The Greatest Gift Of All…
The
Greatest Gift Of All…
My
husband, Al, claims that he rarely remembers his dreams upon awakening.
Furthermore, when he does remember them, they seldom contain conversations or
include me in them! However, recently one dream stayed in Al’s memory, and he
shared it with me the next morning.
In the dream, he was very ill, near death. I
was at his bedside holding his hand. Al squeezed my hand four times, using our
special code, the same one his grandparents had actually used every night
before going to sleep.
Four squeezes from Al signaled the question,
“Do you love me?” I would then respond “Yes,” by squeezing his hand once. “How
much?” … two squeezes from Al. “With all
my heart!” … four squeezes from me, emphasizing the word “heart” by vigorously
shaking his hand.
He dreamt that when it was my turn
to initiate our quiet acclamation of love for one another, the squeezes of his
hand started to slow down. After I signaled the question, “How much?” he could
only squeeze three times. “With all my…” then his hand dropped.
Al recalled that I was crying,
still holding his hand while I called a close friend and said, “He’s
gone.” A very vivid and sad dream for sure. No wonder
he remembered it!
Perhaps it was a flashback of a
real experience a few weeks earlier, when he lay in a hospital bed, his
hemoglobin count mysteriously dropping to a dangerous level. Transfusions of
blood only helped temporarily, raising our hopes until the next time the report
from the lab would come back.
At one point, he felt like his life
was draining away. When I held his hand and tried to comfort him, he told me
that he loved me. “Good-bye,” he said, feeling like death was near.
As I prayed, the scene of a
waterfall from the hospital’s TV network appeared on the screen, with
comforting music in the background. It helped me visualize God’s pouring His
life and energy back into Al. Many other friends and family members were also
praying; and miraculously, his strength began to return.
After a long stint in the hospital,
he was able to go home! A happy day! It is a great gift that he is still alive
and on the road to recovery.
In addition to praying, friends and
family have provided great support before, during and now after his
hospitalization. My brother, Jack, and Al’s sister, Ann, both came to our
assistance, cheering us up when we needed it.
A whole team of people has helped
provide rides to and from the hospital in order for him to receive daily
infusions of antibiotics. After six
straight weeks, he is finally nearing the end of the infusions. The help of our
“driver’s train” (like a “meal train”) has been a big relief, eliminating the
need for me to drive, find a parking place and walk the distance to the
infusion center.
Great gifts—each person, each
friend, each family member. God has truly blessed us with wonderful people in
our lives! His love has been poured out upon us through the selfless way His
people have given encouragement through prayers, cards, gifts, providing
transportation, cleaning, visits, phone calls, texts, meals, sweet treats and
more!
After returning home, Al no longer
needed to use the wheelchair we had borrowed from our Senior Center. On my way
out of the building, I happened to walk past a woman who was standing at the
door waiting for a ride. She was wearing a necklace with a golden cross on
which the figure of a man hung, with arms outstretched. Jesus crucified.
I made a comment about her
necklace, thinking about the cross that Al gave to me when we were first
married and that I’ve worn ever since. Upon it is no figure of a man; instead,
a symbol of a cloak is draped around the cross. Jesus resurrected!
The woman clasped her cross to her
chest and said with great emotion, “This is my salvation.”
“Mine too,” I replied sincerely.
At Easter, we celebrate the outpouring of God’s love through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, the promise of new life in Christ Jesus, a relationship with God now and forever,…Amazing Grace!
Christ is alive! Happy Easter!
“He is not here; He has risen!” Luke 24:6a NIV
(photo above, Easter egg coloring with Grandsons, Nate (left) and Elliot (middle) 2017)
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