Tents

This week I attended the funeral of a friend of mine. She was just a few years older than I am, which always makes you start reminiscing. From my own experience, and others who have told me, your body starts creaking, snapping, popping, and your metabolism seems to all but stop working. The body I once had has rearranged itself, and I sometimes don't even recognize it. You are probably wondering where I am going with this! (grinning) Back to the funeral--the pastor referenced 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.  That tent expands and contracts through the years. It gets wind blown, rained and snowed on. The tent's original fabric gets tattered, dry, torn, patched up, it shrinks and gets threadbare, and sometimes it just collapses. The rigging needs reinforcement and some parts need to be replaced. Would you rather live in a tent or a permanent home?

Our earthly bodies are the tents in which our soul live. Our bodies grow from the time we are born until we are in our early twenties. Sometimes our bodies grow because we are gaining weight, having a baby, or taking a medication. Other times, our bodies shrink from weight loss, chemo, or just plain getting older. We weather storms in our lives-sickness, death of a family member or friend, wayward children, loss of jobs, divorce-but we make it through. Just like a tent, we may have to be patched because of bodily injury. We may need new hips or knees, or have to have back surgery, or even deal with amputation. We may feel so tired that it seems we can't take another step, threadbare. Our skin eventually gets dry and wrinkly, and shows scars. Sometimes our scars don't show. There are times that we simply want to give up, collapse. 

We have to keep in mind that our earthly tents WILL be destroyed. We will die, and our souls will be set free to live in an eternal house in Heaven. We won't hurt, crack, pop, be tired, or feel like collapsing. I will get a permanent home. Praise God for giving us a hope and a future!