As a preteen boy, my family had a small 7-acre farm on the Little River in Blount County, TN with a little farmhouse that had a red tin roof. We used to go there in the evenings and on weekends to garden, fish, and enjoy the pleasant sights and sounds of the bucolic setting. One day while all 4 of us were in the garden, we heard the sound of tires on gravel. We couldn’t see the car yet because the road berm prevented it, but you could see the dust boiling. Then as the car rolled into sight, I was surprised to see the face of a cute girl from my class peering out the back window. I wasn’t sure what to do with the weird warm anxious emotions that were new to my preteen self as the car slowed to round the curve just past our riverside farm. So, I just stared, waved, turned red, and then quickly, awkwardly looked down to keep hoeing potatoes. The rush of adrenaline, dopamine, and cortisol flooded my whole body, bringing butterflies to my stomach when the car stopped, backed up, and pulled into our driveway. My head was spinning, with both glee and agony. My parents, my sister, and I went to greet our guests who were apparently just out for a drive. I couldn’t figure out what to do with my arms and legs. All four appendages had seemingly lost any connection with my brain. Our parents talked and we tried not to look at each other. Unable to stand still, I kicked the dirt and picked up a rock to throw at the huge sycamore tree just a few yards away. I missed the tree, so my sister laughed at me, the girl giggled, and my face turned even more red. After a few moments our serendipitous guests climbed back in the car and drove away. And just like that they were gone, but after that, every time we went to the farm, I listened for tires on gravel and looked for dust boiling into the air, anticipating who may stop in our driveway next.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that literally everything anticipates the day that those who belong to Jesus will be set free from our fleshly awkwardness and mess ups and fully embrace the blessings and bliss of our Spiritual freedom in Christ. He says, “For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.”(Romans 8:19-23 NLT-SE)
Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!
