Nine months. It is natural to think of time in terms of years, but once you become a parent, it seems that nine-month increments take on new meaning. In that span of time, new life is created, nurtured, celebrated and born.

Since Nathan died, I am keenly aware of this day each month. A cloud of melancholy drifts overhead on the 23^rd. Later this evening, it’ll dawn on me again, and I’ll have flash-backs of zoning out in the car while Lane drove us to Magnolia that dark and cold night.

Much has changed, yet much remains frozen in time in my memory. Nine months. Babies have been conceived and born since my brother died.

It’s hard for me to talk about my heavenly desire sometimes, even with other Christians, because we get caught up in our day-to-day ruts and don’t think much further than our Outlook calendars. Yet, there is a piece of my heart and soul that aches so much – today, especially – to step into Forever.

We have been given a promise that life doesn’t end with our last breath. As believers, this day-to-day journey of flesh & blood is just a dress rehearsal for the Eternal Broadway. This achy, tired, stretch-marked, overweight, sagging body is a costume. Like the grass metaphor in the verse below, our season here on Earth is limited, but oh, the glory that awaits us!

^“You have been born again, and this new life did not come from something that dies, but from something that cannot die. You were born again through God’s living message that continues forever. The Scripture says,
‘All people are like the grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass dies and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord will live forever.’ [— Isaiah 40:6–8 ]
And this is the word that was preached to you.”

1 Peter 1:23-25 (New Century Version)