The old couple got in the car and set off to go to the store. Something told them both that this might be a different trip than usual. At the first light, someone ran the red light and went straight into their car.

No one would miss them too much, their friends had long gone where no one could follow. Now it was their turn, instantly they were gone.

"I receive Jesus as my Savior and Lord," they had prayed so many years ago. They had followed in the way for all those years and still believed in Him to the day of the accident.

The light was beautiful. A friendly face came to them, the being had wings and was beautiful as well. "Take my hand," he said. "Come with me to your new home!"

His wings glowed with heavenly light. All kinds of colors appeared to be in them: red, yellow, pink, purple, blue. Rachael said "How did we get here? Are we okay?" and John said, "My dear, I think we have gone to the other side!" Then he asked the angel "Is it true, or am I just dreaming?"

The angel said gently, "No you are not dreaming, you are really in heaven now. This is only the beginning of your new life and adventures here."

The scenery was gorgeous. Hills of flowers surrounded them on every side and a soft musical voice came from each flower. They were yellow and orange, red, pink, and purple and many more colors and each was singing in a soft voice to Jesus. They smiled at John and Rachael as they went by and some said "Hello! welcome to heaven," and then kept singing. John and Rachael heard a rustling noise and turned around. "What was that?" Rachael said. "It sounded like a squeak."

"Squeakum, squeakum, squeak! I am Nut the hamster! Remember me from your past." She smiled at them. "I come to take you to see Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain for you and for all mankind."

"Oh, Jesus," said Rachael. "Oh, Jesus," said John. "We have been waiting for ever to see Him."

"Well, He is right around that hill," said Nut, "and He is eagerly awaiting seeing you both. Everyone who comes here gets a royal welcoming from Him."

A whole variety of squeaks came from the bushes and before they knew it Rachael and John were surrounded by hamsters! There was Snowy, Cranberry, and Wally, and Walnut, and Nana (Banana), and Curry, and Nut was their mother. There was also Willy, and Surf, and Freida, the other hamsters' friends. Then they heard a big meow and a woof and Muffin and Tammy showed up behind another bush and some flowers. Muffin was a big brown and white cat with one white lip. Tammy was a black dog with floppy ears and a curly tail. Tuxie the cat bounded up after them. "We'll all go with you to see Jesus," she said. John and Rachael were overjoyed to see their pets again and petted them abundantly.

"Okay," said John, "lets go and meet Jesus." Somehow there was a lump in his throat; this was a moment he had been waiting for all his life since becoming a Christian.

As they walked over the hill, Georgie and Molly the guinea pigs, and Lump the hamster, Lizzy the lizard, a very cute white mouse named Irving, and Abraham the budgie joined them. Oh, and Bluie, the goldfish.

There were some well loved stuffed animals come to life as well! Mooie the cow, and Bear, Girard, and Mr. Wiggles the bears, and Nadu the horse. Stuffies poured out from every corner of heaven it seemed to meet them- Wally the walrus, Whiskers the walrus, Tux and Linette the penguins, Pooh, and Antique Bear, and thousands more poured out from every corner. Soon John and Rachael were enveloped in stuffie hugs and giggled themselves silly. What a wonderful welcome they were having.

Soon they saw an outline of a man on a horse. He seemed familiar somehow, but different than the pictures they knew of him. The man on the horse was Jesus Christ, their Savior. He got off of His horse, and stopped to look at them for a moment. Then, with all His heart, He ran toward them and gathered them up in His arms. "You are safe Home," He said. "Welcome Home."

Bijou the stuffie jumped up and down! "You're Home," she squeaked, "You're Home!"

John and Rachael fell down at the feet of Jesus and worshipped Him. He accepted their worship and then lifted them up. He saw their tears and wiped them from their eyes. "It's all over," He said. "There will be no more sadness or crying forever more after this. You are free to enjoy all that Heaven and I have to offer. I love you and want you to be happy here."

All the stuffies jumped up and down. "You're home! You're Home!" they yelled. "Let's go have some fun!"

Jesus turned from them and said "Anytime you want me or need me, I will be right there for you. I am going to the palace now to do some of my work but you can follow me and take the tour of my palace and see all the wonderful sights."

There was a huge owl, who said his name was Featherwise, who came to lead them on the tour. "Who, who! I love you and want to show you all the sights! Come with me!" he said.

John and Rachael and the whole menagerie of animals followed the wise owl. One thing they noticed was that everyone they came in contact with was young. None of the animals were old, and all the stuffies looked like new, except for the lines of love that had been worn into their bodies were still there.

They walked happily over the emerald green grass, which swayed gently in the breeze. On one side were some flags and a path wore off to the right. Featherwise took this path and said "First we are off to see the angels! We'll go this way!"

They kept walking and soon saw a most incredible building made of crystal. It had been carved in thousands of facets so that the whole inside was full of rainbows. Next to it was a palace, made of every kind of jewel and stone, wood and silver and gold. That was the palace where Jesus had gone, and they said their goodbyes for now. All of Heaven was full of the Spirit and light of God however and they didn't feel lonely for Jesus as He went to do His business.

They walked toward the crystal building, and oohed and aahed at the beauty of it. Everywhere inside it were colorful angels- dressed in white but reflecting rainbows of colors. They flew in and out of the palace, which had an adjoining door inside of the crystal building. They flew into the palace, got a prayer request, and flew back into the crystal building to coordinate how it would be answered. Every time they got a new prayer request, a rose would appear in a special garden outside of the crystal building. It was an immense garden, filled with every kind of rose in existence. Prayers are so precious to God, He wanted to commemorate each prayer with a flower.

When the angels were ready to help the prayer get answered, they flew outside of the crystal building and BINK! disappeared. They were able to appear instantly in the earth realm and that is why they disappeared out of heaven. The angels were all very diverse as to how they looked. Some looked like ordinary people, some looked like warriors, some like babies and small children, and others like heavenly beings you can't describe in human terms. They all radiated God's love and were strong in faith that the prayers of His people would be answered.

Next, Featherwise said "Let's go visit the babies." So once again, they all followed him down the path. "What babies are we going to see?" said Rachael. Featherwise who'ood and ha'aad a bit and said, "All the babies that died, dear. We have a huge nursery in Heaven where they all live."

Sure enough, there was a small sign to their right that said "Little Angels Nursery" and a small building nestled on some white puffy clouds stood in front of them. Babies were everywhere, each attended by a nurse, or someone feeding them, or an angel. Angelic babies played with the human babies, which was the cutest thing ever. Some of the babies were being fed and had faces covered with banana or apple puree and happy smiles underneath the food.

"I have someone for you to meet," said Featherwise. "Isaiah, the prophet, meet John and Rachael."

"Isaiah, sir, it's nice to meet you," said John. "How are you?"

"John, Rachael, it is nice to meet you too. I know that Rachael had some favorite passages that I wrote and I believe John did too."

"Oh yes, Isaiah, I did love some of your writings a lot. Some of them we even sang about."

"Now you can see how it all came true," said Isaiah. "Look over there." He pointed to a mountain that was close to the nursery. At the base of the mountain, there was a mountain lion and a small sheep nestled together, resting. "They are at peace," said Isaiah. "That is what God always wanted for the animals, peace."

John and Rachael and Isaiah played with the babies for awhile and then Featherwise said, "We shall be moving on now. I wanted to show them the garden." "Oh, the garden," said Isaiah. "They will love that."

"Make sure you tell Adam and Eve hello for me!"

"We will," said Featherwise.

So the little group turned down a rocky path to their left. There was a large group of parrots joking and flying over their heads. "What's it going to be, Eddie?" said one of the parrots. "You going to drop them off a waterfall, or are you going to be good?" The other parrot looked sheepish, as he had opened up his claws to grab one of them. "Well you know it wouldn't hurt them if I did drop them off, but they don't know that yet. I think I will try it after all!"

Eddie the parrot swooped behind John and picked him up with his claws. "Hey," screamed John, "put me down! Don't you know I could get hurt!" Eddie laughed, "Don't you know where you are yet? You can't get hurt here!" And with that Eddie dropped John over a gorgeous waterfall. John just opened his arms and lo and behold, he was flying over the waterfall!

"I want to try that!" said Rachael and one of the parrots picked her up and dropped her as well. She spread out her arms and flew down to the ground where John was. "Wow, that was fun!" said Rachael.

They were in a beautiful area, where the green color of the trees was dazzling. Shadows and highlights gave depth to the surrounding trees, and there was a jungle of growth around them. Jewel bright colors flashed up and down with the flowers on vines and bushes all over the place. Rachael said "Oh look!" and there was a little monkey hanging from the nearest tree. "Hi," he said. "Do you want to explore with me? I can show you all around the garden." He showed them fountains, and footpaths, herbal gardens, Japanese gardens, and pools of water with lilies in them. "I can also take you to the beach, but first let's go meet Adam and Eve," he said. He led them down a small path to a little house in the woods. It was a neat little house, with a white fence around the edge of it. There was every kind of flower growing there and birds feeding off of little dishes placed in the garden in the front yard.

The monkey ran up to the front door and knocked. "Adam, Eve. I have some people for you to meet," said the monkey. The door opened and the couple came out to meet them.

"Hello, hello, hello!" said Adam, in a jolly tone of voice. "Hello," said Eve. Her beautiful, long hair sparkled in the sun. John and Rachael said their hello's and they talked for awhile outside. Eve got them some passionfruit tea, and some cookies and they sat outside getting to know each other.

"In heaven," said Adam, "you can get to know people better and better because we never leave and we never fight and have arguments anymore."

They really enjoyed their time together. Adam and Eve offered to take them on a tour of the jungle in their area, and they saw farms filled with fruit and vegetables, and animals eating, and beautiful jungle plants everywhere.

Adam and Eve introduced them to some of the village folks, and each person they introduced them to was a great pleasure.

Then, Adam and Eve took them back to their home and gave them a huge lunch, with sandwiches, and soup, and vegetables, and fruit, honey and bread, and confections. One great thing about heaven was that you never ate too much and you never gained weight! After that, just for fun they took a nap outside under the trees.

John woke up to a finger poking him in the face. It was a monkey! He chased the monkey around for a while and then came back.

"Rachael, do you want to see the palace now?" John asked her. "Yes, that would be great," she said. "Featherwise, would you take us on the tour of the palace?" she said. "Adam and Eve we have had the best time with you. I hope we get to see you often in the future." "Thank you," said Eve, "We have enjoyed you very much too."

Featherwise got up and dusted himself off and flitted his feathers around. He was still sleepy from the meal but was excited to get going to the palace. It was his favorite place.

The palace was sparkling with silver and gold; every corner reflected the light. As John and Rachael looked at the walls, they saw tiny gemstones embedded along the walls, seashells in the windows and moldings and mother of pearl for the doors. Huge diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds and other gemstones made up stained glass type windows all along the front of the palace. The effect was beautiful, with the smoothness of the walls and the glowing windows. The roof had many skylights in it so the light could come streaming through and illuminate the inside of the palace.

They came to the door and a guard opened it for them. The first thing they saw when they went inside was a huge waterfall with a wheel in it. Lovely creatures, iridescent and graceful, flew around the water and the plants that grew in it. There were water lilies, and cattails and other water plants in the waterfall. Flowers grew all around the edge. In front of the waterfall was a large podium, at least eight feet wide, with a book on it. Rachael looked at the cover of the book- "The Book of Life," it said. "Lets see if our names are written in this book," said John. So they looked, and sure enough, their names were in there. They rejoiced that their names were in the Book of Life.

Featherwise said "I would like to show you the whole palace, beginning with the throne room. Are you ready to meet God?"

They nodded, knowing this was a special moment. They turned to their right and there was a door open. "Is that the throne room?" said Rachael. "Yes," said Featherwise. "Let's go in."

So they made their way slowly, bowing, into the throne room. The image of God was so astounding, they drew their breath. He was everything they ever hoped for, glowing with life and love and bigger than life. He was seated on a throne with a footstool that looked like the earth. He was Himself, and the Holy Spirit sat next to Him and Jesus sat next to Him on the other side. Yet it was obvious they were all the same God.

"Well, my children," said God. "I finally get to meet you face to face. I have longed for this day your entire lives. Come up here and sit on my lap."

So they climbed up on His lap, along with some animals and stuffies and hugged him. They worshipped Him and the Holy Spirit and Jesus all together.

This was Heaven at last.

They spent hours in the throne room pouring out their hearts to the Lord. All the questions they had were answered finally in that room.

Then they decided to go and see the rest of the palace.

There were rooms full of precious jewels, seashells and flowers, fancy woods and stones. All different kinds of animals lived in the rooms and roamed free wherever they wanted to go.

They were exotic animals, and regular animals, like elephants, and peacocks and some animals that didn't exist on earth.

There were waterfalls and rivers in the rooms of the palace and the sound of the water was beautiful. All different kinds of fish and sea animals were in the water and all different kinds of water plants.

Then, after exploring these rooms for awhile, Featherwise led them to a very special room, perhaps the most special after the throne room.

"This is the viewing room," said Featherwise. "You have to put on these special suits to enter. This is the only place in Heaven where you could possibly be hurt but only if you don't wear these special suits. They are full of faith, hope and love in their material so you will not be affected by any sadness or negative emotions while you are wearing them." So John and Rachael put on the suits, and opened the door to the viewing room.

Featherwise had on his own special suit and entered first. "This room is the only place in Heaven where you can see the earth and what is happening on it. God asked me to show you this room so you could see something on earth." Featherwise pushed a button in the wall and lo and behold the curtains opened and the wall became a giant viewing window. The view came into focus and they could see their church, where a lot of people were gathered at a memorial service. The Pastor was giving a eulogy of the couple John and Rachael who had recently passed away in a tragic car accident. Naturally everyone was sad but there were four adults there who were sadder than the rest. These were their sponsored children. Featherwise said "We asked you here so you could see how much you were loved and how much your sponsored children loved you. Do you want to pray now that they will be comforted?"

Rachael said "Yes. Lord in Jesus name I pray you would comfort our sponsored kids and let them know we are in heaven now and happy." And as she finished praying, they saw angels coming into the church room and touching their sponsored kids on their shoulders to comfort them. All four of them smiled and looked at each other and one said to the others, "I know they are in Heaven now. I think an angel told me so." Featherwise touched the button on the wall again and the curtains closed. "If you ever need to see Earth again, we will bring you back to this room to view it," he said.

The days ahead were full of beauty and joy for John and Rachael. They met with their parents, their friends and all the people who had gone ahead of them. It was like one long reunion after another. There was no need that wasn't filled and no hope that didn't get realized. All their hopes and dreams came true in Heaven.

THE END

It's In the Grey

It is not in the black or the white that we learn to live But in the grey
The grey of an early morning when I see you sleeping Or the pink of a sunrise not quite perfect but still beautiful
Or the soft blue acceptance of a loved one's humanness
And the gold of the love
That covers all sins
That we make our lives stand
Brick by brick
In the soil of His love
And in the presence of His glory.

Jewels and Colors

Jewels, diamonds, rubies, amethysts and all others reflecting the light
look closely can you see yourself in their facets?
for all time God has been reflecting himself in your facets
a flash of love, a ray of peace
Hope glowing in your colors
Come close to the source and see the mighty colors of His love reflecting themselves in you.

Shame No More

I couldn't exactly point to it or even find it inside myself
the reason everyone looked the other way
the reason I was ignored, and shunned
finally I gave up looking and decided I WAS the reason,
I WAS the shame
then later I decided not to be the shame anymore
and put it back on the ones who gave it to me
I gave it back to them and renewed my innocence
I forgave them and renewed my life.

He's Roly Poly,
He's my Bear,
My loving pup,
My friend everywhere.
He follows me
Wherever I go,
And waits for me,
When I'm too slow.
He's all the faithful
friend I need,
When I am sad,
Or if I bleed.
Roly Poly
Loves me true
He's my dog
And I love him too.