Night was falling and the weather deteriorating as I began the long drive home. The snow that had been falling lightly became heavier. Gale-force winds soon whipped it into a blinding curtain in front of my car. Only intense concentration and prayer kept me on the road.

As the 21/2-hour drive stretched to 3, then 4, my muscles ached and my eyes burned. Never had home sounded so good! When I finally walked though the doorway and collapsed in a chair, I felt great relief.

Sometimes our journey as followers of Christ is like that snowy drive. We struggle through long days of hard work and difficulty. When disappointment and sorrow come, our thoughts go to those wonderful passages of the Bible that describe our home in heaven. It heartens us to think of entering the Lord's presence where we will abide forever.

C. S. Lewis wrote a wonderful allegory called The Chronicles of Narnia in which he describes the unicorn's first glimpse of heaven. The unicorn exclaims, "I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I've been looking for all my life."

In a small way, that expresses how we will feel when we reach our forever home.  — David C. Egner