I had reason to pause the other morning as I grabbed the handle to the freezer side of our refrigerator. My attention had been drawn to the various pictures of my wife that I had taped to the door. The thought that caused me to stop in mid- reach, was the startling reality that, even after six years, she isn’t here anymore!
I can’t say that a week has gone by during this time, in
which I haven’t found myself physically turning around, after getting up from
bed in the morning… and fully expecting to see her waking, sleepy smile in the
place she occupied next to me for 48 years!
But my initial shock and pang of sadness doesn’t last very long as the
Lord gave me some scriptures to stand upon for situations
just like these.
A week or so after her passing back in 2018… after the
kids had returned to their homes in California and Oklahoma, I found myself
in the quietness of our empty home, praying at the kitchen table. I had peace and comfort in knowing EXACTLY
where she was, but asked the Lord for a picture of how she was physically (or
spiritually?) doing in her new home.
After a few more moments of prayer, I sensed a leading of the Holy
Spirit, instructing me to look at and combine the scriptures located in
Ephesians 1:4 and Psalm 16:11… and, rather specifically, to do so using my
favorite God’s Word © Bible translation.
So, after I reached to my right where my Bible just
happened to be sitting on the table near me, I read the two scriptures and
couldn’t help but to break out into a big smile as I gained a clear and concise
picture of my sweet wife in heaven!
After encouraging the church to “Praise the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,”* Paul went on to instruct them in
Ephesians 1:4 saying:
“Before the creation of the
world, He chose us through Christ to be HOLY and PERFECT in his
presence.”
While, many years previous to the Pauline Revelation, David
had written while thanking the same God for not abandoning him during the
various trials and tribulations of his life declaring,
“You make the path of life
known to me. Complete JOY is in your presence. Pleasures are by your side
forever.”
And without a second thought, I grabbed my trusty
mechanical pencil, underlined the verses, and scribbled some notes in my Bible
and then wrote on my note page for the day… that my
“Piper is NOW: HOLY,
HAPPY and PERFECT in the presence of Almighty God!”
…and I have held that picture of her vividly in my heart
every day since that experience!
Over the years since then, I
have also made those two scriptures to be a part of my daily scripture
confessions that I declare first thing every morning. But an interesting thing happened one morning
not too long after we moved into our home here in Oklahoma. I was confessing these verses, while
rehearsing the picture that they always present to me of her walking through
the beauty of heaven with that big, warm, encouraging and loving smile on
her face, when my tongue sort of tripped and I added to my confession that,
“Piper is NOW: HOLY, HAPPY and SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUSLY
Perfect in the presence of Almighty God!”
Well… I must say that this threw me a curve and I stopped
and said aloud… “Isn’t that kind of sacrilegious to add that word… if it
even is a word… to the Word of God?”
And without missing a beat, I immediately recalled all the various
adjectives and double adjectives that Paul is well-known for using when he
spoke of the goodness of God in his various epistles… and I thought… Well…
you know what? I bet if Paul was
around today… that he would also be tempted to use “SCRUMDIDLYUMPTIOUS”**
in his modern descriptions of God’s goodness!
In fact… I think that it
perfectly describes Piper’s life in heaven… because it is the nature of God to
be perfectly SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS in everything that He does for
all of us… whether we be in heaven or on the earth!*** And I especially like the word SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS
because, to me, it gives the connotation of being so good and enjoyable
that it spills all over you and you get MESSY in order to fully
enjoy it!
A good example would be my mother’s absolutely delicious Crab
Cioppino that she used to make on special family occasions. There was NO WAY that you could
fully appreciate and enjoy the wonderful richness of the combination of crab
legs, various kinds of fish and the thick Italian sauce without it dripping
down your face, down your hands… any many times… on your shirt as
well… even with the special Crab Cioppino bibs she always had
on hand!
Therefore, if you’re anything like me… then you also want
to live life with the SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUSNESS of the goodness of
God dripping down from all over you! Am
I right about that?
It gives me instant peace and a spark of JOYFULL
HAPPINESS when I look over at the empty other half of our bed in the
morning, or at Piper’s piano that she’ll never play again or at the memories of
our life and family that are hanging from picture frames around the house, when
I remind myself of how Holy, Happy and SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUSLY
Perfect**** she is in her new home in heaven.
And likewise, I am JOYFULLY
reminded that it is also the way that our heavenly Father thinks of us who are
still on this earth… and wants us to be in return… JUST LIKE HIM…
with the remnants of His Grace-filled SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS goodness-like
sauce dripping from us!
Now that’s a picture you won’t soon forget! Have a great weekend, share HIS special sauce
with those around you and keep asking yourself…
“WHAT AM I EXPECTING TODAY?”
*Ephesians 1:3 – God’s Word ©
**And YES! It is a
word that the Oxford Online Dictionaries defines as a food that is extremely
tasty; delicious or of a person who is very attractive! Also check out: https://www.thekitchn.com/scrumdiddlyumptious-is-now-recognized-as-a-word-in-the-oxford-dictionary-236166
***Remember Jesus’ prayer to the Father
concerning His followers in Matthew 6:10 where He prayed “Thy kingdom come, Thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
****I understand that the
word translated “Perfect” in this verse is defined as “being without blame” due
to Jesus’ shedding of His blood during His sacrifice on the cross that cleansed
us of our sins… but to me… Piper was made Perfect as the love of my life (as I
think every husband should feel about his wife… and visa versa)!