“At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway stood the LORD, and he said, “I am the LORD, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants.”  Genesis 28:11-13  NLT

Famous sleeps throughout the night, but he has developed a routine that would make you wonder if he has a bit of insomnia. When I start my evening toiletry, Famous ascends his own dog steps to the top of the bed where he will promptly fall into a slumber. Then, as soon as I turn off the lights and prepare to fall asleep with him, he climbs down the steps to curl up on the cool ceramic tiles of the bathroom. Sometime in the middle of the night he returns to the bedroom and takes to slumber underneath the bed. And to the complete the cycle, before I wake up in the morning, and often as i am first starting to stir, he mounts the steps again to take his original post at the foot of the bed. I have yet to figure out if this is mere habit or true preferences he seeks to satisfy at different hours of the night. He did much the same thing before the steps arrived, only I would had to wake up and lift him onto the bed before he was happy. (Therefore, we both appreciate the steps!)

The story of Jacob’s ladder and the naming of Bethel helps us to understand there is a connection between heaven and earth. For Jacob, soon to be named Israel when he wrestles with an angel, the connection also meant a blessing for him and his descendants.

God wants us to know He has a plan for us, a plan that contains a blessing of life. This does not mean it will necessarily be a life without struggle nor a life without want. But it is a promise of a complete life, a life that is whole, and a life celebrated with joy.

Help me each day, Lord, to behold the many connections my earthly life can make to the perfect holy life of heaven.

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