The Story of Mrs. L - Death, you are defeated but your sting remains

I have posted on here before that I work in a nursing home. I absolutely love getting to hear the life stories of the elderly and I love making them laugh so they can experience some joy as they enter the last stage of their lives. However, one of the downsides of this environment is that I frequently have people that I have grown close to pass away. This morning on Independence Day 2011 I got word that a close friend of mine passed away. I am going to refer to her as Mrs. L for confidentiality purposes. Here is the story of our relationship.

As soon as she was put on my schedule we hit it off! We got along from the get go. She was struggling with chemical dependency and extreme pain in her fractured hip. For some reason the elderly ladies have a soft spot in my heart and I seem to have more compassion for them. We began working on her rehabilitation and had some superficial conversation as we got to know one another. Then, one day the subject of a relationship with Jesus came up. I do not remember how this topic came up but God used it for his glory! We began to discuss spiritual things and she began to open up to me about her life and she told me about a lot of the tough times she had gone through. I asked her if she had ever sat and read the Bible before and she responded and said, "No, I have never read the Bible but I believe in Jesus." However, as we talked I realized that she did not know what a relationship with Christ was so I asked her if I got her a Bible would she read it and she responded, "Yes, of course."

The following weekend I went into Half Price Books and found her a nice copy of the scriptures and on Monday I gave it to her. She was overjoyed to receive it! Shortly after that I started seeing her attend the weekly church services at the nursing home. I was so happy to see her attend and hear the gospel preached. We would discuss what she learned in her therapy treatments and I would try to expound Christ as much as I could as we discussed many different topics and different scriptures.

Then, one Monday morning as I walked into her room she said, "Guess what! I got saved last night! I was listening to the sermon and it all became so clear to me that I need a savior!" I was so happy to hear this! Then she began to tell me about her relationship with Christ and I knew that she had genuinely accepted Christ as her savior. As I reflect on this moment today it makes me tear up.

Two months after Mrs. L got saved she informed me that she had finally been approved to have the corrective hip surgery that she had been waiting for and she was very happy because she thought it was her only way home. She asked me to come in her room and pray with her for the Lord to watch over her during the surgery and I gladly accepted the invitation to pray for her. The next day she went out to have the hip surgery. After the surgery and a couple of days in the ICU she was readmitted to the nursing home and we were reunited for the last time. She was in severe pain and agony as she tried to function. As a matter of fact she she could not even get out of bed without screaming. She ended up contracting pneumonia and was sent back to the hospital for treatment. I prayed with her one last time before she was on her way to the hospital for treatment and that was the last time I saw Mrs. L.

She left the nursing home in severe pain and with lungs full of fluid and she would not return. Honestly, I must say that when you work around death and sickness as much as my coworkers and I do you begin to become hardened to it. That is one of the sad facts of our line of work. But when I heard that Mrs. L had passed away this morning it really hit me hard. I was expecting her to come back and learn how to walk again on her repaired hip. I was expecting us to have more conversations about Jesus and what He has done for us. I was expecting to pray with her again and give her another big hug, as I would give her every morning. But God's plan was different from my expectations. He chose to call His daughter home to Himself and for that I cannot question Him. His way is always the true and perfect way. I am so happy that He chose to reveal Himself to her before she passed away and I am happy that I will see her again. For now I am going to put the conversations, prayers and hugs on hold until I am with my sister around the throne of the King of Kings and we can cry out together, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" Until then I will have to deal with the sting of Mrs. L's death in this broken world that we live in. However, I put my trust in the cross of Christ and I know that I will be reunited with my friend, Mrs. L. I will one day go home to be with the Redeemer as well and that sting will be gone. Death, you have no victory but I can't wait for your sting to be gone as well.

Holly Bug

I recently wrote a song for our daughter to be, Hollyn. Below is the description from my cdbaby.com website.

"This is the background of this song: My wife and I had struggled for a year to get pregnant and we would pray to God every night for Him to graciously bless us with a child. He has answered and we are supposed to become parents this July (2011). This song is for our daughter on the way, Hollyn Faith, who has been given the nickname "Holly Bug" by her Daddy. It is a simple song but in actuality, love is a simple thing. God, through pure grace, has given us the most precious gift in the world and we want her to know that the three most influencial people in her life love her: her mommy, her daddy & her Jesus. I hope you enjoy this song for our Holly Bug."

If you would like to preview "Holly Bug" you may click the button on this page.

Unconditional Obedience

My latest sermon on how we are called into Unconditional Obedience. The link is for the entire service. My sermon begins later on the recording so you would have to fast forward to get to it.

Unconditional Obedience