Live Home Forever
Our first two children were girls. When they were very
young, they were quite sure they wanted to live in our home
forever. Leaving sounded awful. They would sometimes ask,
"When I grow up, can I still live here with you and Mommy?"
It was no use trying to tell them that the day would come
when they would want to leave. Not that home isn't
wonderful, but the day would come when they would be
grown-up.
Perhaps they would fall in love and want to have their own
home and family. It wasn't any use telling them such things,
because they simply could not believe that there would ever
be a man in their life whom they would think of as bigger or
smarter or more handsome (they were very small) or whom they
could love as much as they loved their daddy. They just
couldn't believe it. And frankly, it sounded a little
far-fetched to me.
In spite of that, I knew that the day would come-not today,
not tomorrow, but someday-when they would be all grown-up.
Somewhere, somehow, the day would come when they would see
... him. Then they would understand. What they saw "through
a glass, darkly," they would then see "face to face." And my
little girl would come to me and say in the way grownup
girls do, "Daddy, he is my destiny. I was meant for him. And
I must be with him. I can't imagine life without him." Being
a very wise daddy, then, if the man is good enough and kind
enough, and if my daughter is old enough (say, forty-five),
I would say, "This is the moment! This is the union about
which I prayed since before you were born. Enter into life,
love, and joy."
The Bible says that the kingdom of heaven is the story of a
groom who awaits his bride. Right now you may not want to
leave this place. But the day will come-maybe not today,
maybe not tomorrow, but the day will come-when we will be
fully-grown. And we will see him. And then we will
understand.
Ortberg, John. Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003, p. 231-233.