We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand, and we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

The last time I visited my childhood home was two months ago. I had the rare privilege of going home, sleeping in my childhood bedroom, and opening a cupboard to find plates, glasses, and silverware in the same places my mother kept them. That’s because my sister still lives there. 

3 Hill Hollow Road sits atop a hill and overlooks the Hoosick River and the village of Petersburgh, NY.  If you cross the one-lane dirt road in front of our house, you stand at a fence that looks down on the house below.  That’s where my best friend, Julie, lived.  You might assume that we saw each other whenever we wanted, going back and forth to visit.  That didn’t happen!  Her father was of another faith and strict about protecting his children from ‘the world.’  Our family was ‘the world.’  She was not allowed to visit me except once a year on my birthday.  

We did find a way to be together, however.  Children are creative and here’s how it went down.  Every day after school, I would go to the fence and look down to find her.  She’d be in her yard waiting for me.  I’d yell, “Get a snack, and I’ll meet you by the tree!”  Halfway down the bank to her house was the massive stump of an old tree, just big enough for two young girls to sit on.  We’d meet there every single day and chatter for an hour before dinner.  

Ah, but then came my birthday.  On that day, her father allowed her to visit.  I can still see her at the kitchen door.  She’d come in, and we’d play my 45rpm vinyl records, sing at the top of our lungs, talk, and then eat a lot of cake. It’s nearly 60 years later, but my heart feels such joy, like it was yesterday.  

Julie and I will have uninterrupted time in the kingdom.  Perhaps God will even re-create the setting for us.  I’ll go down a well-worn path, avoiding tree roots on the way.  I’ll know it by heart, from memory.  Then, our best child’s play will be re-lived. That’s because ~ in the kingdom, children of all races and colors will live without any shadows of bias.  Each life created by God will be celebrated. 

With You one day, memories will be made perfect.  Thank you.  Amen