No more pain. Oh…and the streets of gold.

That was Mandy’s response when I asked her what she’s looking forward to about heaven. We talked about bodies that work, hanging out with Jesus, being able to ask all the questions we want. (“Why did God create mosquitoes?” came up on the list.)

She’s certainly getting weaker. She was in and out of sleep as we talked. But when she was awake, the conversation was really good. Her dad and his wife stopped by for another quick visit before heading back to there home in Idaho. There was a lot of hand holding, I love you’s, and kisses on the forward. As I watched them walk out of the room I could help but wonder if that was the last time he would see his daughter alive. I thought about Sarah, Caleb, and Hannah. And my heart broke a little bit.

Mandy said she was afraid. I asked what she was afraid of. She said that she was afraid she wouldn’t go to heaven. She had asked to take communion and be baptized on Saturday. We talked about Jesus. Who He was, who He claimed to be, and what she believed about Him. She said, “Oh…I believe Jesus is who He claimed to be and did what He said He did.”

So I picked up her copy of the The Message and read these words from I John 5:

My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion.

“Mandy, you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt. And Jesus said that He said what He said so that we would have peace instead of fear. He knew that we would have trouble. But He reminded his disciples – and He reminds us – that we don’t need to be afraid, because He has overcome the world.”

Her response? She laid her head back, grinned and said…

“I feel much better now.”

Oh Mandy…how much better you will feel very, very soon.