This past weekend I spent several hours with some very successful authors who shared insight into the craft of writing. The online conference, “Resonant Themes Summit,” was offered by Story Embers, a group whose goal is to guide and encourage Christian storytellers. The summit included topics such as “Crafting a Deeply Moving Theme,” “Essential Components of a Protagonist Character Arc,” and a “Panel Discussion on Tricky and Sensitive Topics.” To any Christian writers out there who entertain themselves fashioning stories, I would highly encourage you to look into the Story Embers services.

Each of the twelve sessions showcased published Christian authors who very clearly spoke to the topic they were assigned. I found myself eagerly waiting for the next session to begin, all while still mulling over the content of the session just completed. I have several pages of notes to help me more fully digest the information that was given by all the speakers.

The most exciting part of the summit? Two of my granddaughters also enrolled in the conference! These two girls have enjoyed playing with words for as long as I can remember. Every once in a while, one of them shares with me a short story she has written. What an honor it is to be one who is entrusted with a little part of their souls as they reduce their awesome imaginations to words on paper!

My husband and I spend nearly every evening at a small nursing home just a block from our house. Both of our mothers are residents there now. The two ladies have much in common: one woman’s child married the other woman’s child, twice! Brother and sister married sister and brother. Think about that for a minute! The two women and their husbands built a community church together and financially upheld it until it grew to support itself through their giving as well as many other families’ giving. The two women and their families took summer vacations to the Colorado mountains together. When their children left home, the two couples still vacationed to Colorado together!

One mother suffers from dementia. The other mother fell and broke her hip and has needed assistance with daily living since then. The nursing home is aware of their history and kindly seat the two women together during free time. One of the staff noticed that the women often hold hands, and she put together a sweet Facebook post about the value of friendship.

During our evening visits with our moms, one of them almost invariably tells us, “I’m ready to go home.” Other listening ears might interpret the comment differently than my husband and I understand it. Those women are not meaning that they want to return to their “home” at a certain street address. They want to go Home — to Heaven!

They are both weary of life, one age 89 and the other age 85. They have served their Lord for many years and know He is faithful to provide for them. But they both also have loved ones waiting to greet them in Heaven, and they long to join them! We sometimes are tempted to feel sad when our moms express their desire to “go home,” but how can we cling to them here when we know the joy they will experience when their bodies and minds are made whole again and they are greeted by their precious Savior?