Pumpkin Butter

…They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. Revelation 3:4 NIV

Pumpkin butter sounds like an exciting addition to any dessert tray. Or even a delectable temptation to aid in adding on that winter layer right around our middle. I can almost imagine the smell of the warm toast on which I would be spreading that pumpkin butter. Its plate would sit next to my cup, filled to the brim with steaming hot chocolate. That sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

But alas, in this instance, pumpkin butter is the color I have chosen to paint my new kitchen. My new kitchen happens to be surrounded by amazing trees on the outside and pale wood-trimmed edges on the inside. This color feels right in its warmth and hue. It will be an excellent addition to my transition to this home.

As I pondered at four o'clock this morning how to transition from my pumpkin butter kitchen into my jazz-themed den with red as a primary color there, I found my mind wandering to what might be the color of the walls in my mansion in heaven. I smiled at the infinite possibilities; the deepest ocean blues or the most colorful sunset reds? How about the transient, yet the pearliest of pinks? I giggled aloud at this roaming of my mind and how unimportant that contemplation was.

Somehow, I think the only color that will matter when I am there is the incredible white of the robe I will get to wear. Undeserved, yet mine all the same. This whiter-than-white robe will be given to me by a Father from a heart of love that my own emotion can only imagine. It will be a robe to cover all my sins, all my shortcomings, and all the things I didn't want anyone in my life to know about or thought about, or longed for. It will be a white that makes me giggle, reflect, and be grateful. This white will symbolize clean and done and perfect. Me. Perfect and standing there in front of the Creator of all there is. Me, in my white robe.

White: pure, whole, joy-filled, peaceful. I never pondered white being all those things until now. I'll just bet that within this white of whites, a fantastic color will be put there just for my pleasure. Every time my Father laughs out loud with me, the white will shine, and the colors will laugh too. What a robe, what color, what a day that will be!

For now, however, my fascination with pumpkin butter remains. After I apply it to my walls, I may even have to create a recipe for it. Yes, a new recipe, although temporary, is in order for those chilly October nights by the fireplace eating hot toast and pumpkin butter while watching a favorite movie. Those nights will sustain me as I'm wrapped warmly in a perfectly white blanket. Until…

Pass the Grace,

Jan