A Little Slice of Heaven

I believe in heaven and hell. I also believe they can exist on Earth. I won't depress you with many reasons why I think this is so. But I'm always on the lookout for those times I refer to as "little slices of Heaven". They make the hard times worth living through. In my world, these are different from those "mountain top" experiences you always hear about. I've had a few of those too, but to me, the difference between the two is huge. To boil things down, a mountain top experience is like all of a sudden, all this joy and love comes bursting through your heart, so much that you don't know how you are going to contain it all. You are flying so high that you just want to shout your love of God to every living thing you see.

A little slice of Heaven is a gentle, still reminder. A peaceful feeling of thankfulness and being blessed. A small moment when all you think is "Thank you, God. This is what life really is all about." I've had these moments occasionally. Sometimes I forget about them, and sometimes they are imprinted in my mind like they happened yesterday.

Today, my kids were driving me crazy. They were whiny and needy and clingy (and any of you who know me know how I value what little personal space I can get!). They were fighting over who got to pick the book to read. Or so I thought. Apparently, the issue was that whoever I was reading for got to sit in my lap, and the other was insanely jealous. Finally I put all books away, put them both in my lap, and instantly the complaints stopped. For once, they didn't fight each other and complain that one was touching/pushing/hurting each other. They just sat there in my lap and laid their heads on my chest. I rocked them and sang to them, with my son snug under my arm and my baby girl sucking her thumb, and I thought, "this is what Heaven is like." And I got teary eyed because I know that this is a fleeting moment. Trust me, even though I complain, I DO cherish every moment I have with my kids. I know too many families who have lost little ones to take for granted what I have waiting to lavish me with love and tears at home.

Anyway, I said I wouldn't get into the whole depressing aspect of the subject, but you can kind of guess what my definition of the flip side would be. And even if you don't have kids, I know you've had these moments. The important thing is that, even if we don't remember that exact moment a month or a year from now, to remember that there was a moment, and there is a God who blesses us, even if we have to wade through pain and suffering to see the little slice of Heaven.