When I was a consultant and public speaker, I would spend more nights in a hotel room than in my own home. That was my life for nearly ten years. Traveling from one city to the next, getting on one plane after another.

This routine probably would have gone well past ten years until my youngest daughter asked my wife one day, “why does dad have to travel so much?” Without hesitation, I immediately started looking for the type of work that would keep me out of those fancy sky lounges for a while.

When I told my daughters I would be home a lot more, my eldest had one concern: Would we still be able to enjoy the perks of me being an elite member of every travel club out there? Gotta love teenagers! In her defense, those travel perks are nice. (Can we say pillow menu at the Waldorf in Rome).

With all of the business travel (70+ flights/year), you’d think the last thing I’d want to do is to get on one more plane. But, as a family, I don’t think there’s been a year, starting from my girl’s infant lives where we haven’t averaged at least eight flights a year. It’s just what we love. And, in addition to the memories we are creating, I love getting up before the sun, scouting the surrounding area for that one perfect moment that will leave a lasting impression of our trip. The more of the world we get to experience, the more amazed I am with God’s creation and his handiwork in all things.

With every moment I capture, I can’t help as I stare through the lens, wondering how amazing heaven will look in comparison to this world that scripture says is “passing away”. I also can’t help but think about the people who are more captivated by this world than the one that is to come.

As beautiful as the images are that we see around us, scripture assures us that the leap from this world to heaven isn’t like going from coach to the first class cabin. It will be a place where the water is as bright as a crystal, and where tears and death shall be no more. It’s also a place, by God’s amazing grace, that we cannot earn our way to. Fortunately for us, our passage has been paid in full! No amount of points, no special card, and no amount of works can give us access. It’s only by trusting in the life, death and resurrection of Christ and turning from our sin, that we can enter into that eternal rest with our heavenly father.