“13 All these great people died in faith. They did not get the things that God promised his people, but they saw them coming far in the future and were glad. They said they were like visitors and strangers on earth.14 When people say such things, they show they are looking for a country that will be their own.15 If they had been thinking about the country they had left, they could have gone back.16 But they were waiting for a better country—a heavenly country. So God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.” – Hebrews 11:13-16 (NCV)
My son got sick since Tuesday. Typical. Seasonal allergy that bogged him down when the Santa Ana winds visited the canyon passes and the valleys, accompanied with the dropping humidity. From what we learned from his past seasonal attacks, he learned well to prepare well-ahead by trying to increase his fluid intake as he could tolerate and by taking his organic allergy pills.
“Rest! As soon as you get done studying,” I cautioned as the clock almost hit 10:30 p.m.. It was not his fault. He had been taking advanced classes that required a lot of studying and perseverance on his part. He always tried his best to finish everything on time, sometimes, ahead of time.
I slowly pushed the door to his bedroom quietly when I heard him coughed a little bit in the middle of the night.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, Mom. I’m fine,” he sleepily replied.
As a watchful mother, you could not help but notice everything even in the dark slightly illuminated by the nightlight in one corner of his room.
“Oh my!” I exclaimed in my mind. As my son went back to sleep, I noticed how much he had grown and did not really fit right on the length of his bed anymore. Either he bent his knees to be accommodated by the warmth of his bed or he must had learned to lie down on a slanting position on his back so his legs could fit and not hit the bars at both ends of his day bed. Yes…unconsciously. But…He never complained to me or my husband nor had asked if he could get another bed.
“Please get the bed today!” I requested my husband and thanks be to God that it happened to be yesterday, Saturday, when he was off from work and could make that run.
My patient and always supportive husband took his time to go to a far store to get the bed for our son and when he got home, patiently assembled the parts.
“Why are you smiling?” I asked my son as I covered him with a lighter blanket last night.
“Thanks, Mom and Dad…Ahhh…It feels so good,” he replied. “I could stretch my legs now.”
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| my son's new bed |
I kissed his head and softly caressed his hair. I always learned something from my son. From his discomfort, he taught me how it should be in this life’s journey: to never complain and just keep pressing on because we all long for that rest. Eternal rest that the Lord provides to those who truly love and obey Him. He is our watchful Father Who always wants the best for us. Eternal Father Who loves us all first.
“Thank You Lord for everything…” I whispered as I made my way back to my bed carefully, finding my old steps aided with scattered night lights. I glanced at the stars through the windows, visible and so beautiful up on the dark skies as if Abba Father had left those night lights for me to give me reassurance of following His steps despite the darkness surrounding me in this life’s journey. Until I return and find that eternal comfort I always longed for.
"6 So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. 7 So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice,
don’t harden your hearts.” - Hebrews 4:6-7 (NLT)
