7/27/2009

Live Like You Were Dying

It’s been a difficult week here at the cabin. The weather has been as fickle as ever and has been a real challenge for me. But God is good and I’m still pushing on.

Just a little update on Honey’s brother-in-law. Last Thursday the doctors went in and removed the brain tumor. The surgery went well. But the surgeon’s preliminary prognosis was that the tumor appeared cancerous and the cancer seemed to be the most aggressive kind. There’s another doctor’s appointment scheduled for tomorrow. They should have the official prognosis and treatment options. He was released on Saturday. We got a call that evening from Honey’s sister. Apparently Allan got home and immediately went out to the barn to check on things. This is so understandable, he’s a farmer. But with the surgical wound still fresh, the bacteria in the barn could cause a whole new set of complications. Honey immediately called him and kept him on the phone until they were both worn out from talking. Yesterday we went up to see them. Honey took him some movies to hopefully keep him occupied when that restless farmer spirit got to be too much. One of the movies was “Faith Like Potatoes”. We talked very graphically about staph infections and such; and as we were pulling out of their driveway – he was ambling right back into the barn. His son was out there standing guard, so I feel pretty sure Allan was going to get turned back around and ushered to the house. Please keep him in your prayers. According to Allan’s mother, who used to be an RN, and who lost her own dear husband to a similar type of cancer … things don’t look good. God is in control. He can heal the body, or He may choose to take Allan home. It’s completely up to Him. Our focus is on God’s sovereign will and to help Allan and his wife through this journey.

As you can see, family issues have taken up a lot of our time. Any time life and death issues come to the forefront; there are a lot of discussions about the things of God. I guess that’s very natural. Every person alive has their own set of beliefs about God and death. Through all of this I’ve found that my thinking is a whole lot different than most. For one, I don’t fear death personally, nor do I understand how other Christians would. A person who doesn’t have Christ as their Savior has plenty to be afraid of, but Christians have the absolute knowledge that death is merely a doorway to their Lord and their heavenly home.

Most of the time we don’t know how many times God has intervened on our behalf to keep us from death. Occasionally we’ll have a circumstance where we breathe a deep sigh of relief because of a ‘near miss’. But let me ask you a question – if you were told today that you had only six months to live, what would you do? Would you change any part of your life, knowing that it would soon be over? I’ve given this some thought. For the most part, I wouldn’t change a thing. I feel that I’m doing what God has called me to do, I try each day to let those around me know just how much I love them, and I try very hard to stay as close to God as I can. The only thing I would do differently is take a long trip south to see my family and make sure they all know just how special they are to me and how much they have blessed my life. By the way, we have been planning that very trip for months. Prayerfully we will be able to go at the end of Honey’s work season this year. Why wait for death? I’m just plain homesick.

There’s a country song that says it all – “Live like you were dying”. Tomorrow is promised to no one. We plan for a tomorrow, but live each day like it’ll be the last one. God numbers our days and when He says “Come home”, we go. We are merely sojourners on this earth. Like the old cartoon says – just passing through. When it’s time to walk through that final door, I want to go without any unfinished business and few regrets. Take my advice, get close to the Lord and live like you were dying.

Have a good day and may the Lord bless you.

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