The Ultimate Family Reunion

I Thessalonians 4:15-18
And then this. We can tell you with complete confidence--we have the Master's word on it--that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they'll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God's trumpet blast! He'll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise--they'll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we'll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.

This is a very familiar passage for Christians. The Message puts a contemporary spin on it, but the idea is the same. I never really thought about the day Christ comes back with the anticipation that I feel now. If I am still here on this earth, I will see Jason again. I have other family members to see too, but the first one I want to see is Jason. I won't have to ask him what he has been doing; he will tell me. That is one thing I miss most. Jason called to visit. He knew how to have a conversation. Our talks weren't just question and answer sessions. We would talk about the most recent OSU game, family gossip, church, school, people. He and I always caught up on news about his friends and our family. He would tell me about the ranch, the people in Nebraska, the weather. Even though he didn't really like the cold weather last winter, I think he liked battling the elements. He got that from Tony. Any time we have snow, I can be assured that Tony will want to go to town. He always blames me-tells everyone that I wanted to go-but he is the one who likes to bundle up and go into town for some groceries, a Sonic run.
I always thought Jason was born too late. He would have loved being a cowboy--Young Guns was his favorite movie. I wonder if in heaven he is getting to live the life of a cowboy without any of the hardships.
I don't really understand the whole "glorified body" stuff, but the experts that I read and listen to tell me that Jason's spirit is in heaven today, but his body will reunite with his spirit when Christ returns.
When I get there, whether it is before or after Christ's return, Jason will take me on my first tour of heaven, and he will catch me up on all the family gossip on that side of eternity.