Today Was His Day

Over the past few days, Dad has been praying that the Lord would just take him home. On Monday he asked, “Will today be my day?” I told him I was praying for that.

I want to set the stage to tell you of a story of a true modern day miracle.

Sunday evening, I decided to go home to get some sleep. Before that, I had slept for only about 4 hours over the previous 3 days. Dad had asked to see Pastor David Gales, Dad’s former Pastor at Plaza, so my brother called me to have me reach Pastor Gales. Being that I had no sleep, I told him I would call Pastor but then went back to sleep. I did not wake up until 4:00 AM on Monday. It was a little too early in the morning to call Pastor Gales.

Monday morning, Dad’s speech was much labored. He could not move his lips and when he talked to you, you had to be right there at his mouth to hear him. Since Monday evening, Dad was not coherent. He had a morphine drip that was keeping him deeply sedated.

Pastor Gales came to the hospital on Tuesday to have some minor surgery and came by to see Dad. He and Phyllis were saddened to the fact that they would probably not be able to talk to my Dad. This is when the true miracle happened. Keep in mind that Dad could not move his lips, had a very week voice and his eyes had not been opened since Monday evening. Pastor Gales said in his usual booming voice, “Linzey, this is Pastor Gales.” Dad opened his eyes, and said in a voice that everyone understood and that everyone could hear, “Pastor Gales, I’m so glad to see you.”

The room ruptured with tears of excitement and tears of joy! We never expected to hear his voice again. He then asked Pastor to pray with him and Pastor immediately lead us in prayer. As soon as Pastor Gales said AMEN, the room said AMEN, and then my Dad in that same, loud and clear voice said, AMEN!! I was beside myself. I could not believe it. God, in His love for us, assured us that He was still in control. I went to my Dad along with my son Brandon and hugged Dad and told him that I loved him and he said to me and Brandon, “I love you too.” Then he went back to sleep. Those are the last words that I will ever hear my Dad say because “Today, Wednesday, February 25, 2009 was his day.”

Dad went home to be with the Lord today at 9:16 AM. He was surrounded by his family members.

Fifteen years ago when my Dad started this journey, I promised him that I would be with him until the very end and the Lord granted me that gift this morning. As Dad was lying there, we saw that his breathing was getting more shallow and his pulse was very weak. I was rubbing his shoulder and as the nurse was standing there, I heard him hum. It was not a moan; it was a hum. It was a pleasant ring to my ear and I honestly believe that he saw our Jesus at that very moment. As he hummed, he never again inhaled on this earth; he instead inhaled the heavenly air in heaven. AMEN!!

The nurse listened for a heartbeat and simply mouthed to me, “He’s gone.” As my heart ached for the loss of a man that I will never forget, my soul rejoiced because I knew he was in heaven. The Lord, once again, granted me another olive branch.

The family would like to thank all of the Doctors, nurses and caregivers who took care of Dad over the past 15 years. It’s only by the Grace of God that Dad made it this long, but the Lord used people such as yourselves to make His miracle happen. We also would like to thank the supervisors at our jobs for understanding that our priorities had to change a little over the past few weeks. We would like to thank the Pastors who came to visit; Pastor Stephen, Pastor Ben, Pastor Snow and Pastor Gales. Most importantly, we would like to thank all of you for praying along side us, and supporting us through this difficult time. There are too many people to name you name by name, but we truly thank each of you.

Thanks you again for your love and support.