Wednesday, May 06, 2009

life on the edge of eternity

3 people i "know" right now are living on the edge of eternity. One is getting better daily. One is resting in Jesus' hands with an uncertain week ahead. One is a continent away hoping for a ticket to the hospital that has the things needed to save her life.

The first is "S". I've only met him once, but really like him a lot. His daughter is a very close friend of mine. On Easter the doctors told his family he would not make it through the night. 3 weeks later he is improving daily. On the second day of his drug-induced coma a friend of mine said, "wow, S could be chatting with Jesus right now... or soon." Now of course we all were praying that he would live and be healed and everything would be alright, but the thought of being that close to heaven made me think a little bit.

The second person i have also only met once. "K" moved away from Bend shortly after i moved to Bend. This week he took a turn for the worst with a brain tumor. The doctors are not sure he will make it through the week. Many of the people i know are praying and believing for another miracle. K has been given ____ amount of time for the last 2 years and has out lived it every time. When i read an update about him today i again thought about being a breath away from meeting Jesus.

The third is someone i have never met. She is a small girl living in an orphanage in Ghana. My mom is on a plane on her way to try and help get her to Children's Hospital in Seattle for the treatment she needs. "C"'s little heart is failing. I can't remember how old she is but i know it's under 10 years old. We are praying that the paper work for adoption is filed quickly and she can come home to America and receive the treatment she needs. This week she has come close to meeting Jesus twice.

What a thought... meeting the One who gives me breathe everyday, the One who sings over me, the One who died so i could live, and the One who loves me. Wow. I don't even know what that moment could look like, but i know it will be beautiful. Because of some of the recent events with the people mentioned above i have had eternity on my heart more so than normal... and i like it. I dream about heaven and think about meeting Jesus. I sometimes see myself running into His arms, but quickly realize that in His presence i crumble to the floor, and so i re-design the moment in my head and in that moment i am there, on the floor at his feet.

Until recently the thought of eternity has been so overwhelming i would rather not think about it. Not because it's unknown, but because it's so big and forever my mind doesn't understand it. I understand (kind of) this life here. I see little babies all around and life in it's newness is more precious than most things. I hear of death, and my heart is sad... but only for a moment, because if that person has found salvation in Jesus i know that for them it's just the begining of Life. Eternity could come sooner than we think... it has for lots of people in our lives, we all live on the edge of eternity, what matters is how we live.

Because i am not sitting in ICU with tubes going in and out i don't understand life at Eternity's edge in that sense. I don't have a tumor putting pain and pressure on my brain. As far as i know my heart is normal and in working order. So in a way Eternity feels far away... but each breathe i take brings me closer to that day, when Jesus calls my name and i will rise and wake up to a Life i never new was there.

Please pray for S, K, and C. Those who are closer to them would miss them a little more than me and you, but i know that each of them has a call of God for Kingdom purposes, the question we all have is will that call continue here on this Earth or in Eternity?

**sorry if this was a jumble of thoughts**

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I cried. Isn't God so good. In all these situations you see God hand involved in their every step. He is faithful to finish the good work he started in each of them... and of course, contending and prayer right next to you dear friend!

Laurel said...

Great post!

We arrived in Ghana a couple of hours ago. We are bringing little C to our hotel tonight, and hope to get her stabilized at a local hospital tomorrow. However, I caught a glimpse of the local newspaper, and it says that a lot of the doctors are on strike. So, we may not get her to a doctor until we can get her home to Seattle.

Thanks for the prayers!

mama :)

jim diacogiannis said...

wow! eternity. I wonder what it will be like. I wonder what it will be like to praise God all day long everyday. I wonder what E thought when he was with God a few years back. Did he cry? Did he have questions? Eternity, is it forever? What's forever look like anyways?
Love you Papa