Student of Time, Resident of Tomorrow

Back when I was in high school, I was given an assignment to write a poem. I can't quite remember the entire poem. Nor can I recall the specific writing guidelines given by the teacher, but I do remember a few aspects. It was supposed to be a poem about ourselves and we were to incorporate a description of us being a "student" and a "resident", as well as include our last name.

I snapped a shot of this seemingly deserted bus one day and as I considered an appropriate caption for sharing on social media, I randomly remembered a phrase of the poem from high school: "student of time, resident of tomorrow."

This bleak shot of a school bus stationed in a parking spot, reminds me that not every unsatisfactory journey has fully come to an end. Instead, I believe that time simply changes things and everything becomes new, once we choose to start up our engines again and progress forward.

This bleak shot of a school bus stationed in a parking spot, reminds me that not every unsatisfactory journey has fully come to an end. Instead, I believe that time simply changes things and everything becomes new, once we choose to start up our engines again and progress forward.

Maybe like me, you can look at your past and honestly say that you wouldn't want to go back there. Never to make the same mistakes again or to endure all the heartache and pain that you were forced to face. But I think if we can learn from yesterday and have hope for tomorrow, we really overcome all that we have been through. Maybe being triumphant through adversity and growing from experience, can be as valid or even more so, than experiencing life perfectly the first time.

The last line I wrote in that poem was my maiden name "Paradis", which is French for paradise. So, from what I can remember of the poem, it was: "student of time, resident of tomorrow, Paradis." I knew I was being symbolic when I wrote that line but I had no clue then, that I would actually come to the understanding of what Heaven really is and just how I could assure that I would end up there.

I fully believe we all have the capacity to be students of time, learning as we make our way through life, as well as residents of tomorrow, hoping for the best for the future. And because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, when we choose to place our hope in Him, we have the promise of an eternity in Paradise.

I fully believe we all have the capacity to be students of time, learning as we make our way through life, as well as residents of tomorrow, hoping for the best for the future. And because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, when we choose to place our hope in Him, we have the promise of an eternity in Paradise.

Heaven is our future dwelling place. A residency where there is no more sorrow of the past, no more repercussions for former mistakes, no statistics to try and rise against, no homes that feel like prison walls, no beatings, no fathers who walk away, no more teary faces hiding afraid. God has a perfect place for us in His Mansion in the sky and still, He has the hope of the growth here and now. Through the power of Christ who overcame death, we are able to rise up from all that we have gone through and believe for better days ahead.

"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14

Photo Credits: Angel MacReynolds Photography