What A Homecoming!

Where will you retire when you retire? Many of you may not be concerned about this right now. You are young or middle-aged. My 'ed-vice' is to think about it now. Here are some options for retirement cities in the United States. 

You could live in Phoenix where: 1. You are willing to park three blocks away because you have found some shade for the car. 2. You've experienced condensation on your posterior from the hot water in the toilet bowl. 3. You can drive four hours in one direction and never leave town. 4. You have over one hundred recipes for enchiladas. 5. The four seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and “Are you kidding me?”

Or you can live in Los Angeles, where: 1. You make over $250,000 a year but still can't afford to buy a house. 2. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway. 3. You know how to eat an artichoke. 4. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party. 5. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will take to get there rather than how many miles away it is. 6. The four seasons are: fire, flood, mud, and earthquakes.

Or consider living in New York City, where: 1. You say, "The City" and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan. 2. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin on a map. 3. You think Central Park is "nature." 4. You've worn out a car horn. (if you even have a car) 5. You think eye contact is an act of aggression.

Or live in Wisconsin, where: 1. You only have four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco. 2. All Halloween costumes fit over parkas. 3. You have more than one recipe for moose. 4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with fewer than eight buttons. 5. The four seasons are: winter, still winter, almost winter, and “Are you kidding me?”

Or you can live in the deep South, where: 1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store. 2. "Y'all" is singular, and "all y'all" is plural. 4. Everyone has 2 first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Mary Sue, Betty Jean, etc. 5. Everything is either "on yonder," "over yonder," or "out yonder."

Or, how about Colorado, where: 1. You carry your $3,000 mountain bike on top of your $500 car. 2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home, and so he stops at the daycare center. 3. A pass does not involve a football or dating. 4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a ponytail.

Or consider Florida, where: 1. You eat 'dinner' at 3:15 pm. 2. All purchases include a coupon of some kind, even houses and cars. 3. Everyone can recommend an excellent dermatologist. 4. Cars in front of you often appear to be driven by headless people.

No matter where you live in retirement, there will be challenges. Those challenges are so that we will appreciate our final retirement place and home. 

Jesus told His disciples and us, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come back to get you.” John 14:2-3 parts. Heaven will be heavenly for us. Finally, we can live in the place where God designed all humans to live. 

The streets are paved with gold, so there are no more road construction delays and detours. You have your own place, paid in full. There are no bad views or property taxes. You will never drive the morning commute again. There will be no Kleenex because there is no more crying. And no more pain pills. No more jails, disease, pain, or hospitals because there’s no sin in heaven. You will never go through a TSA line again. And if you live in Metro-Phoenix now, you won’t have another summer to live through. 

There’s a place for you if you make a place for Jesus, the Mansion Builder, in your heart. Here’s what Annie Herring of the Christian singing group 2^nd Chapter of Acts has to say about heaven in her song Mansion Builder.  

“I've been told that there are those who will learn how to fly. And I've been told that there are those who will never die. And I've been told that there are stars that will never lose their shine. And that there is a Morning Star who knows my mind. And I've been told that there's a crystal lake in the sky. And every tear from my eyes is saved when I cry. And I've been told there'll come a time when the sun will cease to shine. And that there is a Morning Star who knows my mind. 

So why should I worry? Why should I fret? 'Because I've got a Mansion Builder who ain't through with me yet.” Heaven is what we spend our lives trying to find. 

No matter where you are spiritually, what you've done in the past, or what you're doing in the present, there's a future retirement place for you called heaven. Earth has no sorrow that heaven can’t heal. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you have a Mansion Builder who's not done with you yet. And what a homecoming it will be.