This week I’ve been recovering from the sudden absence of Dad’s first born and his son. My oldest, who hasn’t been back in Raymondville for about 21 years, visited us, along with my grandson for about a week and a half. We had a great time, but he had to go back to Indiana to work and the little one to school. Perhaps I can share more about our time together at another time, but being only a few days from Easter I want to share the similarities between this trip and the one we all will take at the end of our lives.

The plane was to leave at 5:30 a.m. on Good Friday, and as my son stood in line waiting for his boarding pass they announced the final boarding call and for them to head to the depature gate for their flight. Later in the morning I called to see if they had arrived at their final destination and was told that they had already arrived safely. Family had met them and welcomed them upon their arrival, and had escorted them to their home, which had been kept safe and prepared for their arrival.

The whole idea got me to thinking about our final depature. Have we prepared for it? Are we ready to go? Do we have our ticket ready for our final destination? You know whenever there is a depature, then there must be an arrival. Who is going to escort us on our final depature? Better yet, who is going to meet us upon our arrival. Will we be met by loved ones who have arrived before us, or by the One who has prepared a place for us? Will we arrive at our intended destination, or will our destination be somewhere we had no desire to go? Now is the time to make our flight plans and make sure they are final. You don’t want to be put on standby and then end up missing your flight.

You might think this is a little strange idea for a column, but it sort of just evolved before me as my son was sharing the details of his flight. Maybe this is just for you, maybe you haven’t made plans for your final destination yet? If not, you better get busy, tickets are still available, but they are almost all booked up, and there will be no more flights. So get your ticket confirmed, and stay ready to leave on a moments notice...listen for that final call, your final destination depends on it.