Saturday, January 29, 2011

It is well with our soul

Romans 10:9- That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead thou shalt be saved. (KJV)

My mother in law is 90 years old, in eleven minutes she will turn 91.  She has dementia and 6 years ago she had a stroke that left her paralyzed on one side.  She resides in a beautiful facility in near Anaheim, Ca.  We go visit her often, we never really know if she knows us or even knows that we are there, but that doesn't matter to us.  For 6 years her bed as been her home.  She is put in a wheelchair and rolled out into the hallway once a day and she is faithfully turned every 2 hours by such hard working caring servants- (evidenced by not one bed sore in 6 years of being confined to the bed!)  Each day her food is the same. Pureed food thickened to a "honey" consistency.  I often feed her and I will usually taste the food just to get some idea of what she is served 3 times a day.  I personally would get sick of it after 1 or 2 meals- but she has been eating it 3 times  a day for 6 years!  Yesterday we got a phone call that she was throwing up and then things just kind of snowballed.  It looks like some of the gastric contents got into her lungs when she was vomiting and now she has what looks like an "aspiration pneumonia".  This is not good.  We just got home from spending the day with her and she looks perhaps the worst I've ever seen her.  We got ready to leave, and I looked at her closely, not so sure I would see her alive again this side of heaven.  We laid hands on her and my husband prayed.  One thing for sure- It is well with our soul because it is well with her soul!  We know that if the Lord called her name tonight, she would enter into an eternity with Jesus Christ, her Savior!  I believe that body that has laid in a bed for 6 years will soon be leaping on streets of gold.  The paralyzed body that denied her the privilege to kneel before the King of Kings or sing praises to His name will soon give way to a new body that will give her that freedom and privilege.  The pureed thickened "food" that has filled her plate for 6 years will not be on the menu in heaven.  No one will come to turn her every 2 hours for she will be able to somersault and turn cartwheels down the mainstreets of her heavenly home!

I know that her loved ones here will face a loss but we will also rejoice knowing she ran the race and crossed the finish line!  All because of Jesus!! And because of that day when she invited Him into her heart.  She confessed with her mouth the Lord Jesus and believed in her heart that God raised Him from the dead.  At that moment she passed from death unto life.  Don't miss out on eternal life.  Invite the Lord into your heart today.  Then you, too, can truly say "It is well with my soul"