My friend's Father passed away this morning. I woke up several times last night with the overwhelming spirit to pray for my friend and her family. My last prayer at around 6 AM was for God to call him home to Glory. He was tired and his family was worn out. God answered my prayer and their prayer. He went to be with Jesus at about 8:30 this morning.
This man had some faults in life that I will not go into detail about. I can tell you that he loved God. He had a heart for the unsaved. He was a faithful Father and Husband. He chose his pallbearers two years ago when he was first diagnosed with possible brain cancer. His pallbearers for those that know him seem very different. They are not close friends or family. I started crying when they told me they are 5 of our neighbors. None of us are close neighbors but her and I, but they are hospitable neighbors. These 5 men that he chose are 5 men that he has tried to witness with all these years. None of the 5 ever showed an interest in coming to know Christ. I think 2 did make a profession of faith but did not stick with it. He chose these 5 men because he knew they would be pallbearers for him out of respect. He knew this would be his last chance to witness to them from his casket. You see this was a way to get them into the church to hear the Gospel preached as he knew it would be from his Pastor. What a heart he had for these men?What a legacy to leave with his daughters!
An update on to what the Lord laid on my heart to present to the family during his final days. I made a sunshine basket. I bought a lot of things from our bookstore such as: coffee mug, suncatcher, pen, notepaper, cd, a book, small plaques with scripture, an angel, box of tea, candy bars, luxury soap and lotion, and much more. I wrapped all of this individually and taped a comforting scripture verse for each item. I told them to unwrap them whenever one of them was really down and needed a little encouragement. They took turns picking something out everyday until Wednesday when he was placed in the hospital. They had made a decision that they would open a gift only when all three of them were home to appreciate it. They told me today they have enjoyed it and it has uplifted their spirits.
I was thinking of what to take the family today when I went to visit. I know they have a caring church and would inundated with food. My Mom agreed that food is the last thing they need. When the grandmother died , they had so much food that they were sending it to us. We did go get some soda, orange juice and a few bags of chips. I know chips is a food but not a perishable food that must be eaten within days.
In the mean time, please uplift his wife and daughters in prayer. They have a hard road ahead of them. He was a good Father and Husband but an overprotective and controlling one. They now have to adjust to life being lived on their own with no other control but God. They will survive but life will be so different. The daughters are my age, one is on her early 30's and the other will be 40 in December. Life will be so different.
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