of his feet, interjecting, “Dude! She’s your daughter! This is so cool!”
They tell me I look like their sister, or maybe my sister. We hug again. They assure me they were so happy to meet me, they love me, and they looked forward to seeing me again. Then I wake up.
I wake from the dream that God gave me. I wake from meeting my father and uncle–men whose names I don’t even know. My heart is full and happy. This dream is a gift from God–a sign that I will one day meet my father. Someday I’ll know his name. Until that day, though, God knows who he is even if I don’t and He is holding me close. Loving me.
My story is that I didn’t grow up with my birth father, then at 45 years old God showed me that the man I believed was my birth father in fact wasn’t. I did have a wonderful man who came into my life when I was eight years old. He adopted me, loved me like I was his own, and showed me an earthly example of God’s fatherly love. I learned it doesn’t matter who is related to you through birth or blood relationships, nor whether you look like them or not. Adoption is a true picture of God’s great heart.
A Peek Into Heaven
Eventually I find out what my birth father’s name is, as well as his brother’s and sister’s names. I meet my aunt (I look like her) and she shows me pictures of my father and uncle. Both men had died many years before. The pictures she shows me? They are the men from my dream.
God blessed me by answering my hopes, dreams, and pleas to meet my father. I know that one day I will get to see him again in heaven and I am so grateful that God granted me a brief glimpse now. I truly believe that I met my father in a small alcove of heaven.
Of course, I could be angry or resentful that I didn’t learn about Danny while he was still alive, or that I didn’t get to grow up with him, but I choose to be grateful that God granted me that peek into heaven. I’m thankful, too, for a wonderful father who chose to love me here on earth, supported me while I looked for my birth father, and encouraged me to follow my dreams.
Here’s the verse I’m holding onto:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”
Jeremiah 29:11-12, NIV
Meet Melissa Jean Rod
Melissa Jean Rod, born in 1968 in Texas, is the oldest daughter of a gaggle of girls. She grew up in Cut and Shoot, Texas and only ventured outside of the state once for a brief stint as Mary Poppins, more commonly referred to as a nanny. She is married and mother of six, a mixture of step, birth, and adopted. There are currently two daughters in love and two adorable grandsons. She is a chocoholic who’s addicted to reading and loves to travel. Her kids give her a hard time about the quantity of sunset pictures she takes.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
