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Do you ever feel STUCK? In 2000, I began looking for answers to some tough questions in my life. I'd searched high & low and finally conceded to search the promises found in the Bible. Those promises have sustained & guided me through the loss of a parent, the struggle with anxiety & depression, the loss of a valued relationship and so much more! I've found joy amid the pain. And, I want to share it with you!

20 October 2014

A Kiss & A Goodbye

It seems like yesterday. It seems like 20 years ago... like a dream of something that happened long, long ago. It brings raw emotion. It brings an unexplainable calm & peace. It brings thanksgiving for the home in which I was raised. Twelve years ago today... October 20, 2002... at 12:10pm... my father breathed his last breath as I was sitting beside him, holding his hand.  

We'd been singing his favorite songs to him all through the night & into the morning. I was in the room alone with him.
I leaned over to Dad & whispered that we loved him (name by name... "Dad, Mom loves you!"; "Dad, I love you!" and so on...). I told him we'd be okay & that we'd take care of Mom. I kissed him on the forehead. I saw his face relax & a slight smile. I heard a long, gentle exhale from him... and, I felt part of me leave with that breath. The sun broke through the clouds from the bay window behind me. (And, I am NOT making that up or ANY of this up. I wrote it down that day!) My heart was broken, yet my soul rejoiced! He was a wonderful father & a wonderful man of God. My heart was encouraged. I knew that someday, we would be reunited in a time & place that has no end.

A promise I hold on to found in the Bible...
"For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18
Linked with the Nesting Place community through the write31days challenge, October 2014 - post No 20.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, can't read this without tears! How amazing to know with certainty that your dad is waiting for you in heaven!!

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    1. God is SO good & gives us blessed assurance with His love!!!

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