My Title Backstory

Last week, on a chilly October day, we were invited by our son's teacher to visit with her mom who is battling cancer.  Entering her condo, we were enveloped with warmth; the entire place seemed golden.  The bedroom walls were painted pale yellow, and a plush beige throw covered the bed.  Resting against the pillows was a tiny lady whose gold silk blouse and aqua neck scarf perfectly complemented the gold, aqua, and green of her headscarf, and beautifully enhanced her deep brown skin.

When  we sat down, she sat up and began to bless us with animated stories.  Words poured from her as she described things she'd seen and done in her 60+ years.  Wisdom, too.  Her take on life and eternity was precious.

She's been explaining things to her 6-year-old granddaughter.  "Everyone has a day when we enter this world," she said.  "And we all have a day when we have to go back to Jesus.  God knows when that day is."  Her granddaughter recently shared these thoughts at a family funeral, adding an interpretation of her own:  "Everyone has to die sometime, or the world would be too full of people!"  Hmmm.  Out of the mouths of babes . . .

Then our dear sister went on.  "The way I see it, we have the breathing half" ~ she used her  hands to mark out a space in time ~ "and then we have the rest of the story" ~ drawing her right hand along a continuum to indicate infinity.  All of us in the room were stunned by this vivid portrayal of the fact that our story keeps going . . . even after we stop breathing.

I believe the Bible.  And it's pretty clear that "it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the judgement."*  We deserve to be punished for all God's laws we've broken while on this earth; and the punishment will last forever.  It's not a pretty picture.

But if we believe that Jesus took that punishment for us, then we get to live with God in Heaven after we die.  Our life ~ our story ~ will continue!

So I've decided to call my blog "The {Breathing} Half" to remind myself that this part of my life is just the beginning.  After I stop breathing (and only God knows when that will be), my story will still go on.  The best is yet to come!

* New Testament, Hebrews 9:27