I Believe..............



"That the people you care about most in life
are taken from you much too soon."

Wow!  Amen to that one!  I'm pretty sure I've never heard someone say "Well, I loved him/her dearly, but I was sure ready to give them up."  We are never ready for those whom we love to leave us.  They may have been with us for many, many years, but we continue to desire their presence in our daily lives.  The more we love them, the more we dread the day of their parting.   And yet, part we must for life is a finite experience.  We are born and we die, that is the way it is.  I'm not at all certain that's the way God planned it from the beginning, but it is the way it must be due to our own failings.

I have sat quietly the bedside of so many loved ones as they approached that parting, some of whom I felt were surely prepared to meet the Lord; others whom I had grave questions about.  It is so much easier to face that parting when we can feel assured of the preparation our loved one has made with the Lord.  I've never felt greater pain than when I was unsure as to whether my loved one had made peace with the Lord.

Conversely, one the greatest joys I've ever known was to sit with my Momma as she approached her crossing with the calm assurance of one who has made that preparation and who has been serving the Lord for many years.  It was the same with my Maw McDonald, who had so wanted to go home for a good while before her crossing.

I sat with my husband as he approached his crossing.  I so did not want him to go, but I knew he was going and I knew he would be better off.  As difficult as it was, it was also a sacred moment when he made that final step into eternity.  My sisters and I stood at his bedside and allowed our pain to wash out in tears as we praised the Lord because one of His children was now at rest, never to suffer again.

I now sit watching my Daddy.  His body grows weaker every day; he slips a bit closer to his crossing with every breath he takes.  Those breaths now come more labored and he sleeps much of the time.  I see him giving way to that pull from beyond our sight.  Although it makes me sad, it also lifts my soul with joy.  He has suffered so much and been so lonely since Momma went home.  I understand that loneliness.  As much as I don't want to say goodbye, I know he will be so much better off.

So, I prepare myself for deaths next visit to my house.  I've walked this road before; it still is not easy.  So little of life is easy, but it is all so worth the effort.  To be able to give back just a small part of the sacrifice Daddy made for me has been such a precious and sweet experience to me.  Of course, there have been hard days, days when the frustration overshadowed the joy.  That is all a natural part of the 'letting go' process.  Overall, the joys have far outweighed the pain.

I feel it won't be long for Daddy and I pray I am right.  I don't want to see him suffer and I know the greatest healing of all is that crossing into eternal rest in the presence of our Lord.  So, I await deaths visit,not with joy, but with the hope of one who knows Jesus Christ and who knows there will be a reunion day after which Daddy and I will never be parted again.  Praise Jesus!

 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know

about those Christians who have died

so you will not be sad, as others who have no hope.

We believe that Jesus died and that he rose again.

So, because of him, God will raise with Jesus

those who have died.

What we tell you now is the Lord's own message.

We who are living when the Lord comes again

will not go before those who have already died.

The Lord himself will come down from heaven

with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel,

and with the trumpet call of God.

And those who have died believing in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive

will be gathered up with them in the clouds

to meet the Lord in the air.

And we will be with the Lord forever.

So encourage each other with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18