Goin Home

In a couple of hours I am leaving to go back home to see my mom and dad. As you all know by now, Dad is in the hospital and not doing well. I have prayed many years for Dad's healing, that he would be well and that he would be able to see. I have watched in agony as my dad got slowly worse. I don't want to get into the theological debate right now about why this is happening. It isn't important right now.
We have spent many wonderful times with Mom and Dad when they would come to the island. One of the first places Dad always wanted to go was Cathedral Grove. He said he felt close to God there. He loved the falls as well especially in the winter when they were roaring down the gorge with such power you could feel the ground shake. He always wanted to go to the beach when it was storming to see the waves crashing. There is something very special in all of those things. You feel God and you see His wonder in the nature He created.
It's hard for me to think about the fact that I will never go to Cathedral Grove with my Dad again. I can't imagine my life without him. What is worse for me to imagine is the pain and the sorrow that my parents have shared these last years and especially these last few months. Susan has shared with me how one day he couldn't get up from the table and he wanted to go and lay down. He asked mom to just help him to the floor. Mom told him he couldn't just sleep on the floor and he told her he couldn't make it to the bed. She told him that Susan was there and they would help him to the couch. They eventually got him to the couch and mom struggled to lift his legs up even though he told her not to bother. When she finally managed to get him comfortable he put his face into his hands and he cried. Then she knelt there in front of the couch and put her face in his neck and she cried with him. There are many stories like that that just break my heart. The pain my mom has gone through as she has watched the husband she had loved all these years slowly fade away is unimaginable. The burden my Dad has felt he has been to her is so sad it breaks my heart.
Can I imagine our lives without him? No I can't. But this is not about me, this is about him. All his life he has lived for one thing and that is to see His Lord and Saviour face to face. And his eyesight will be completely restored there. He will leave his wheelchair, his cane and all of that behind him. He will walk and talk with Jesus. And this is what I imagine his face to look like when his eyes are opened and he sees Jesus face to face.
I Love You Dad.