Dad's Passing

It was an amazing day--8/23/07. I just somehow knew that I needed to spend the
whole day with Dad. But for two short recesses, I was with him from
7am to the moment he died. He was working very hard all day just to
breathe, but he was not in pain and had an amazing peace about
him...grateful for his life and anticipating his transition to
heaven. He told me several times today that he was not afraid to
die...not in the least. He has longed and longed to see Jesus and my
Mom...I'm not quite sure in which order...or that it really matters!!
I trust that they both were there to greet him tonight at around
7:30pm Central time.
At about 7:10 this evening he suddenly said to me, "Tell me everything
you know about heaven." So I did...and also mentioned by name the
loved ones who would be there to welcome him. Then he asked me to
read Psalm 91 to him. Then I also read Psalm 23 and Ephesians 3. I
closed my Bible and he settled down to try and rest. I went over to
the couch in the hospital room to call Terri. In the middle of my
conversation with her, I heard him yell out, "Take me!" I thought he
was just crying out to God something like the other prayers I had
heard him groan throughout the day. I hung up the phone and leaned
back to rest. A nurse came into the room to check on him and when she
touched him, she said, "I don't feel a pulse." I got up and went over
and knew immediately that he had left his broken and weary body behind
in that bed to jump into the arms of his Heavenly Father. My Dad was
gone...my Dad is gone.
I don't feel anything like "surreal" tonight. In fact, I feel a
profound realism about it all. My Dad was good and kind to me. God
made him into a great man through his childlike faith in Jesus
Christ. My Dad loved me and loves me still. I loved him and love him
still. He prayed for me and my sibs and all of our kids every day
since his retirement. And...God selected me and my family to have
the honor of being with him in his golden years of life (from 1990 to
2007) here in Kansas City after the passing of my Mother. They are
now reunited in the presence of the Holy Trinity and the heavenly
hosts. I'm sure that I will have my moments of sorrow, but tonight I
am more deeply moved by gratitude for and a celebration of his life.