I made a discovery this week, when an adult has a tooth pulled the tooth fairy does not put anything under their pillow.

Monday was a holiday except for my dentist. He made an appointment for me back in December and told me to return for a tooth extraction. One of my teeth had decided to absorb itself, which is a rare tooth happening. I have been loyal to my teeth and I was hoping for continued dental loyalty but it was not to be. This tooth needed to go before it abscessed, and that sounded gross.

I didn’t get gassed or knocked out. I was awake. The dentist warned me, “This will be loud.” I have never had that warning prior to a medical procedure. He said nothing about pain. He did mention pressure but was mainly concerned that I not freak out about the sound. He didn’t lie. It was noisy and loud. So I am minus one tooth. He didn’t give me the tooth to put under my pillow. He told me that according the Dental Guidelines; the tooth fairy must stop visiting once a tooth loser turns thirteen.

In a couple of months I will have a bridge installed where the renegade tooth once resided. This is so reversed. Rather than receiving money under my pillow for losing a tooth, I must use the money under my mattress to pay to have a fake tooth put into my mouth. Something is very wrong with this scenario. Of course being a resident of Natchitoches there will be great argument about the location of the bridge. Oops, did I say that out loud?

We left the dentist. Yes I had family in tow because after my dental experience I was promised a visit with my grandson. I will do anything to see him, even having a tooth pulled. My bride and my daughter escorted me on my tooth pulling adventure. They know I am a coward and they thought seeing me after a tooth extraction would be good for a couple of giggles. They were right.

My grandson has four teeth now.

We are certainly on a different journey. He is growing teeth and I have reached the point where keeping my teeth rates right up there with regularity.

I was looking at him with great admiration. He crawls at the speed of infancy. When I get down on my knees to pray, I wonder what happened to all the natural knee padding we had as youngsters. He sees well and hears well. I am going deaf in the female spousal vocal range, except when she doesn’t want me to hear anything. I have discovered that the ringing in my ears is my brain trying to compensate for the sound waves my ears no longer hear. Great!

Emerson, my grandson, will fall down and giggle about it. I fall down and hit my emergency button. “I have fallen and it hurts. Hurry over and pick me up.”

When I look at my grandson, I pray that I will live long enough to see some of his great life moments. I also was thinking as I watched him crawl around about what is promised to me about my future.

One day I will arrive at home. The promise when I arrive is that I will be greeted by Jesus who will wipe away all my tears. You need to know that we preachers cry too when someone dies, or when someone is suffering. You might not see our tears because we are good at hiding that kind of stuff. There are also tears of frustration, that will be another confessional article later.

Once Jesus dries my tears I will be ushered into that place He has prepared and I will receive His promise, “Behold I make all things new.” There will be a new me in eternity. I’m not sure what I will be like, but I will be me, only new.

Our hope is that everything, even creation is made new. I’m looking forward to that day. Can you imagine that place? We are all made new! There is no more sin and death. There is nothing to worry about. Everything is perfect. We are free to be the children of God.

Heaven is so perfect; the streets of gold have no potholes. Can you imagine?