Heaven's Reluctant Soul

                                    
    Heaven has many souls, but the most precious of all are God's new souls.  They are cared for by angels and kept in Heaven’s nursery.  The nursery is tucked away in one of Heaven’s most peaceful valleys, not far from the great mansions of the Saints. The nursery is surrounded by endless lush green meadows, filled with tall sweeping trees and beautiful winged wildflowers.  Within the nursery, all the wondrous blessings of the Father can be found.
    “Isn't it a most beautiful day?” giggled Lela, a small dark-eyed girl, as she chased a winged flower around.
    “Of course it is.  It's always a nice day in heaven,” replied Jimmy, who was standing at the gate looking beyond the nursery to a long narrow path.
    “What are you waiting for?  Come on let’s play!”
    “I can’t… not today!  He said He would be here today, and I don't want to miss Him!” answered Jimmy, as he stared down the path. “You know, He promised to tell me something!”
    “What?” asked Lela.
    “I don't know, but I do know it's something wonderful!”
    “Well, wonderful or not, I'm not going to waste my time waiting for Him.  I'm going to go and enjoy this beautiful day and you should do the same,” said Lela.  As she hurried away, leaving Jimmy alone.  He could see all the others running about playfully.  They all knew He was coming today!  Why weren't they waiting for Him too?  Instead, they frolicked about as if nothing mattered.  Well, it mattered to Jimmy.  He would wait as long as it took.  He turned back to the path but there was still no sign of Him.
    “Hi, are you waiting for Him too?” asked a small girl with big eyes and long golden hair. Several others, who had accompanied her began to gather around Jimmy.
     “Yes.  Do you know Him too?” he asked curiously.
    “Everybody knows Him, but few are willing to wait for Him,” answered the big-eyed girl.  “I have been here a long time and I know that soon it will be time for me to leave, and I refuse to miss a moment that I can spend with Him before I must go.”
    “Why do you have to leave?  Where are you going?” asked Jimmy.  He had never heard of anyone leaving the nursery.
    “Sooner or later we all must leave the nursery,” she replied, “I have seen many go before me.”
    “Yes, but then you will be among the saints, and can be with Him whenever you want!” exclaimed Jimmy.
“Not right away.  First I must go to Earth for a lifetime.” she answered sadly.
    “What's Earth, and why are you so sad?” asked Jimmy.  He looked at all the others to find they all shared the same feelings as the girl.
    “Earth is a place where you must go to prove yourself and if you fail, you can never come back to heaven.”
    Jimmy thought for a moment.  He didn't like the sound of that.  What was this place called Earth, and what was this thing called fail?  “What does fail mean?” he asked.
    The girl started to answer, but just as she opened her mouth, one of the children cried, “He’s coming up the path!”  A moment later the gate swung open, and all ran to meet Him, and he bent down on one knee to greet each one.  Jimmy wasn’t the first to greet him, but still he felt His arms reaching out to him with a warm hug.
“How are my little ones today?” he asked with a gentle smile.
    “We are all content, Jesus.  Is the Father at peace?” replied the big-eyed girl.
    “He is my dear,” replied Jesus. “So my children… what would you like to do today?  I know, let’s go skip stars in the heavens.  Or perhaps you'd rather ride a rainbow,” suggested Jesus.
    “Oh yes,” cried a tiny child, who was standing wide-eyed  gently tugging on Jesus’ robe, with the others in agreement.
    “Would you like to skip stars or would you all like to ride a rainbow?” asked Jesus playfully.  Everyone had a different answer, and each one cried out his or her choice.
    “All right, all right dear little ones.  We can do both,” he said, gently brushing the hair out of the eyes of the wide-eyed child.  Then as Jesus stood up, all the children held fast onto him and they all walked back to the nursery together.
    But Jimmy was not among them.  He was too upset by what the big-eyed girl had said to him to enjoy anything, besides Jesus was far too busy to tell him the wonderful thing He had promised to tell Jimmy.
    “Come on Jimmy, don't dilly-dally or you will miss out on all the fun,” called the big-eyed girl.  But Jimmy didn't pay any attention to her and took his time even more.  Before he knew it, Jesus and all the other children passed through the gate of the nursery.  To Jimmy's alarm, the gate closed behind them, shutting him out.
    “Oh no!” he cried as he quickly ran to the gate.  “Come back, come back!” he cried as he reached the now closed gate. He had really done it this time!  He not only missed out on all the fun, but he had also managed to get himself locked out of the only place he had ever known.  What was he going to do now?  How was he going to get back inside?
Suddenly a thought came to him and a smile crossed his lips.  If he wasn't in the nursery and he blended in among the saints, how would they find him to send him to Earth?  He didn't know what or where Earth was, but he knew if it meant leaving heaven he wanted no part of it!
    He quickly looked around to make sure no one had seen him, and then hurried down the path toward the great hall.  There would be a large group gathered there and he would have no trouble getting lost among them. As he walked, he began to feel more relaxed about his decision and felt quite confident that he was doing the right thing.  “How important could a lifetime on Earth be anyway?” he asked himself.
    In the distance he saw a large group of children playing with such wonderful things he couldn't believe his eyes.  He ran off the path toward the children.  This was great!  He didn't know the saints would be young as well as old.
    “Hi,” he said as he reached a boy near his own size.
    “Hi yourself, where did you come from?” asked the boy.
    “Oh, I came from a little ways down the path,” replied Jimmy.
    “Have you been back long?” asked the boy.
    “Back?  Back from where?” questioned Jimmy.
    “Earth of course, what's wrong with you?” the boy sneered.
    “Oh yeah, Earth.  Yes I've been back for a long time!  I can hardly remember what it was like.  Tell me, has it changed a lot?” Jimmy asked, hoping the boy would tell him enough about this place, so he would be able to make others believe he also had been there.
    “I don't know.  When did you die?” asked the boy.