Today, I received a message that has really made me think. There is a couple I know who have been married for 30+ years (I'm not sure how many exactly, but it is at least 30---probably more like 40 years). Anyway, back in the winter, he had an accident. He simply slipped on the ice and hit his head. That was the beginning of a steady decline in his health. Since that time, he has been in brain injury units of hospitals and nursing homes, then just in a regular nursing home. Things have deteriorated to the point of the message I read today.
Here it is:
DAY 121
MONDAY APRIL 25, 2011
We know it and yet it still manages to surprise us. It is the way of things. We are born and we live and we die. I realize now that I was well prepared for death, but not so well prepared for dying.
John is unconscious. The seizures continue to come as his injured brain fires over and over causing his arms and legs to tremble. All that can be done to keep my beloved comfortable is being done.
I wish for one more smile, one more look of those soft eyes and one more conversation. But the time for that is now over.
John is only talking with God now.
May you feel God close to you today. (P.S. I'm not sure why my font changed, so just ignore it...)
The line that really struck me was this one:
"I realize now that I was well prepared for death, but not so well prepared for dying."
How profound is that?!? They are Christians who have known the Lord for years and served Him in ministry with their lives. They knew that life leads to death and after that heaven for those who die in Jesus. But what has been such a challenge for the family has been the dying process. Watching the one you love slowly fade away with no more laughs or smiles, no more quiet evenings talking together, no more hand holding, and so on. My heart breaks for this family. Soon death will come, but I pray for this family while they continue through this process. And I continue to ponder the profound words of this message.
~Amy
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