Turtlenecks, Umbros and For ever and ever

Forever is a long time. I remember my first steady girlfriend. Her name was Mary and I, at the time, thought I would get married to her. She was the first girl that I actual would choose to hang out with over my best friend Tommy. I remember the first time I told her that I loved her. She was a sweet girl. I thought I would love her forever. But what does forever mean anyway? It meant to me as a 11 year old sixth grader that I would feel butterflies in my stomach and my heart would beat a little faster every time she was around for at least a few decades. I remember when "I love you" got played out, so we moved on to "I'll love you forever". I remember a few weeks later when that got played out so we moved on to "I'll love you for ever and ever." Well a year later Mary and I got played out with each other. She started dating Clay, the cool new skater kid from California and I started a one and a half year stint as Fort Mill Middle School's most eligible bachelor (actually I couldn't get a date; probably because of my interesting clothing selection which included turtleneck sweaters and umbro soccer shorts together in the same outfit...what was I thinking). Well my bachelor streak ended and after that I told many girls that I would love them forever until I met Beth in college. I have been striving for over 10 years now to actually put the phrase "I'll love you forever" into actions everyday since. Forever is a crazy thing because I have seen my forevers fade with each passing year. I encourage you as 2008 approaches to look back at your 2007 forevers and be reminded that though many of them have already faded that "forever" is a real thing. That "for ever and ever" is a real thing. In my reading this morning Revelations 5:13 a prophetic (statement about the future) vision is illustrated. John sees a vision of every creature (including you and me), every person, every dog (even my beloved Sebbie), every bird, every fish, every single creature in Heaven, on the Earth and under the Earth singing together to Him who sits on the throne. To the Lamb (Jesus) we will sing, "praise, honor, glory and power for ever and ever!" I pray that 2008 for all of us will be a year in which we desire the eternal God more and more and that we are focused on eternal things, forever things, like His word, His promises, our relationship with Him and the lives of those around us.