Celebrating a man deeply admired

 

Happy Birthday to my Father-in-law, Clarence. October 22, 2014, would have been his 81st birthday. He was a man who worked hard, played hard, and loved deep. He had a twinkle in his eye, an easy laugh, and a hankering for sweets.

For a little over twenty-one years, I have lived near my father-in-law. Yet, I learned more about the depth of his character during the last 13 months of his life than all the years before. Oh, his character was there all along but the depth of it was revealed through a long trial of watching him struggle to breathe in the hospital for months. It is hard to remember those days of suffering – it was equally hard to see his wife so distraught at his distress. And yet, it was in the suffering, that I saw a man worthy of my deep admiration.

He left a strong legacy in his daughter and five sons. This year he celebrates his birthday with Jesus.

In a few days from now, we will remember the last day we saw him alive. Then, a few more days and we will remember the day he went to be with Jesus. We miss you Clarence!

 

 

Some links to the other part of the story:

An answered prayer just for her 

A cheerful heart is good medicine

Walking in the shadow of death

When Coca-cola made me cry

and one of my favorites from this season:

Remembering Right Things

We grieve with hope, as it says in I Thessalonians 4:13-14:

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus."

God answered a prayer, just for her {day 9}

My eleven-year-old daughter wanted to see her grandpa. He had been in the ICU for 12 days. She was only eleven and had to be at least twelve to visit on that floor. He had been improving but after being off the ventilator for two days, he was now back on it.

From all that was being spoken and unspoken, she correctly discerned that Grandpa might die. No one was saying it, but she knew.

So she prayed.

She prayed not just for his healing but also that she would be able to see him.

Three days later, he had improved enough to be in a regular room. She was busying playing with her cousins that were in-town the first day so she didn't see him then. The following day, we were able to visit him after her sister's choir concert.

What a praise that she was able to see her grandpa. I remember her saying to him, "I love you, grandpa." He grunted back, "I love you, too." It made tears come to my eyes.

Shortly after this, though, she also saw them wheel him back to the ICU.We called Kip's mom to tell her the bad news. She took it really hard. We all took it really hard. I remember Kip & his brother consulting with the doctor to put him back in the ICU. I remember not being able to smile at all as we walked out of the hospital that night.

Yet, months later I discovered that this huge set-back to the rest of us was a huge faith-building moment for her. Actually because he was moved right after she saw him, she felt like the Lord had very specifically answered her prayer. He was in a regular room long enough for her prayer to be answered.

She says this caused her to feel confident that God was in-control and that no matter what happened, it would be okay. 

Okay. Wow. That day. That weekend. It was a hard weekend. In hindsight, it seemed premature for him to move and that we 'should' have known better to advocate something different for him? Yet, it has increased my daughter's faith to see the hand of God intercede so specifically on her behalf. An answered prayer, just for her.

Click here to read {Day 10}

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This is part of the 31 Day series: 
The Clarence Chronicles: Lessons of Faith from the ICU

Click HERE to read Day 1, which links to all the posts in this series.

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