This past weekend I went back to Mom and Dad's to help kick off the Christmas season. My hometown has a Christmas lights parade at the beginning of the Dec. This year we talked to our friends who own the little coffee shop on the square and asked if we could bring in our sound equipment and do a Christmas show in conjunction with the buffet they were doing the night of the parade. They were happy to let us, so the past couple times I've been home my mom, sisters and our good friend Connie have all gotten together and practiced singing. I think the practicing is my favorite part. We all just relax and enjoy making music together.
Us girls had fun putting on fancy dresses and singing to the crowd that night. My favorite part about singing is when you're able to look out and see smiling faces, and you know the audience is having as much fun as you are.
Mostly I thought last weekend would just be a great way for me to get in the Christmas spirit, but I got more than that.
Several years ago some neighbors, Ray and Sandy, moved in a couple miles from my mom and dad. We got to be pretty good friends, but my dad was especially close to Ray. Lately Ray had started having a lot of health issues. For years he had persistent urinary problems, but hadn't gone to the doctor about them. Eventually this led to one of his kidneys completely failing and the other was only partially working. Around the same time he had blood clots in his legs, and they found he had a heart arrhythmia. Needless to say he wasn't doing well, and he was in a lot of pain.
On Saturday morning my mom, dad, Katie, Kyle and I were all coming back from my great, great uncle's funeral when Sandy called. Ray was having a lot of trouble breathing and she wanted to know if we could help get him in the car so she could take him to the emergency room. When we got there, Mom (who's a nurse) said she wouldn't take the risk of moving him in a personal vehicle because she wouldn't have any equipment to help him if something happened, so we called an ambulance. Katie, Kyle and I stood outside and directed the ambulance where to go. After a while they wheeled Ray out and before they loaded him up, he waved to Katie and I who were standing together. They took him straight to Topeka, and we went home and waited to hear some news. Right before the show, we got a call. They said Ray was coding, and dad left to go be with Sandy. We all decided that we still needed to go perform, so we went ahead and went to the coffee shop.
Right before the show we got a call that Ray had passed away. He was only 68.
Mom and Dad stopped by to be with Sandy after the show for a while.
Sandy told mom that before Ray died, she had been wiping his brow with a washcloth and all of a sudden he said that he couldn't see. She asked him what he meant, and then he said, "I see God." "Then go to God," Sandy said. He took one last breath and then went to meet the Lord.
Sandy said Ray believed in God, but didn't have a strong faith. I thank God that He gave Sandy the peace of knowing where her husband was going.
And I think this story offers a lot of hope.
God doesn't expect us to be perfect or to have a perfect faith. Instead He looks at us with all our imperfections and sins, and He loves us still. He never gives up on us. Even up to the last moment, He will reach out His hand and invite us to be with Him. And it all can happen because of Christ's birth.
So I pray this Christmas, we all can understand and appreciate what this season really means. And please treasure this time with your family, and pray for those who are feeling the absence of their loved ones.
Lyndee
Very powerful. Thanks for sharing Lyndee.
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