Beyond the Sunset...

I just read Terry Esau's book, Be the Surprise. He tells about being stuck in a 25-mile-long "parking lot" on I-17 in Arizona.

He and a friend had their bicycles in their van. Since no one could go anywhere, they set off on their bikes for the head of
the line. People were out of their cars, visiting, playing guitar, even barbecuing brats in the back of a pickup.

On their way back, someone called out, "Did you see the accident? We heard that a girl didn't make it."

That sobered Terry and his friend. By then, people were moving to the western edge of the highway, silently enjoying a gorgeous sunset. Terry watched too, thinking, "Maybe this sunset is for the girl at the front of the line."

I thought of the night we got word that our friend Wanda was dying. We stood at our window, praying for her and her family, as the most beautiful sunset spread like a pool of molten gold across the western sky.

"Wanda's crossing over," I whispered to Hank. And a few minutes later, we received word that she had done so.

She'd reached the front of the line, and like the girl in Terry Esau's story, she now stands with her Creator, knowing that last sunset was really just her first sunrise in eternity.