Safely Home

I'm reading a new book... and even as I type that, I realize that I've forgotten to put it in my "What I'm Reading" thingamajig on the side there. I'll do that as soon as I finish this post so you can have direct access to this wonderful novel. Anyway... I'm actually done with the book and reading it to my husband. He reads slowly, bless his heart, and I'm trying to get him done with it so my dad can take it with him to Poland this week. :P (Honey, if you're reading this, I love you even if you can't finish a book in 4 hours lol)

For anyone who reads a lot, you know that most novels are just pleasurable ways to pass the time. To be entertained for a few hours, to get caught up in the symphony of words, to lose yourself in the world created by a gifted author and fueled by your own imagination. And then, every so often, there comes a book that changes your life forever. This is such a book. At least for me. I had no idea when I began reading the first page that I would be openly weeping by the last six chapters. The good kind of weeping that comes from your heart being touched so deeply, the kind of weeping that comes from a sweet reminder of how intensely your King loves you, the kind of weeping that overflows from a heart touched by the tenderness of His grace.

The book addresses an issue that I've never before encountered in my fiction reading-- the persecution of Christians in China. The lives of the faithful who labor in secret house churches, sharing the name of Yesu and His love with people who cross their paths, no matter the danger in which this places them. They love Jesus with their lives and countless thousands of them have endured beatings, imprisonments, untold horrors, and even death. And yet, they stand firm.

And our King watches from His throne, weeping for His children.

He waits to welcome them home, standing in their honor as he did for Stephen, the first martyr of my faith, as told in the book of Acts. I will never again be able to read that story without feeling the tug of my heart, without seeing the mental image of my Savior standing and applauding for His children who have lost their lives for His sake. Never again will I be able to read of Christians dying for their faith without picturing in my mind's eye how Jesus bends to embrace them as they kneel before Him. The wounds inflicted by their earthly enemies healed by the tender touch of their Heavenly Shepherd. The shackles that bound them on earth lie in meaningless rubble at the feet of their Lord. Atop their heads are crowns of gold and instead of their tattered prison garb they wear a white robe.

And together with the martyrs that have gone before them--Stephen, the apostles, Paul, Graham Staines and his two young sons, David McCallum, Jim Elliott, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Roger Youdorian, and many others that remain unknown to us on earth--they cry out across the heavens. "How long, O Lord? How long until You judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"

And the King, with tears in His eyes, looks down on His beloved servants and answers, "My righteousness draws near. But you must wait a little longer. .. until the last of your brothers is killed for his faith."

My apologies for the lack of 'polish' to this blog post. I had in mind an entirely different direction to take and found myself here, unable to write anymore, unable to organize the thoughts still swirling in my mind and heart. I may still write what I had intended to write, but until then... please go find yourselves a copy of "Safely Home" and read it. Then pass it on! I was told not to read it until I had time because I wouldn't want to put it down. While that proved true, I would also add this warning: Don't read it until you're ready to be changed because once you read it, you will never be the same.