In the past 36 hours, as I, with all of you, hoped that RH marked the time for the rapture...I kept getting the same image in my mind.

It was the image of various children...some standing on porches, some waiting on couches - hair combed perfectly and wearing extra nice clothes....all waiting for their Dad to come and pick them up.

If you've ever seen a child waiting for their Dad....who doesn't make the appointment for one reason or another...you already know it's a prety heartbreaking thing to witness.

There is a set of brothers in our extended family. When they were young, their Dad was very absent from their lives....but he would call and make plans...and many times, these little boys would be dressed in their best clothes, hair still wet and combed perfectly....sitting at the dining room table, waiting for their Dad. They would be so excited and so anxious....and something would almost always come up and he would not make it for the visit. It was a really sad thing to behold...the disappointment in these boys.

During the past day and a half, when these images kept appearing in my mind....I felt like God was impressing upon me the truth that He knows how much it breaks our heart when we've got our hopes up for a specific timeframe.....like little bitty kids, with our hair combed perfectly and our best outfit on...jittery and nervous at the dining room table while we wait for our "Dad" and hope that this time is it. And I felt....I don't know that I can articulate it very well...that He wanted me to understand that it breaks *His* heart a little bit too, each time, to watch us go through the anticipation and then the disappointment.

I was down on my knees this morning (and believe me, with the sciatica issues I'm dealing with, that was NO small feat! LOL!), praying, "PLEASE send Jesus for us today"....all the while feeling though, that we were going to have to wait a bit longer. So with that, I also prayed for everyone who is a Watcher...for Him to hold us up, and hold us together, and help us to face our hearbreak if RH wasn't "it".

I know that none of this changes our reality...but I just wanted you all to know that I feel strongly that He does CARE how it breaks our hearts a little bit more each time we get a bit focused on a particular timeframe, only to have to accept that we'll have to wait some more. I do not believe that He is indifferent to our sadness regarding our waiting and disappointments. Mostly...it was the first time I ever had it impressed upon me that it tugs at HIS heart...for us to be "all dressed up and ready to go".....all the while knowing that He has to make us wait even longer still.

Forgive me for not being able to wrap these thoughts up nicely at the end...but I just wanted you all to know...that I really do believe He does not take our childlike hope and subsequent sadness lightly. I felt He really wanted us to know that.

I hope that helps somebody here...because I know a lot of people are feeling pretty deflated after today.

Ruth, you have greatly blessed me, sister.
Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.

Nicole xo

thank you...

can't help but be reminded of the parallels i experience between the cycle of hope and excitement and nervousness and disappointment over and over again in dealing with infertility for years and the cycle of watching and waiting for the Rapture just this past year and a half mostly and things getting worse in the world which actually ignite more excitement of this has got to be it and then us still being here...

the great thing is that no matter what happens in our lifetime, we can be assured of the "hope that does not dissappoint us" that we WILL spend ETERNITY with our Lord and Saviour Who loves us!  that is one thing we can know with certainty, so we can focus on that....this life whether we are raptured or die is soooo very short compared to forever...we must focus on Him- set our minds on the things above- and think on things that are pure and good and enjoy each little blessing that comes our way from Him while still here in this lifetime- and serve and obey Him in any way he asks, to further the Kingdom while we still have a chance to...

thank you for the reminder that He cares about the emotions we are feeling...thankfully, He is not absent from us even now...if we have accepted Him, what Jesus did for us, and asked for His forgiveness, we are sealed by His Holy Spirit and He is already one with us in spirit!  thankfully, we are not waiting alone...He is waiting with us...for His perfect timing...