Treasure Hunting

Yesterday I spent most of my free time (while the kids were sleeping) going through Daniel’s books. He had a great collection of resources: theology and doctrine, Christian reference, relationship building, family centred, apologetics, biographies of Christian missionaries, C. S. Lewis and Tolkien, and even many on juggling, magic tricks, and story-telling.

That crammed six-foot bookshelf (and the overflow throughout the house) was a microcosm of his many and varied interests. As a true home schooler, he loved to go to the thrift store and search through the book section to uncover books that could teach him something he wanted to learn. One of Daniel’s attributes I most loved about him was his constant quest to improve – himself, his systems at work, our family life, our home, etc. His initiative to strive for God-honouring progress in all areas of life was and still is inspiring to me. I think that quality was one of the major things that contributed to his far-reaching impact.

Daniel’s mom mentioned an anecdote to me this week. Over the years, she told her neighbour friend about Daniel, whom she never met, and many of the things he was interested in and accomplishing. The friend thought she was just another mom bragging about her son, as it seemed a little over the top. The friend came to Daniel’s memorial service and remarked to her afterwards, “You didn’t say enough!”

Going through the shelves, some of the treasures I found were his journals and Bible Study workbooks. Many of the journal entries I read were actually prayers. Reading how Daniel expressed his heart to God before I knew him, his desires for a wife, to make a difference, and to do more to bring God glory was wonderful to reflect on, though bittersweet. The sorting process was definitely emotionally draining for me, but good.

Two things he wrote I wanted to share with you. They were in a Bible Study workbook on prayer from around ’04-‘06. One of the chapters taught on Heaven and then encouraged writing down reflections and then a prayer based on the chapter’s theme. The first part was the statement: Write down two things you think will be special about heaven, and that make you happy you are going to be there. First, Daniel circled one of the author’s answers: ‘Heaven will be a place of perfect peace with none of the cares of life that frustrate us.’ The answers he then wrote were:

1. Being able to have a face to face, growing relationship with Jesus (and not fail Him anymore).

2. Being able to worship God with a pure heart, mind, and soul.

And then this is the prayer he wrote:

It's hard to express how comforting and amazing it is to read about his hopes and dreams about Heaven, and to know through the truth of God's Word and the comfort of the Holy Spirit that his dreams are being far exceeded right now. Praise God.