Shortly after Ty was born, a web guest posted a note in our guestbook about his name. The author mentioned Ty Pennington and wondered if we had named our Ty with him in mind. At that time, I had no idea who Ty P. was.

I have now been educated and I LOVE Extreme Makeover Home Edition. While I did NOT name my child after Ty P., I can understand why one would. What a tender heart he has and I hope that my little Ty will be a man of such compassion.

The last few episodes of Extreme Makeover though have been a spiritual experience for me. Ty P. designs with love. I am a Home and Garden Channel fanatic and I see a lot of remodels but nothing on HGTV ever compares to what Ty P does. Ty P. goes above and beyond the call of duty. He is extravagant. He “one ups” everything. He puts loving touches where ever he can. He adds things that are totally unnecessary but bring such warmth and joy (ie. carosels in the backyard and tree houses:).

I will likely never have a home that compares to even the tiniest fraction of a Ty P. home. My outlandish dreams for my dwelling place far surpass my pocketbook and always will. I am so ecclectic that I often don’t even know how I would design my dream house because my tastes vary widely. I am learning to be content with just what God has given and though my home is not large, I am learning to love it.

HOWEVER, this Extreme Makeover show is reminding me each week to have HOPE in the eternal. Do you know that God is building a place for us? For those that belong to Him, He has promised to build us dwelling places of His design. Wow! What an incredible thought!

Can you imagine what God would build if He were dreaming big for you? There is no “if” involved. He say’s he IS.

I bought a book called “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn a few months ago. If you picture heaven as a place where the children of God sit around bored playing harps and singing endlessly…you are mistaken. You are missing something precious! Randy paints an incredible and very REAL picture of heaven based on what scripture actually say’s about it.

When I bought the book it was because heaven is much more real to me since 10 of my children are now living there. You start thinking about eternity much more often when you lose the ones you love. You ache for a precious reunion but it is so hard to visualize what this reunion will look like.

While Randy may take some liberties in places (which he admits), the majority of what he writes is scripturally defensible and very accurate. If you are curious about this, I would suggest you get your hands on a copy! Great read!

If you haven’t learned to dream big…today is the day. When you take time to get to know your creator, you will find that He dreams enormous dreams and he places us at the center of them. Not because of our merit…because it brings him pleasure. Why? Because. I can’t answer a question like that but Ephesians chapter 1 say’s that he created us for His pleasure. You’ll have to ask him why someday:).

As for me, I don’t need earthly treasures but I am excited to see what my daddy God will dream up for me. Some may think it arrogant to wonder what the God of the universe will do for me personally. I see it as perfectly normal. I know I am my earthly daddy’s princess and whether I deserved good things from him or not, I knew he lived to shower his daughter with blessing. My daddy God did not promise to extend those blessings to me while on earth (though sometimes he does)… but He did promise that He is working on my eternal home. The more I know HIS heart, the more excited I am to see his workmanship. I am sure I can’t even imagine that big. Can’t even imagine….

Here is a link to the book if you are interested.