My Version of Heaven

Mother and I were sitting out on the patio tonight, drinking coffee, and a funny conversation started. A beetle jumped into my lap and I FREAKED out and swatted it off. I made the comment that I hoped that there weren't bugs in heaven. Mother said that there probably would be bugs in heaven but that we wouldn't mind them. I made the crack that I'd be ok with just about anything once I get to Heaven but I will be sorely disappointed if bugs and poop make it in too. I told her that I just might want my money back.

She said that she figured there would be food in heaven, but maybe there wouldn't be any waste. I said, "oh great, we're all going to eat tofu and beansprouts?" I told her that I was pretty sure they'd be eating pizza in hell, so maybe that's where I'd rather be, if we're just talking about the food. The good thing is, she and God knows I'm kidding.

The conversation got me thinking, though. What do I think heaven will be like?

When I was a little girl, I remember asking my mother if my teddybear, Cuddles, would be there. Her response was something along the lines of, "you will have EVERYTHING that you need in Heaven." To a six year old girl, Cuddles the bear is a definite need.

I think Heaven is going to be much like my ideal version of "smalltown USA" around the turn of the century. Everybody knows each other and has time to stop and visit. There are no HOV lanes, no traffic jams and everybody either walks or rides a bicycle everywhere. I imagine that, like the movie, What Dreams May Come, you can choose to look different in Heaven, if you'd like. I might like very much to be a little girl again.

I imagine blocks of little farmhouses with little shutters and window boxes and streets lined with trees. I imagine town squares with little shops that have lots of window dressings. I imagine a general store with hard wood floors and long, glass display cases.

I would like to live next door to my grandparents, both of whom are already in heaven. My house would look very much like the house in which I currently live, except that the floors would all be real hardwoods and would stay clean. Heaven isn't going to be hot (obviously) so I want white curtains with battenburg lace that will move with the breeze that comes in open windows. I'll have screen doors that never have to be locked.

In my yard, I'll have all of the gerbera daisies that I tried and tried to grow here, but failed. I will have bushes of big purple hydrangea and a vegetable garden that never has to be weeded out in the back. In the afternoons, I'll sit out on my front porch, in a tall wooden rocker and enjoy a nice visit.

There will, of course, be church. Every night. That's how we'll finish our day.

The bible talks about the singing in heaven and how spectacular it will be. I imagine some of the singing to be a lot like the Concordia Choir's version of Rene Clausen's Magnificat. Just stunning.

Jesus will come to dinner and say the blessing and Jeremiah will help in the yard. David will come over and will, while we're sitting on the front porch, sing some of the Psalms.

And Cuddles the bear will definitely be there.

That's what I imagine heaven will be like.