Over the last couple of months I’ve tuned into Extreme Makeover – Home Edition on Sunday evenings. The stories I’ve seen are heart-wrenching. A family whose mother has died gets a new home with specially designed rooms for each kid and the widower. A family with a child beset with autism and numerous other health setbacks get a new home specifically designed to nurture the autistic child. The family has been away one week while a top-notch crew renovates the home with a seemingly unlimited budget.

After the week is up the family returns and gets a room-by-room tour of their new home - jaws drop at the transformation, smiles erupt with each opened door, tears of appreciation flow.

The end of the show leaves me in tears. I don’t even know these people yet I feel myself overwhelmed with a sense of joy that they now have such a beautiful place to live. Yet, I also feel a twinge of jealousy – wouldn’t it be so awesome to be one of those families? To have a home specially designed for me, one that would buckle my knees in delight and appreciation.

Last week it dawned on me that one day I will. “I go to prepare a place for you,” Jesus says. In the book of Revelation John describes heaven in jaw-dropping terms. After our week is over we will be given a room-by-room tour of our new home – one that will give new meaning to the term Extreme Makeover. I must admit I’m tiring of all the reality shows on television, but there is one I’m excited about: Extreme Makeover – Heaven Edition.