I have been blest to have many cousins who love and serve the Lord. We share a common legacy of coming from generations of believers, including godly grandparents and parents, who taught us and modeled for us true Christian living. We love eachother and pray for eachother.
One of these cousins in particular is a great encourager to me. Unfortunately, since she lives half way across the United States, we seldom can be with her and her husband. But e-mail provides us a way of sharing what is happening in our lives. She has a sensitive spirit and has a way of sharing special words whenever we need them.
Recently, during the pandemic, her 101 year old father was taken home to glory. During these times we shared our thanks for the way God had given us special parents. Once I mentioned how much I still missed my parents who are also in heaven and at times I just wished that I could again pick up the phone and talk to my dad once again. He was a man of wisdom.
A few days later she replied and shared a very old hymn which she found in one of our grandmother's hymnbooks which dated back to about 1900. My godly grandmother had experienced the death of her father when she was growing up and then the loss of her husband during the swine flu in 1917. She knew much about heaven. Even though I can find very little about this hymn, I have decided to share the words with you this week. Maybe you too will be encouraged by the words of "They're Waiting For You".
I did find that the words are attributed to Johnson Oatman Jr. (1956-1922). His father was an excellent singer, and it always delighted the son to sit by his side and hear him sing the songs of the church. Oatman was later ordained as a Methodist Episcopal minister, but his pastoral work was confined to local churches, as he worked full time in the retail and insurance industries. He wrote lyrics for 5,000 Gospel songs including "Count Your Blessings", "He Included Me", "Higher Ground", "Holy, Holy, Is What the Angels Sing", and "No, Not One".
The music was written by Hart Pease Danks (1834-1903), a musician who specialized in composing, singing and leading choral groups. It is said that he wrote over 1,000 songs. He is best known for his 1873 composition, "Silver Threads Among the Gold" which sold over three million copies. Having later sold the rights to the song, he died penniless in a boarding house in Philadelphia.
Now I don't pretend to know what our loved ones in heaven are really thinking about. Are they too busy with the glories of heaven to be thinking about us? Do they even know what we are doing? I have heard speakers who think they do remember and care about those still on earth. But I don't really know.
What I do know is that someday I will see Jesus and that is a thrilling thought. And some day I will also see my parents, my brother, my grandparents, my uncles and aunts, and my many close friends who are now in glory. What a thrill that will also be. All of this has been promised by Jesus to those who have accepted Him as their personal Savior. Have you done this? Do you have this promise of a future life in heaven?
I don't know if my friends in heaven are, as this song says, waiting for me, but I am encouraged by this possibility. But I do know that I am waiting in anticipation of that reunion.
1. How many dear friends have passed on from my sight,
To mansions over the foam;
Safe now in that city of love and of light,
They're waiting for me at home.
Waiting for me, Watching for me,
No matter how far I may roam.
Those loved ones in glory expect me to come,
They're waiting for me at home.
2. My father and mother have reached that blest shore,
That country above yonder dome,
Their love is the same for tho gone on before,
They're waiting for me at home.
3. The brother and sister that loved me so well,
No longer beside me here roam,
They've reached that fair land with their Saviour to dwell,
They're waiting for me at home.
4. Those dear little rosebuds, the light of my eyes,
Heard Jesus say "Suffer them come"
They're safe in His bosom above the blue skies,
They're waiting for me at home.
5. So heaven grows rich as the earth-land grows poor,
My treasurers are over the foam.
They're waiting to see if by grace I endure,
They're waiting for me at home.
Now since I couldn't find any direct information about this song there also wasn't a video available. So i have decided to include a copy of the sheet music. If you can play the piano perhaps you can play and sing this song this week. Be encouraged, Christ is coming soon! Keep looking up!
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