Heaven

"Earth, I think, will not be found by anyone to be in the end a very distinct place. I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell: and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of heaven itself."

"Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists...If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others do the same."

C.S. Lewis

Recently I was thinking about the commandment to become as a little child, and started paying more attention to children. My favorite thing I noticed was their excitement for everything. Christian practically hyperventilated at his birthday party, beginning with the unveiling of the funny looking birthday cake, to the song sung in his honor, to the dollar-store action figures he received. With each new discovery came giggling and gasping and too-tight hugs around the neck of each family member.
I decided I wanted to start paying more attention to, and getting more excited about, little things in life. And as I have, I've realized that I'm living in my very own little corner of heaven.
I see heaven in moments spent in my backyard, under that big old tree
I see heaven in the time I have to look up at the stars
I see heaven in my family
I see heaven in my friends
I see heaven in the smile of a previously struggling missionary
I see heaven in the way I feel when my hand is held
I see heaven in the mountains
I feel heaven as a stream washes over my feet
I feel heaven when I am able to put one foot in front of the other
I feel heaven as thoughts are whispered to me from there all day long
          'you are beautiful'
'I love you'
       'remember me, what I did for you'
                           'you can do it'
           'notice him'
                       'thank you'
    'you're welcome'
'try again'
              'help her'

Haha.