Last year when my Varmie Kitty died and my mom had a heart attack, I came face to face with Death and was forced to ask again and again why, if God promises us protection, we don't seem to receive any.

Of course I knew that Jesus trusted God for protection always. And look what happened to Him! So I realized the answer cannot be a simple one.

And two things came to me. One was something I've known for many years but needed to be reminded of. And that is that for God, death is not something bad for those who trust in Him, but rather it is a going home to Him. I had a dream when I was in high school in which I was trying to escape from a knife-wielding man in a firelit cabin. I ran outside, jumped off the wooden porch, and raced out into the rain. The man caught me at the foot of a tree, and I died there in a puddle of muddy water. But my spirit rose from there and I looked back down and saw the cabin and the man and the tree, and I was free. I floated upwards through the trees and the clouds and entered a place of light and warmth. And the light was iridescent--all the colors of the rainbow--and I was safe. Later I read accounts of near-death experiences and many of them mention that light. Since that time I have not feared death, although I still fear the many ways of dying--but that is human nature, I suppose.

The other thing was a new idea for me. And that is that God does in fact protect us every single time we brush against Death. Until the last time. The time He calls us home. Of all the times we nearly have an accident in our cars, of all the times we almost die, He protects us every time, but once--when He is ready to call us home.