Four years ago this summer, I, along with 40 others from the Beltline Church of Christ out of Decatur, Alabama, took our first mission trip to a church to Houston, Texas. During this mission we would be taking on one week of a ten-week-long summer program, helping the “little buddies” keep up their reading level as well as expanding their knowledge of the Bible. The program is called Impact Houston, and it is generated out of the Impact Church of Christ.
My first year there I was placed in the 1st grade class and met an adorable little girl named Ximena (ha-men-a). I quickly learned that Ximena was well above her grade level in reading and knowledge (both in secular material and of God’s word). Ximena was a small Hispanic girl who would always pronounce my name “Wee-lee-am”. We became very close, which made leaving difficult because I was never sure if I would see her again.
I did see her again; actually, I saw her for three more years to come. It became a traditional event that our group would take them on a field trip to skating, the iMax theater, or a combination of the two. It was a time for us to be “big buddies” to our “little buddies.” Each year was very special in its own ways, but this year would leave me with a memory that I will never forget.
At Impact, we were responsible for bringing sack lunches for everyone with us to eat, which meant we had to make a Target run in the mornings for drinks. A few others and myself made that run this year, which meant we were a few minutes late getting to Impact on Monday morning. For those of you who don’t know me, when I get in the middle of a task, I tend to shut the rest of my world out and become very one track minded; this morning was no different. I was at Impact this year to be the videographer, which meant I would walk in every morning with multiple backpacks of gear as well as stuff falling out of my hands, hurrying to make it to our “office” as we would call it. On this morning, imagine that and the extra drinks we had to bring in.
Walking in the door, finally, I was beaming toward the office, when I heard this small voice with a tremendous amount of excitement yelling, “Wee-lee-am! Wee-lee-am!” Immediately, I knew who it was and that everything was right again. My little buddy Ximena was there waiting on me and found me before I had to remind her who I was. Luckily, she was standing outside the office door, so I dropped my stuff and wrapped her in a huge hug that lifted her feet completely off the ground. When her feet were resting back on the ground she proceeded to tell me, “Last week they told us we were going skating this week, so I knew you would be here!” Not only did she remember my name and that we were buddies, she remembered the things we did together. It’s the little things like this that make those 4 short days of mission so worth the 12-16 hour bus ride it costs us to get there.
Some day, we will all fall asleep here on this earth. The beauty of it? We will soon be opening a door with our hands full of sin, guilt, hatred, and anger to a voice even more excited than Ximena’s crying out “William! William!” It’s the voice of Christ who will be so excited to see us in heaven that he can’t hold back hollering for us and calling for us to come closer. He will tell us to empty our hands, place everything in the office, to which we will never see or be reminded of again. He will throw his arms around us, pick us up so high that our feet don’t quite reach the ground, and when we finally see his face He will tell us, “Father told me you would be coming today.”
You see, we may have a very small understanding of what heaven is actually going to be like, but I am certain Christ gives us small glimpses into it all throughout our life as long as we open our hearts and minds to see them.
If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
-Colossians 3:1-4
William Cook
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