Final Victory

I ran last night. :) Go me! It was rainy when I got home from the 2 graduation parties we had to go to. John went to a movie with the guys. But even though it was raining I was determined to run, so I did! And after my run I went to get Zoe at John's parents. So Zoe and I ran home, and she didn't want to stop! I guess I'll have to bring her with me next time!

Today I lounged around for awhile...too long probably. But then I did a solid 2 hours of cleaning, and got so much done! Now I'm not dreading the work week starting quite so much. I'm still working on laundry, but I'm also watching TV and relaxing. John's working till 11pm, so I have full control of the remote. :)

Church this morning was really good. Hard, but good. It was basically about Final Victory. Here are some of the verses that really jumped out at me:

• I Corinthians 15:54b "Death is swallowed up in victory."
• Phillipians 1:21-23 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ which is better by far."
• I Corinthians 15:56+57 "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

This weekend has been kind of hard for me. I'm not even sure exactly why. I know seeing Tyler play Friday night was emotional for me, and made what he and his family are going through even more real to me. A good friend of mine, Kristen, lost her Mother this weekend. I had never met her Mom, but from all the things I've heard and witnessed about her, she's never been happier than she is right now, praising Jesus in Heaven with a new body. No more pain, no more cancer, no more tears, no more meds. My heart breaks because I can't imagine the pain of losing a parent on this earth. But to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And there's no doubt that's where Susan is! All the songs we sang in church today were difficult to sing because of this weekend. Victory in Jesus. Faith is the Victory. When the Roll is Called up Yonder. Kristen, if you eventually read this, know that I was thinking of you and your family and praying for you tons today. If it was that hard for me to sit through a church service, I can't imagine how it is for you. I've been thinking often of how your Mom said it was a win/win for her. She would win if she was healed and got extra years here on earth. But she would also win if she got to go Home to be with Jesus. Someday we'll all win, and be joined together in Heaven. Until then, I'm praying for you.