Heaven, another moment

Today she died. I came to work at 8:00 am to see the Hurst outside of LTC. They came to pick up her body and move it to the final resting place. Her name tag was taken off the wall, her pictures removed and all of her belongings packed up and moved out by 10:30 am. Her files with her weight, height, meds she took, health problems she had... all wrapped up in a neat little binder - marked with a red sticker that says deceased. If you were to come in here and not know... you would have no idea that she was just alive. She was just smiling, ringing her green bell, walking the halls for exercise, visiting with family, playing bingo, listening to the 4:00 devotion. Working in the Loving Tender Care facility, it is hard for me to see the cemetery as your final resting place. I don't believe it for a minuet. I have come to see death as the beginning for God's people. The beginning of what they were preparing for here on earth. Each life is so important, so fragile here. The way your blood pumps through your system, causing your heart to beat, your organs to function. And then something happens, you slow down, you get tired, you come to stay at LTC. They say that when you come to a nursing home, you pretty much know it is your final home here on earth. Not to many of the people get to go back to their homes, back to the life they had before things started slowing down.
If I had my way... I would make this phase in life the most important! Kind of like the LAST HARRAH!(Which is the name of the nursing home that Carol and I are planning on starting some day) Leave them laughing, full of joy...
so that when the mortician comes to pick me up I have a smile on my face.
And,
instead of people thinking this is their final home... they think of LTC as their resting place. The place to stop off and get your things in order before you head off to your new life. The place where you can still make a difference. Those that care for you need to know what you know...
I don't want to forget
before they pack up all my stuff in a box...
I want to let everyone
know just what this life here has meant to me! If they don't know what I know... I want to pass it on
tell them
hold them
love them
so that when it is their turn to come to rest - they will know what to do.
I want everyone to know that their life is so much more important than that box of stuff that follows them...so much more important than the ink on the paper. If it would have been just you, or just me on that day in Calvary... He would have done the same thing.
He would have reached out His arms as far as the east is from the west...
and He would tell you...
"I love you so much, that I died for you, so that you may have life eternal... I have conquered death, I have overcome the grave... you are mine...
WELCOME... to the place I have prepared for you!
I know your there Maggie...
I hear bells ringing!
"Well done my good and faithful servant"

(Names and places have been changed, these stories are true only in my mind)