to prepare a place

I walked in the door with handfuls of decisions.

"What is that?" my husband asked and he came over to inspect my treasures from the afternoon search. I opened up my grasp and layed down what at first appeared to be a Geisha's fan. "Holy Cow!" he exclaimed as their color spilled out over the table cloth.


Paint chips.
Lots of paint chips.

We've been making big plans at our home this weekend. And they involve lots and lots of paint chips. Planning how we'll color our new house and lives. With names like "the good life," "biscotti," and "feather blue" how can we not dream of happy times, shared memories, and peaceful afternoons to come?!

And as we are making happy design dreams, we are heading into one of the most bittersweet weeks of the Christian calendar. A week with dark evenings and somber services that ends with freedom, sacrifice, victory. A week where 2000 years ago, Jesus himself made big plans as He lived and dreamed with his closest friends. Where after sharing a meal and washing their feet He told them:

"In my Father's house are many rooms;
if it were not so, I would have told you.
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."
-John 14:2-3

I celebrate paint chips, but my heart truly rejoices in the same shared TRUTH that the disciples heard that night. That Jesus is preparing a place for me. And it will be a shared home with many rooms, peaceful hearts, and His sweet presence for eternity.


And who knows, maybe He's picking out "Morning Glory" or "Blue Bonnet" for our heavenly home too.