SEASONS - NUMBERING OUR DAYS

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf on 4/27/2012)

Preface:

This is one of the oddest short stories I have ever written for the blog; all the way back in April 27, 2012, way before I even knew my grandson; Vinny.  My daughter married Vinny's Dad when Vinny was six.  

The boy I imagined in the story was named David, but other than that; the way I described him is EXACTLY like Vinny, in every detail.  I'm pretty amazed at this now; looking back.  I also saw this same child, who looked exactly like Vinny, in a vision once during a time of prayer.  The vision I had reassured me of  a time of happiness coming in the future for all who were concerned with him and in his life.  I had no knowledge of the child at that point either! 

So this story grows more precious to me every year as time goes by and I often ponder all the different layers of what it truly means.  The rest of the words from this point forward are what I wrote back in 2012:

2012 Preface:

You know, I do not have any grandchildren yet, but I yearn for some.

I believe that all good things come stepping softly into our lives in God's good time; and I'm patiently waiting for that day.  This may sound a little strange to some of you, but sometimes I imagine that I have a grandson.  He is about four years old in these little imaginations that come from somewhere in my brain, and I'm not sure of his name, but in this story I'll call him David.  He has thick curly blonde hair and very blue eyes and pale skin.  He is a very bright little boy, and I imagine that we always spend a lot of time talking about the most important things in life.  

Please don't think I've lost my mind now; I've been told that this phenomenon happens often to writers, especially the most creative ones.  It will be interesting to see if this sweet little boy really happens.  I certainly do hope so!

TEACHING OUR CHILDREN TO NUMBER THEIR DAYS

The sun was slipping into the night sky.  It was that magical time just before dark when the working day is done and you are preparing to relax and enjoy your family to the fullest with a nice quiet family dinner.  David and I were sharing time together, puttering around the kitchen.  We had spent most of the afternoon in my kitchen baking cookies with the back door positioned wide open letting the sunlight shine in through the glass storm door so we could monitor all that was going on with the cat out on our back deck.  We also observed him through the full kitchen windows.  David loved the cat and we had named him Captain Jack.  David had to know everything that was going on with Captain Jack.   So, I was letting them spend some time together on the deck while I was preparing a fresh spring salad for our table.  David had come inside without me realizing it. 

 “ Grandma, what is an Omer?” asks the inquisitive child tugging at my shirt and looking up at me for an answer. 

An Omer is a way of measuring an amount of grain.”  I put it into terms that I thought he would understand, not elaborating too much so as not to lose him in the details.  


“Sort of like using this measuring cup you cook with?”  He pointed to the one on our kitchen counter.  

“Yes, sort of like that.  From Passover until Pentecost the ancient People of God would bring their barley crops to God as an offering, and they would measure it to be the size of an omer. ”   I pulled a quart of milk out of the refrigerator and said, "It would be about the size of two of these."  

"I could drink two of those in one day Grandma."
   
"Well David, that was part of the theory around the Omer.  It was supposed to equal the measurement of enough food for just one day.  Remember me telling you the story about God sending the Manna from Heaven to the People of Israel?"  He nodded.  "The amount they gathered to feed themselves for one day in the wilderness would be one Omer." 

“Oh – okay.”  He seemed satisfied for a few minutes, taking a short pause from the midst of his never ending trail of questions.  "David, I am proud that you are thinking about these things.  You are asking me good questions!”  He nodded at me, glad that I seemed pleased, and reached down to pet our cat who was passing by and  rubbing against his legs. 

“What do you think this kitty thinks about Grandma?” 

"Oh – I don’t know, but kitties do not think like you and me, David, they think different.  God made people and God made animals.  God made us to love one another, and God made us to love and take care of our animals,  but we are made to think and live different from our animals.”

“But doesn’t the kitty think and live just like me?”  

“No, dear.  We make decisions and animals are instinctive.  You see, animals live for the moment they are in. They don't remember the events of an hour ago, let alone the things that happened  last week."

I could see we needed to explore this further.  "You know how you upset the kitty when you pulled his tail yesterday?”  

Laughing at the memory, and knowing he had been caught, he looks up at me with that mischievous little grin.  “Well, he doesn’t remember that at all.  You and I would remember such a thing, but look how he just purrs and slips up in your lap for you to pet him.  He doesn’t remember.”  

I could see the child thinking this over.
  
“ You and I know that you are four, but the kitty doesn’t have any concept of how old or young he is.  He wouldn’t be able to celebrate his birthday, because he is totally unaware of anything to do with growing up and getting older each day. 

“No birthdays!  I’m glad I’m not a cat!”  

“Now it was my time to smile.  I remembered last year when he asked me every day for six months how long it would be until he turned four.  

“This little kitty just takes every day as it comes, they all are the same to him.  He appreciates everyone that he meets, no matter how nice or mean they are to him. "

I pondered my own words.  Hmmmm....." Sometimes I wish we COULD think like that.”

“Yeah, I think that would be nice too, only I don’t think I could be as nice to people who were mean to me as those who gave me chocolate cake.”  

'Right!  God made us to think about things like that, but God made the animals without any judgmental behaviors at all; and He designed them to live only in the present moment.  They could never plan to be at the ball park at 3 o'clock on Saturday afternoon.  They just are not made to think like that.  They always enjoy whatever is going on right now, but they can't think past that moment or even remember the things that they were enjoying yesterday.  

“So, Grandma, do you mean if they hit a home run and it was the play that won the game, they wouldn’t even think about it the next day?”  He looked astonished. 

“Not at all.  They would never think about it again.  You know how you can pick me out in the crowd when it is your time to bat in T-ball?”  

.”“Yes – I can always see you, in the stands every time I look up.”  

“Well, this cat can’t recognize his mother, or sister, or brother for how they are related to him.  Once he has grown they all will be nothing but just another cat to him.  If he passed by them, say at the concession stand at the ball park, Captain Jack would just think they were the same as any other cat.”  

“And you know how granddaddy planned this house for us, and built it good and strong because he wanted to protect us from the rain and cold, and he wanted us to have a safe, dry place to sleep and eat and play?”

“Yes…”

“Well, cats can’t plan things like that.  They just have to live through whatever happens. “

“Oh.”  

His already round eyes grew rounder and wider.  “Wow, I’m glad I’m not a cat.  That sounds too sad.”

He kept playing silently, but I could tell he was pondering the things we had spoken about in his sweet young heart, and I could almost see the wheels of his active little brain turning and spinning out his ideas about the subject.

Funny, I was thinking about these things too.  I found myself reflecting about something I had been trying to put into effect in my own daily life.  I had been trying to be very consistent about "living in the present moment only," never looking back, not looking forward either, just BEING where I was when whatever was going on around me happened.  I wondered why I had decided to start doing this.  Was it all good?  Had this theory seemed acceptable to me because of my own human wounds from a broken life?

 Had my past not been healed, and was I too afraid of asking God to show me His plans for the future? 
 
Was I putting so much emphasis on my wounds and fears that I was using them as an excuse to cop out of a balanced life?  

I serve a God who heals and a God who tells me never to be afraid.  Forgetting the past and not planning for the future would not be the way God had ordered me to live.   I was positive that the basic theory of this "living in the moment only"  was a good thing and it just felt right.  It had a proper place of importance in my time that required godly discernment; but like everything else in life, it could get out of balance if not tempered with a little remembering of the past and a little planning for the future.  All three things should work together for a healthy balanced life.
  
I treasured this epiphany in my kitchen while making salad.  I was thankful that a simple conversation with a child could help me to regain a proper perspective on how to live.  I gave myself permission to stop  listening to the shallow voices of the world, that had almost tempted me into the danger of slipping into a place of not wanting to put forth the extra effort to remember and plan as well as enjoy the moment of the present day. 

Isn't this what counting the Omer was really about?



In celebrating the Passover Seder together as a family, we had remembered the past.  We stopped on that day to refresh our minds and hearts with  the moments of the past, to saturate our senses with God's beautiful stories of the history of His people.  We stopped to go to the cross with The Lamb of God, getting the full picture of His suffering, and remembering what He had done for us in this season of His time on earth.  

We felt the thrill of  being liberated from our own personal slavery as we read about how God's people were delivered from Egyptian slavery.  We reveled in it.  We were reminded of our lives before we knew Christ as our Most Holy Messiah, and we wondered and marveled at how He transformed us from living in the bondage of sin into a life of freedom. 

As I looked at David, growing every day, I realized I had some growing to do myself;  I too had to become more aware of how God intended for His people to live and think.  After all, He had given us this great gift that made us higher than the animals of whom we were to watch over and care for.  We could actually think these things through and act on what we believed to be right every day as we walked through our lives.  


I savored this moment of realization that my grandson was learning, growing, changing into a youngster who ponders and asks questions.  His learning was teaching me so much!  

With new found discernment and wisdom, I let myself live in this present tense with a refreshed gladness and a thankful heart.  It was a luxury I quite enjoyed.  Yet, even now, I was planning for him in my mind, praying for his future to be bright and good.   It was a good moment where God was revealing this blessing to me, and I held it close and treasured it in my heart, knowing that it would bubble over one day in the future and bless someone else because we had lived this day.

"David, are you ready to count the Omer?”

His eyes lit up with excitement.  “Yes, Grandma!, Oh, will you let me mark through the day on the calendar, please?”

“First we must say our prayer.  What day are we on now?  We must stop and consider where we are in time.”

Since the second day of Unleavened Bread, we had been counting the days together and reciting a special blessing each day of this seven-week journey from Passover till Pentecost, just like the Children of God did in the Exodus as they moved out of bondage to the Egyptians and inched toward Mount Sinai and received the Torah.  

Each day I told my precious grandson more of the stories of their journey.  He was always anxious to hear what happened next in the great adventures of the People of God.  I could rest assured that my grandson was in line for some awesome adventures from God himself.  I reveled in sharing the experience of this old, old tradition with him.  I knew it was helping him learn to count, to observe the days of the weeks on the calendar, but even more, I knew it was giving him spiritual formation for the years to come when we shared the prayers and the stories. This time with David blessed me in so many ways.  

I was learning, through the experience of teaching my grandson, that there is a time for everything; a time to remember, a time to be. and a time to plan.   

I was realizing that the story of The People of God taught me that there was a time to obtain freedom, a time to believe, and a time to learn how to manage that freedom wisely and correctly and put those beliefs into daily actions.

I could see it clearly in these little moments in our home together.  

I could see it clearly in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.  

I could see it clearly in Passover, Unleavened Bread and Pentecost.  

Time marches on and on and God keeps it well for us.

We keep remembering; we keep living; we keep hoping.  

We know that counting these days ultimately points us to the giving of God’s Holy Spirit.  
In examining our lives as we go through the days we know we are about to receive the ultimate gift in abundance.  It is a gift that will fill our hearts with love, compassion and worship.  The Holy Spirit is how we are able to prepare for our future. The  whole house of God also must be built up through the people who now make up His body.  The Holy Spirit leads us with discernment and love, grace and mercy.  

We aren’t like the cat; we can think, and hope and remember and relate.  Because we are higher than the animals, God shows us how to count our days, and instructs us to make the most of them, to aspire to be better people in the future than we were in the past. 
When Pentecost is fully come we will be offering up the wheat harvest.  It is a better blessing, a higher blessing.
  
We anticipate this higher thing as we count the days and go through the necessary things in order to reach the places we want and need to be.

After Passover we tend to the necessary things, the tedious part of our humanity, the parts of us that grow like a crop of barley.  
    
All things come together in God’s good order.  

The Omer measures out the barley until Pentecost.  At Pentecost there will be two loaves of wheat waved before God; two loaves of the higher blessings offered up for The Kingdom of God in holy worship.  They represent the firstfruits of the best crop, the part of the Church and Israel together that represents us rising above our human natures into God's holiness. 
  
This is our hope that He will turn us from people who often only behave like animals eating common barley, into people who behave according to the image of God and and feed on the wheat of The Word. 

My heart is filled with wonder at how God's Word has provided a patterned, detailed map for us to live out our time on this earth.  He had given us full instructions in the scriptures, and He provided for seasons and times for us to stop and ponder these things in our hearts.  I loved each season and each of it's delightful aspects.    

Looking at my sweet grandson playing with our cat, I truly pondered that the sweet little kitty could not remember how we had found him; abandoned on the highway.  We had picked him up and brought him into a safe home where he would be well fed and loved.  We had given him a special name.  He was totally oblivious to all of this, simply lazing around in the sunshine all day long.  He didn’t even realize what a blessing had been bestowed upon him or think of any of the misery he had left behind. 

 Could I sometimes be guilty of living the same way?   

I was glad that God had given us the ability to remember things, and I was glad that we were teaching our grandson to ponder the changes that God brought about and allowed in his own journey through life.  

God in His Majesty always has this way of bringing the past, present and future together.  He connects the dots of our days.   So, we keep remembering the past.  We keep living in the moment.  We keep  faithfully counting the 49 days between Passover and Pentecost and marking them off on the calendar with anticipation toward our future.  

May each new year find us in a more sacred place, and may each of our lives be a more acceptable sacrifice in the service of God, as we grow in the holiness of God and teach our children to do the same.    

COME AS A CHLD - LESSON 62 - THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF SARAH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

We know that Abraham went back to Beersheba after the Akadah.  One would expect to hear of how he returned to Sarah and told her the good news; but instead we hear of Abraham going back to Beersheba and many think at this point in time that Sarah had returned to Mamre, in Hebron to live in the tents they inhabited there before they came to live in Beersheba.

No one knows the reason for this; perhaps she just loved the place and wanted to be there again.  Perhaps she was not fond of being so close to Hagar and Ishmael.  Perhaps she was grieving about her son going away for so long and wanted to be in the land where she had first learned of his birth.  Perhaps she knew she only had a short time left to live and she wanted to die in the land where they had decided to purchase their family burial grounds in the cave of Machpelah.  

We know that Sarah was a prophetess.  We know that she just somehow knew things directly from God and perhaps she had acted on a KNOWING as her own death was approaching that made her just want to be back in the land where she had experienced so much happiness and had called home for so long.  

Legend has it that Sarah had discovered the Caves of Machpelah before Abraham did.  They tell us that she had requested of Abraham that she be buried there when she died.  The Oral Torah speaks of Abraham stumbling across the cave as he was chasing the calf that he would prepare for The Three Angels who came to visit to tell them of Isaac’s soon coming birth.  These three then left Abraham and Sarah headed for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Abraham and Sarah had received good news on that day, but others were not so fortunate.  

There are also tales of the first time Abraham saw the cave and realized, just as Sarah had previously, that it was the grave site of Adam and Eve.  How did they know this?  It is not explained.  

There are even old stories told of Adam burying Eve in the cave, which is said to be near the door to The Garden of Eden.  The old tales say that when Adam went to lay Eve in the cave he could smell the delicious smell of the Garden.  He too was buried there.  It is said that somehow, the prophet in Sarah knew these things and she shared them with Abraham.  They, together decided to be buried in the same place one day.  After all, God had led them to this place, just beyond the trees of Mamre.  

At any rate and for whatever reasons she had, Sarah returned to Hebron where she died at the age of 127.  There are also many legendary stories around Sarah’s death.  We cannot prove them with scriptures, but some of the old sages teach that Sarah realized Isaac was going to be offered in the Akadah and she pleaded with God to let her die in his place.  Many think that she died the instant that the ram appeared in the the thicket and The Angel of The LORD called out for Abraham not to take the boy. 

When Abraham heard of Sarah’s death, as he was sojourning in Beersheba on his way back from Moriah; he returned  quickly to Hebron and mourned many days for her.  He buried her in the cave at Machphelah, as she had desired according to their plan.

You hear so many stories of all the hard trials and tests and temptations that Abraham had to endure over the years of his lifetime, but you never hear that Abraham wept until you hear of how he mourned for Sarah, his beloved wife, the Mother of his only begotten son.  He wanted to grant Sarah this last request, her request to be buried in the Caves at Machpelah.

There are other Jewish legends which state that these caves were bought from the money that was left in Sarah’s dowry when she died.  She had made clear her request that Abraham buy the caves for a family burial ground.  The place most likely needed to be purchased by Abraham instead of Sarah to be legal, as men were usually the only legal property owners in those days.

Abraham eager to fulfill Sarah’s last wishes and knowing the importance of their joint burial in this spot, offered to buy the cave from Ephron, The Hitite. 

As was the custom, Abraham spoke to the Hitite people at the gates of Hebron asking to purchase the caves in order to bury his wife.  He mentioned that he was a sojourner in the land and needed a burial place for his family.  The Hitites living in the area knew and loved Sarah very much.  They greatly admired and respected Abraham.  They referred to him as being A Great Prince.   They offered him his choice of any of their burial places for free.  

Abraham thanked them for their offer but again expressed his desire to purchase the property so that it could be used as a family burial ground.  He specifically expressed his interest in the Cave at Machpelah that belonged to Ephron the Hitite.  

Machpelah means “double” and the cave was said to be a double space, suitable for burying several couples together.  No one mentioned the fact that this was probably the burial site of Adam and Eve.  Perhaps the Hitites did not know this.   This was probably hidden by God in order to protect it, and Abraham did not bring the subject up to them.  He asked to buy the property for full price so that he could be the legal owner and obtain the deed to the cave. 

Ephron the Hitite was sitting among those who were mourning for Sarah.  They were  all at the city gates, which was also the place of conducting important business.  All the Hitites were gathered to hear this business transaction that the grieving Abraham was making with Ephron the Hitite. 

Ephron the Hitite answered Abraham's request to buy the cave:  “ No, my lord, I will not accept payment for it, I would be honored to give it to you.  Furthermore, listen to me:  You only asked for the cave, but as far as I am concerned, I have already given you the entire fieild as well.  And as for the cave within it, I have already given it to you; and I have given it to you in full view of my compatriots.  Bury your dead.”

The fact that Ephron offered to give Abraham the entire field suited Abraham because he wished for the place to be an area used for a family burial ground.  He would do well to own the whole field and not just a part of it.  I'm sure Abraham was thinking too of God's promises that his descendants would inherit all the land one day.  Perhaps Abraham even wanted Sarah's death to be honored by making this long ago promise finally come about.  It was something that they had dreamed of and hoped for together.  It was what they had built all of their life around.  It was part of her last wishes.

Abraham replied to Ephron:  “If only you would listen to me!  I do not want to accept the field for free.  I am giving you the money for the field.  It is here in my hand, take it from me so that I may bury my dead there.”

At this point Ephron replied saying:  “My lord, listen to me.  What’s four hundred silver shekels worth of land between friends like you and me?  Forget about the money and bury your dead.” 

This was quite an understatement, because four hundred shekels was a huge amount of money!  Way more money than most would consider the field was worth.  Ephron continued to flaunt his generosity and pretended to refuse payment.  He was only using this technique for setting the price at a higher amount in the long run.  Abraham understood this.  Nevertheless, he weighed out for Ephron the whole amount of silver that he had mentioned the property was worth, every penny of the four hundred shekels.

Abraham did not try to bargain.  He paid full price in front of the whole community of Ephron the Hitite’s most trusted neighbors.  Ephron accepted Abraham’s offer and Abraham became the legal owner of the caves and the field and the trees surrounding the field and in the field.    Because of the purchase price of the field it was recorded in the records as no longer being simply a community property, but it was now considered to be the property of a nobleman.  Abraham buried his beloved wife in a cave located in what was considered to be the field of a noble.  This would mean that Sarah had a royal burial. 

The purchase of this land was extremely important because it was the beginning of the time of the descendants of Abraham owning the Land of Canaan.  It was the first property owned outright, though water rights had previously been obtained for the well in Beersheba.  This was actual land with caves and a field and trees.  It was the perfect place for Abraham’s family to be buried.  Abraham knew it was the will of God and he was very happy to obtain this property.  It partially fulfilled God’s promise that Abraham and his descendants would own the land of Canaan.

This cave and this field are still in existence.  Some believe the cave is under what is now a Muslim Mosque located in Hebron.  Today Jews are usually forbidden entrance into that particular place.  This location has become a very popular tourist sight.  Other’s believe that the popular tourist sight is not actually the true location, and another place has been spotted which is suspected to be the true burial place.  Right now, only God knows for sure.
    

 You would think at this point that the story of Sarah and all that we know of her would be over? Right?  

Wrong!  

We hear of her again, indirectly in The New Testament. 

Do not forget that Sarah and Abraham believed in the promise of a coming Messiah.  They believed even before they had the evidence that we now have of Christ coming and dying on a cross as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind.  Sarah had great faith.  In her long and blessed life full of strange trials and even huge mistakes and sins, she trusted that God loved her and forgave her.  She trusted that The Messiah would save her one day.  She was a believer!
  

Even as Sarah died and Abraham laid her in her grave in the Cave at Machphelah; Sarah had always carried in her soul the belief that she would one day be resurrected.

It was long after the death of the faithful Sarah that Jesus came to walk the earth. He lived and died for all of mankind.  He lived a perfect sinless life, and that great day came when He was resurrected from the dead!  He was found alive again!  This month, in the Feast of First Fruits we celebrate His resurrection!
  

Sarah had kept that feast all of her life.  She KNEW things.  She saw the fulfillment of it even before it happened.  Sarah KNEW that the waiving of the barley of the early harvest meant much more than a Thanksgiving offering for the first crops of the farmers.  She knew it was all a type of symbolism that stood for the Messiah and she understood that He would

raise her up in resurrection one day also. 

No names are mentioned specifically, but when Jesus rose from the grave on the third day, there was a great earthquake and many others were also resurrected with Him.  They were the first fruits of His labor; the early harvest of the souls of God.  Christ was the first; they were His first fruits after Him. 

Would not Abraham and Sarah be among these who were risen?  

Who among the people of the earth were more faithful?

Who  among mankind walked with God more than these two?  

Who among the dead of Israel would you expect to have believed in the Messiah with such great faith as to have believed without seeing?  

It was Abraham and Sarah and many of their loved ones who rose on that day after Christ, and perhaps even Adam and Eve!  They were the first to look for a Messiah who would cure the curse of the sin that they had fallen into.  God had told them there would be One.  They had believed and brought their insufficient sacrifices until God had provided The Perfect One.   They had passed this truth on  through the generations and this truth had come to be very significant in the lives of Abraham and Sarah.
 

I firmly believe that when Christ rose on the third day, Sarah rose right after him and greeted him soon after the event inside the City of Jerusalem! 

Did people recognize her?  It is doubtful that anyone would have recognized any of these Saints who had died many, many years before The Resurrection.  They would not have known what they looked like or who they were. 

So we only have vague references to this event; but they are plain enough to tell us that most likely Sarah obtained the resurrection of the early first fruits.  We can read Matthew 27:50-52 and conclude that Sarah surely would have been one of the ones mentioned:

“Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.  And, behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

What more amazing truth could there be?  

Do you think after all that God had been through with Abraham and Sarah that He would not have granted them a little time to be with The Messiah as He walked the earth here in His resurrected body?  What a wondrous day this must have been for Sarah and Abraham!

What conversations do you think they had?  

It must have been quite a reunion for them with The Messiah, because they had known Him, even though they had not physically met Him!  They had believed in faith and they actually got to see and participate in the evidence they had believed in!  Their faith had come full circle.  It must have been a wonderful thrilling reward from God, one of many that I suspect are still going on in heaven!

This is one discussion that you will not find in the writing of the Jews.  Of course not; as they have not yet believed in Christ.  Not all of them anyway, but there is that exception; where two of their founders. Abraham and Sarah, most likely rose from the dead and met The Messiah they had always believed in person!  

The scriptures tell us that the rulers of the day tried to cover up the true events of Christ’s resurrection.  There is not a written record of the names of these Saints of the earth; the only exception would be the holy writing in The Book of Life that is kept by God in Heaven. 

There must have been quite a family reunion with Abraham, Sarah and Isaac on that day.  Abraham and Sarah would also have had the opportunity to meet many of their descendants that they had only dreamed of, but never lived to see; their grandchildren and their great grandchildren.   

But what happened to Sarah after this?  There is yet even more to her awesome story, and the last part is the very best part! 

We find the answer to this question in Ephesians 4:8:

“Wherefore He saith, when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.”

The resurrected bodies of the founders of The Nation of Israel were positive proof to the people of earth that faith in Messiah guarantees a resurrection from the dead and eternal life with God.  Sarah and Abraham now get to reside in Heaven together with God.   When Jesus ascended 50 days later, they also went with Him.

This was yet another proof; this marvelous event for Sarah and her family, of God’s plan for mankind, and how it will always be completely successful and perfect.  Sarah got to be a part of it all! 

 After Jesus was on the earth for 50 more days following His Resurrection, He Ascended back into Heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father.  He took all of those who rose from their graves after Him back with Him.

And this is the miracle of resurrection; the whole story.  Our Messiah, Jesus Christ made it all possible.  He will make it possible for you too if you let Him.  He gave His life to be able to offer you this gift!  

 Sarah was blessed to be a part of this whole process!  Will you be so blessed with her?  

All you have to do is have faith in Messiah.  All that is required of you is that you BELIEVE.  If Sarah could believe this even before she saw the proof of the Messiah's resurrection, how much more so should all of us be able to believe this?

We have all now lived to see the days of proof.   Let us continue to believe.  Let us continue to follow.  Let us all be looking forward to our own reunion,  just like the one of Abraham, Isaac and Sarah when the time comes for yet another resurrection, let us all be ready to join Him!