The Sign of Homecoming: A Testimony of Mercy

“She made it home.” Mom is there, whole and happy, surrounded by generations in the peace of Paradise — the house on the mountain, the porch of forever.

When Paradise Answers an Unworthy Prayer

The morning of my mother's passing, I found myself wrestling with a fear I had not experienced when my father died, nor when my wife's parents departed this life. Though I had sensed their spirits in thoughts and dreams, this time was different. Mother's final days had been a walk through shadow lands, torment that made me question whether she had truly crossed over into the rest promised to those who die in Messiah.

I knew the words Yeshua spoke: "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah" (Matthew 12:39). I had no right to ask. I deserved nothing. Yet in my grief and concern, I asked anyway, asked for assurance that she had reached Abraham's bosom, that she rested in paradise with Yeshua, awaiting the resurrection and the glorious transformation promised to all who belong to Him.

"Precious in the sight of YHWH is the death of His saints" (Psalm 116:15). I clung to this promise, yet my heart needed to know, needed the confirmation that she had indeed arrived safely home.

The Paradise of Memory

As I sat in the quiet of that morning, an impression came, vivid and tender. I remembered the Thanksgivings of my youth, when the whole clan would gather in the mountains near Leslie, Arkansas. The old house with its wraparound porch overflowed with laughter. Cousins ran wild through the hills. The smell of turkey and pies filled the autumn air.

But at the center of it all was Mother. She made sure everyone was fed, everyone was loved, everyone belonged. That old house with the wraparound porch, it was home. It was peace. It was, in its own way, my childhood paradise.

I did not yet know why this memory pressed so insistently upon my heart.

The Dream at Dawn

My sister Phyllis called that night as I was preparing for bed. "I forgot to tell you something that happened right around the time Mother passed," she said.

Our sister Brenda had called her at five o'clock that morning, just as she had called me, to tell us Mother was gone.

Phyllis had tried to reach her daughter Shelly but received no answer. When Shelly returned the call a short time later, she said, "Mom, I missed your call because I was asleep, and I had the strangest dream."

"I saw Grandma and Grandpa," Shelly told her mother. "They were with Great Grands Ross and Ethyl, at the old house in the mountains. The one with the wraparound porch. They were all happy and smiling, like Grandma had just arrived and they were greeting her."

Then Shelly described the moment that unmistakably answered my morning prayer: "Grandma turned and waved at me. She was smiling, and she said, 'I'm OK! I made it here!'"

Two or Three Witnesses

"By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established" (2 Corinthians 13:1). The Father, in His mercy, did not leave me with only the internal witness of the Ruach HaKodosh, though that alone spoke peace to my troubled spirit. He confirmed it through the dream of my niece, a dream that came at the very hour of Mother's passing, showing the exact place that represented home and peace and belonging in my own heart.

Shelly could not have known what that old house meant to me. She could not have known I had been praying for a sign. She could not have orchestrated the timing, her dream interrupting her sleep at the precise moment Brenda was calling to tell her that Grandma had died.

This was the Father's kindness, answering a prayer I had no right to pray.

Abraham's Bosom and the Cloud of Witnesses

Yeshua told the thief beside Him on the cross, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). This is the promise to all who die in covenant faithfulness: immediate rest in His Presence, in the place Yeshua Himself called Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22).

This is not yet the resurrection. Paul reminds us that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of Elohim, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable" (1 Corinthians 15:50). The glorious transformation, the resurrection body, the fullness of the New Covenant promise, these await the return of Messiah, when "the dead in Messiah will rise first" (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

But paradise is real. The communion of the saints who have gone before is real. They are part of that "great cloud of witnesses" who surround us (Hebrews 12:1), resting in Yeshua until the day of resurrection glory.

Mother walked through deep waters in her final days. The enemy sought to torment her as she crossed through the valley of the shadow of death. But the Shepherd's rod and staff comforted her. The table was prepared before her in the presence of her enemies. And she has arrived, not just somewhere vague and spiritual, but home, greeted by those who went before, in the place where everyone is fed, everyone is loved, everyone belongs.

The Eternal Wraparound Porch

What Mother created in that old house in the Arkansas mountains was an echo of something eternal. She was, in her own way, living out the heart of covenant hospitality, the pattern of the Bridegroom who prepares a place for His Bride, who sets a table, who ensures that all who come are welcomed, nourished, and loved.

"In My Father's house are many rooms," Yeshua promised. "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). The old house with the wraparound porch was never just about wood and nails. It was about the spirit of welcome, the heart of belonging, the embrace of family. And now Mother has arrived at the true House, the eternal home, where the Bridegroom Himself ensures that everyone is fed, everyone is loved, everyone belongs.

The wraparound porch of my childhood has become, in Shelly's dream, an image of paradise itself, the place of gathering, of reunion, of joy. Ross and Ethyl were there to greet her. My father was there. And Mother, arriving home at last after her long walk through shadow, turned and waved: "I'm OK! I made it here!"

The Mercy of Signs

"An adulterous generation seeks for a sign." I am part of that generation. I am unworthy. Yet the Father gave me this sign anyway, not because I deserved it, but because His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), and because He knows the frame of our dust and remembers that we are but flesh (Psalm 103:14).

He gave Moses a sign at the burning bush when Moses protested his unworthiness (Exodus 3:12). He gave Gideon a sign when Gideon doubted (Judges 6:36-40). He gave Hezekiah a sign when the king's heart was troubled (2 Kings 20:8-11). Not because these men deserved signs, but because the Father is compassionate and knows what we need.

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:11). I asked, though unworthy. And He answered, specifically, tenderly, undeniably.

Awaiting the Resurrection

Mother rests now in paradise, but this is not the end of her story. "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). When Messiah returns in glory, when the resurrection trumpet sounds, Mother will be clothed in her glorious, imperishable, immortal body.

The old house with the wraparound porch was home. Paradise is rest. But the resurrection is transformation, the full inheritance, the complete restoration, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when heaven and earth are joined and the dwelling of Elohim is with men forever (Revelation 21:3).

Until that day, Mother rests. She is surrounded by the cloud of witnesses. She is in the care of the Shepherd. She has made it home. And she turned and waved to let us know: "I'm OK! I made it here!"

A Word to Those Who Mourn

If you have lost someone who walked through torment in their final days, if you have feared that the enemy's assault might have somehow prevented their safe passage into paradise, hear this testimony. The Shepherd does not lose His sheep. The Blood of Messiah is sufficient. The promise of paradise is secure.

"I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Elohim in Messiah Yeshua our Master" (Romans 8:38-39).

The shadow lands are real, but they do not have the final word. The valley of the shadow of death is dark, but the Shepherd walks through it with us. And on the other side is the wraparound porch, the greeting of loved ones, the smile of homecoming, and the eternal rest of paradise.

Mother made it home.

And so shall we all, who die in Messiah, when our time comes to cross over.

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Master from now on. 'Blessed indeed,' says the Ruach, 'that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!'" (Revelation 14:13)

Published by Ten Words Press A testimony of mercy, a witness of homecoming, and a reminder that the Father hears even the prayers of the unworthy, for His Name's sake and for the glory of His Son, Yeshua the Messiah.