Words from Heaven

What a week. There is no amount of preparation that can adequately prepare you for the loss of a parent. This past week, we lost one of the most important people in my life. While we had approximately two weeks to prepare for this, words cannot describe the  range of emotions that have overtaken our bodies.

Planning Dad's Celebration of Life was extremely important to us. We wanted it to be everything that Dad had requested. This required a great deal of planning. I worked closely with Katrina, at FBC, on the program for the night. As we were looking at the rough draft, she indicated we needed to find a piece of scripture to go on the left hand side of the program. I told her that I would go home and consult with Chris and Mom, as Dad had many favorite verses.

Knowing that choosing just a few would be very difficult, I decided to have some fun. I found Mom's Bible on the table and brought it into the sunroom. Humorously, and almost sarcastically, I said, "I'm going to open up Mom's Bible, and we are going to let Dad and Jesus speak to us - giving us the perfect scripture for the program." We all giggled as I opened it up to Psalms, shut my eyes, and pointed at a particular position on the page. While we found a few things we liked, nothing "spoke" to us.

I vaguely remembered a friend of mine, Samantha Johnson, posting a Bible verse on my FB page. There were no words - just a reference to a verse. Again, I jokingly said, let's see what that verse says. Maybe He is speaking to us through FB! I looked on FB and saw, Numbers 6: 24-26. I opened up Mom's Bible to this verse. As I turned to the correct page, I saw that a cardboard picture of Jesus's hands were stuck in her Bible on this very page. Again, we all laughed that maybe Dad and Jesus were speaking to us. Maybe this insert was on this page for a reason!

Then I read the verse aloud to Mom and Chris:

"The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face to shine upon you,
And be gracious unto you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace."

I looked up, and Chris had tears in his eyes. He said, "That is exactly how Dad would end each service on Sunday morning. After the benediction, he would come down front, raise his hand, and bless the people of FBC. Then he would walk out to the organ playing." All of us sat in amazement - the perfect verse had been found! Dad found a way to communicate it to us from heaven.

And so it was....just like every Sunday morning when he was a preacher. At the end of the Celebration of Life, his dear friend, Ron Mouser, came to the podium and said,
"The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face to shine upon you,
And be gracious unto you;
the Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace."

The organ immediately boomed. I could feel Dad's spirit in the front of the church. And there was no doubt that my Dad was smiling from heaven, pleased with his final earthly service.

We began by making humor....because the pain was so prevalent. However, turning pain into humor was quickly replaced with awe and peace. Do I think that this was just a coincidence? Absolutely not. The Holy Spirit is alive and well. We just have to make sure that we slow down and pay attention to what He is saying. My attempt to joke and make light of the pain was quickly turned into a meaningful, peaceful experience where God's words spoke to all three of us.

As Moses was called to bless his people, God continues to bless us, even through painful times. My prayer is during these times, I can slow down enough to soak in His goodness. God bless!