Five am at SeaTac Airport waiting for my flight to Atlanta and then onto San Jose Costa Rica.

We are headed to a bi-annual reunion of mining engineering graduates from 1973 Nottingham University. My husband is among that group. Since 2013, they have met up every two years. They gather along with their wives for a week or ten days. They reconnect in different spots around the world.

This morning as I wait for the flight, I sent my girlfriend a text that simply says, “I am on the other side.” It is a message we have sent each other for years when traveling.

It’s meaning is that we have made it through security and we’re on the other side waiting for our flight. Everyone knows security is one of the biggest anxieties when you travel.

Once I told her that one day, hopefully, we can send that message to each other when we cross over from this life to the next. Truly that is going to be the ultimate cross over to the “other side.”

On that day, we will not escape the bonds of earth in an airplane. Instead, we will ascend in a blaze of glory into the heavenly realms.

How much I want to be able to share that moment with my friends and family. To have the ability to say, “I am safe. I made the journey to the other side. There is no more anxiety. No more uncertainty. Only love and acceptance.”

I wonder will I stand in line waiting my turn to see the agent at the kiosk? Or like so many others have theorized, will my family be there waiting for me? Will St Peter meet me there? Will I be showing him my boarding pass and ID? Or will he simply look for my name in the Book of Life? Will he then say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”

It will be a time when I will finally meet my God, my Lord and Savior. A time when all my doubts will disappear, when all the paths my life has taken me will become clear. A time of joy, and eternal rest.

But for today, I have made it through security with the hundreds of other people traveling to a thousand designations. We have all made it to the other side this day. I pray we will all make it on that day before the Lord as well.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ ~ Matthew 35:34-40 NASB

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