Yesterday I visited with my dad. He was in good spirits and happy to see me. His condition has slightly improved and the internal bleeding has slowed. He’s still in danger of blood clots from the three known aneurisms that he has in his leg and from continued bleeding from his colon area and any of it could prove fatal.
The doctors want to remove part of his colon, and then operate on his leg to remove the aneurisms, and possibly repair leaking veins and arteries in his abdomen area. He told them to leave their scalpels in their packages, because he wasn’t going to allow any more slicing on his body.
A very friendly ICU nurse came in to see dad and they apparently had become big buddies and they immediately engaged in friendly conversation. Dad asked if the man in the room next to him had died last night and she nodded affirmatively and said that another person had died the previous day. Then she remarked that many people who come up there are literally frightened out of their wits at the thought of dying, but dad didn’t fear it at all. She told him that she was astonished at his calm attitude and said she wished she could be like that and have complete assurance that when she dies God will welcome her “home” too.
He told her that there is no need to fear death, and in fact smiled at her and said, “Why worry? I’m being promoted!”
She was truly impressed by his attitude.
A few minutes after she departed, the lady that cuts his hair at his assisted living home came by and they engaged in lively conversation. They laughed and talked for a few minutes and then started recounting all of the people that had recently died on his floor; four men had died just in the rooms that surround my father’s room. One fell down and broke his neck.
Yikes!
Again dad was extolling his faith in God and did not appear concerned in the least about his life on this planet drawing to its final conclusion. He told her that he looked forward to God taking him home and wished He would hurry up and then he said something I’ve heard many times, “I don’t know why God doesn’t just take me on home”.
Hmmm . . . We never know for sure what God’s plan for someone’s life is, but I’m certain that a big part of my father’s plan is to continue to let his light shine in order that others will see it and want what he has too. He is still a solid witness for Jesus Christ at 92 years old and his unswerving faith is encouraging folks who are young enough to be his grandchildren.
The young nurse told us that not all that long ago she almost died herself due to a congenital heart defect. She said sooner or later it will require open heart surgery to repair. Because of her own health situation and being surrounded by death in ICU daily she thinks about eternal destiny far more than most people her age and she wants to be fearless about it like my father. Dad’s unswerving faith made a big impression on her and undoubtedly on the lady that cuts his hair who came all of the way down to the hospital after work just to visit him?
I was flying over to see dad and during a layover in Atlanta I received a call from a friend and he told me that a guy who’d read my book, Miracle on Luckie Street, and come to accept Christ because of it was in REALLY bad shape emotionally because his daughter had just tried to commit suicide and very nearly succeeded. He asked me to call him and encourage him and I did.
He told me his daughter had miraculously survived and though she was not completely out of the woods, it appeared she didn’t suffer any permanent damage from the overdose of pills that she took.
Then he told me an interesting side story. It seems that while she was fighting for her life over a period of several days her sister dreamed that their family was in church singing praises together and she had told her father about it; (they had never been a church going family.)
Later the next day they were standing at his daughter’s bedside and she was delirious from the anesthesia and she started shouting, “I have to be in church in 5 minutes”. She said it over and over and over again. My friend told me she was far from the Lord and hadn’t been to a church or so much as mentioned the word “church” in years.
I remarked that he should feel blessed because it sounded to me like he’d received his very own miracle, and that was God reaching out first to his other daughter, and then to the one who tried to commit suicide, and the entire family in a big way. He was being honored for his faith and God had singled them out and was stirring in their lives and revealing Himself.
He was crying uncontrollably by now and I told him to calm down. I wanted to change the subject, so I told him I was on my way to see my dad and gave him a quick briefing on his very critical condition.
He was incredulous that I was so calm. I remarked that dad was a solid believer and there was no reason to get overly excited. If he dies, he will immediately see Jesus, walk on streets of gold, and enjoy eternal bliss. Sure I’ll miss talking to him and seeing him, but I’m happy for HIM. It will be celebration time for him to be released from that worn out old body and to rid himself of his constant pain.
This man was truly moved by that conversation and the contrast between the thought of losing his daughter who is not a believer, and dad who is a believer, was unnerving to him.
God’s left dad here for a purpose all right; He did so for the nurse, the lady that cuts his hair, the guy I led to the Lord, and the many other people that are affected by his testimony. When God’s plan for his life has been completed, God will call him home and someone will say, “Let the celebration begin!”
God has a plan for all of our lives, and a good plan it is, and it will continue right up until we take our last breath.
Matt. 5:14
“You are the light of the world–like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.”
January 23, 2014 – Click here to listen