Friday, July 22, 2016

Tents and Dream Homes - August 11, 2014

I spent a day riding dirt bikes and wheelers with Hubby’s dad, sister and her boyfriend.  I had a good 4 hours of driving time to talk with my father in law.  He was pretty upset about how rapidly Hubby’s sister has declined.  He asked about Hubby, and if I have noticed any symptoms.  While I wanted to be completely honest about my fears and concerns, my little 10 year old buddy was sitting between us in the truck.  We’ve had conversations with the kids about Huntington’s, but I just didn’t want to burden him with any more worry and concern than he already has.  So I did not hare my honest opinion.

That evening I sat on the couch with my hubby showing him pictures of the day I spent with his family.  He can NOT stop moving his legs, feet, hands and arms while I showed him the pictures.  Punkin was diagnosed with scoliosis the previous day.  I am generally feeling frustrated with all of my broken joints (knees, ankles, plantar fasciitis, etc.).  Oh, Lord, I look forward to the day I can have a perfect body again.  No more tears and no more pain!  I am so glad that as Christians, these broken bodies of ours on earth are not our homes.  The earthly body is simply a tent – a temporary shelter.

Think about it. No, seriously think about that!!

Imagine someone who is building a house, their dream home, but they can’t live in it yet, so they live in a temporary house or even a tent while their dream home is being built. 

My dream home is being built.  My dream home will have all of the amenities perfectly suited to me…it will not be run down, broken, or need repairs.  It will not be tired, aged, leaking or any other imaginable problem.  No, this dream home will NEVER need repairs.  But my dream home is not ready for me yet…so here I am, living in a tent. 

A tent is a temporary shelter. 

Over time tents break down, develop leaks, holes and wear thin in the damage of the sun, rain, wind and snow.  When storms come along, tents whip around in the wind, leak rain and snow, and can lose tent stakes unless they are firmly planted in the ground.

Who am I?
Who am I, REALLY?
Am I my body?

Certainly not!  I am my soul.  I am ME, the soul who lives temporarily in this body.  My body now is just a tent.  It is wearing out, there are holes and tears and leaks in this tent.  Knees, ankles, hips, eyes, ears and shoulders no longer work properly like a new tent.  And I am considered healthy.  What about Hubby? Hubby’s tent is falling apart.  It has big holes, tears and leaks.  The winds and rains whip it apart more each day.  What about his sister?  She is living in a tattered old rag of a salvation army tent, barely held down from the winds. 
To keep your tent from blowing away in the winds, you must drive the tent stakes firmly into the ground.  It must be anchored firmly so the tent doesn’t break loose and flap in the wind and tear even further.  By being firmly staked in the Word of God and in Christ Jesus, I have been able to weather many storms in life, but I anxiously look forward to my dream home!  I am so grateful that I (but especially my hubby and family members) only need to live in this broken, worn down tent temporarily. 

One day, my tent will give out, and I will be able to move into my dream home.
I have the BEST carpenter on the job, building my dream home for me – Jesus Christ, who has gone on ahead of me to prepare a place for me!!! 

Some people firmly believe that anyone with potential for Huntington’s should be tested.  I suppose in some ways, it would be nice to know, but whether you know or not does not change the fact that we are living in a temporary tent.  Our tent might withstand many storms and wear out slowly over 80 or 90 years, or our tent may deteriorate rapidly with the onset of disease, or our tent could be violently torn apart as a truck drives through camp in a terrible car accident.  No matter if our temporary earthly body is killed by a drunk driver, old age, or Huntington’s disease, the fact remains that we are ALL in a TEMPORARY home.
 
If you know these facts:
1)      you are living in a temporary home
2)      you will be asked to move out of it and into another home
3)      you do not know the day and time you have to move

Then:  wouldn’t you want to find out all you could about the home you are going to move into?  Wouldn’t your focus be on your permanent forever home instead of the home you will be moved out of?  You do not have the choice to stay in your temporary home – you WILL be moved out of it.  

So let’s focus on what happens on moving day!  While most of us not know when we will move out of our tent and into our forever home, we CAN find out about WHERE we are moving.

WHERE are we moving when this tent is destroyed?  We have but one choice.  Without a tent, we are homeless.  We automatically lose our home and are cast into a desolate, lonely, unfriendly, dangerous and miserable existence, away from anyone we know and love.  The homeless shelter is run by a thieving, lying, torturous beast who lives solely to torture the tenants and enslave them in his darkness.  Everyone is headed to the homeless shelter after their tent is destroyed.  Every human being who moves out of their tent (dies) is headed into suffering and despair on moving day…UNLESS…unless they accept a free voucher to move into their dream home!

This is good news!!!  There is a way to prevent moving into the homeless shelter when our tent fails.  Our King is building us a dream home, built by His best builder, His son, who is RIGHT NOW preparing and building our permanent, eternal, glorious, amazing, indescribable homes.  The price on these homes is quite high…it costs our death…but HE has ALREADY PAID FOR IT!  The only thing we need to do is ACCEPT the FREE gift of salvation from Him, and the home is ours!  We can avoid being homeless when our tent is destroyed!

God wants to adopt everyone as His children and Jesus desires to share His inheritance with us.  We can move directly into the King’s castle where there are streets of gold and no more tears, no more pain, only love and joy and peace surrounding us every day!  We only have to BELIEVE on Him who saves us, Jesus Christ! And by believing in Him and Him alone, we are guaranteed a place in Heaven when our earthly tents/bodies are destroyed.  Jesus himself is building us the most magnificent home! He has gone ahead to prepare a place for us…for ME…and for YOU – IF you accept the gift!  If you don’t believe in Him or accept His gift – then you are destined to the homeless shelter…and eternal death and suffering and torment. 

So, while I am sure it would help us to know if Hubby has HD, either way, we already know the tents are failing us and coming apart.  Our focus now, is on our builder, our carpenter, who is building a place for hubby, for me and for all who believe and call on Him.  A perfect place and an eternal home!!

Although I have increased health insurance, long term care and life insurance, just in case hubby has HD, I strive to keep my eyes on the prize – my eternal home for my soul – and not this temporary dwelling.  The time for testing just isn’t right yet.  Instead, we focus on our eternal home and our eternal and loving Father.


How about you?  What will you do after your tent is destroyed?  Will you be homeless and tortured for all eternity, never finding a place of peace or rest, suffering under the torture of an evil landlord who hates your very being?  Or will you choose life?  Will you choose to live an eternal life of peace, joy, love and a FATHER who is the King of all creation, King of the Universe, King of Heaven and who desires to ADOPT you as HIS CHILD (instead of being a land lord or ruler).  You cannot wait to make this choice.  By not choosing to follow Christ, you have already decided to move into the homeless shelter with Satan, and you have already chosen NOT to accept the free gift of a permanent lovely home.  You must decide NOW to make your reservations and allow the carpenter, Jesus Christ, to design a HEAVENLY home for you.    

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