My Heavenly Bucket List

When I get to heaven, after meeting Jesus, my family, and friends, I have a bucket list of people I would like to find. I understand that eternity means time won’t be an issue, and I like that. No deadlines, right? Okay, you can groan on that one.

Enoch: Wow! This guy walked with God so perfectly, he stepped right into glory one day. I want to hear about the details of his friendship with God. I believe God desires to be close to all of us, and Enoch must have been a remarkable man to have developed such a strong friendship in the early days of humanity.

St. Paul: Growing up, I thought Paul was a little “judgmental” and hard on people. But eventually, I realized he was the complete opposite of that. I understand that once he got knocked off that horse, he walked with God as very few of us have even dreamed possible. And, speaking of walking, if Paul had had an iWatch, his monthly exercise goals would have been off the charts and probably accomplished within a few days. Additionally, he was passionate, fearless, tenacious, and humbly focused on Jesus.

Julia Ward Howe: On November 18, 1861, a highly-gifted and well-respected poet, Julia Ward Howe, wrote the lyrics to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” That night, Howe was pondering someone’s suggestion that she convert the song “John Brown’s Body” into a fighting men’s song. This conversation took place during a public reviewal of troops near Washington D.C. Then she went to bed as usual and slept soundly until, according to her own words, “I awoke in the gray of the morning twilight; and as I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind. Having thought out all the stanzas, I said to myself, ‘I must get up and write these verses down, lest I fall asleep again and forget them.’ So, with a sudden effort, I sprang out of bed, and found in the dimness an old stump of a pencil which I remembered to have used the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.” Since then, this powerful hymn has inspired America and influenced culture in small and large events throughout our history. My personal favorite rendition was performed by Andy Williams at Bobby Kennedy’s funeral in 1968, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGEZUJGODRI I would love to meet Howe, not only for composing these famous lyrics, but also for being such a powerful voice in a time period that rarely gave women such honors.

Gertrude Hobbs (Biddy) Chambers: Her husband never wrote a book in his life, but Biddy took shorthand notes of his teaching sessions and compiled My Utmost for His Highest posthumously, This classic, self-published devotional has inspired millions of people since 1924. Good for her! I love that book, and I want her to know that I know how that got done. Until she met Oswald Chambers, people addressed her as “Gert.” Since he had a sister also named Gert, he gave his wife the name B.D., short for “Beloved Disciple.” In time, B.D. evolved into Biddy. Allegedly, her shorthand speed was about 250 words per minute. As someone who writes shorthand, I am incredibly impressed by that. After I visit with her, if he’s around and hoping there’s no such thing as getting star-struck and tongue-tied in heaven, I’d like to meet Mr. Chambers, too.

George Washington Carver: We all owe this genius a hearty thank you for 300 botanical applications of the peanut as well as many other products from clay, seeds, and sweet potatoes. But what I especially want to discuss with him is his process. Although he did not create the peanut, we know from his journals that he did faithfully seek God’s wisdom for his science research. In fact, he woke up early every morning at 4 a.m. and walked through the woods to commune with God Who “revealed His secrets” to him. At the time, cotton crops were depleting the soil, and Carver introduced ways to make peanuts profitable not just for the profit but to help save the agricultural economy of the South. Carver wrote, “The Lord always provides me with life changing ideas. Not that I am special. The Lord provides everyone with life changing ideas. These ideas are quite literally a treasure from the Almighty. It is up to each of us however, to choose and dig for the treasure.” To that, I say, “Amen, dear man. Thank you!”

Erma Bombeck: Popular 20th century essayist and humorist. I remember reading her work and seeing her on television. She was truly a funny human being. Additionally, however, a lot of people may not know that she was also a woman of faith. Hanging in my office is a plaque with a quote from her: “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would have not a single bit of talent left and could say, “I used everything you gave me.” Laughter is a great gift to give people, and she chose to use that gift about as well as anyone ever has. Additionally, she excelled as a writer and was a bi-weekly guest on Good Morning America. Her three weekly columns appeared in 900 newspapers, and most of her 15 books were best sellers. She did all this even though she suffered from kidney disease from the age of twenty and battled breast cancer. When I meet her, I would like to discuss her career and ask her if she had any funny stories about life in heaven.

Of course, these are just a few of the people on my list. I’ll share more in a future blog. But in the meantime, think about Carver’s words, “The Lord provides everyone with life-changing ideas.”