Jesus Coming Soon

In Honolulu, there is a church with a large "Jesus Coming Soon" sign. As we near our departure from Christchurch Anna's reaction to the impending departure has shed some light on waiting for Jesus to return.

Anna understands the concepts of past and future, but in no further detail than that. Tomorrow, two days from now, a week from now, a month from now, even a year from now are all “tomorrow” in her vocabulary. So, over the last several months she keeps asking, “Are we leaving tomorrow?” Now that we are within a week of leaving and we can show her the days on the calendar, she is beginning to grasp the idea of future more clearly. We have told her, “It will be ten more sleeps before we leave”. Still, some days she gets up and asks, “Are we leaving today?”

If only I could look forward to Jesus’ return like this – knowing that it is “tomorrow” but not knowing how far ahead and waking up each morning asking, “Are we leaving today?”