God Holds On To Us
The short excerpt is by Joe Novenson, and the Scripture is John 10:27-28 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
I have an acquaintance who has died now named David Ireland. I wish that he was a friend, but I did not have enough time to get to know him. When David was married, he wanted very much to have children and just after he found out his wife was pregnant he found out that he had a disease like Lou Gehrig s disease that would quickly sap his physical ability. It started with just dragging his left foot, and then soon increasingly he could not walk. He found part of the use of his hands disappearing and his body just began to shut down. It happened very quickly, and he began to think; I am going to die before my baby is born, so he started writing letters to an unborn child. He realized, I may not ever be able to see my kid, so I have got to parent him or her before I die. He started writing these letters, and I want to tell you just about one of them. His wife published them after he died, and it is called Letters To An Unborn Child.
In it he tries to introduce his baby boy to his mother, and he says, My child, I want you to know what your mother is like. She is absolutely incredible, and I think that I can make it clear to you by just telling you what happens when we go out to eat at night. When we go out to a restaurant, this is what she has to do. Because I am a quadriplegic now and in a wheelchair she has to bathe me, dress me, empty the urine and fecal bags that are strapped to my legs, then put me in the wheelchair, drive me out to the garage, open the garage, open the door, get out a board, pull up the arm on my chair, slide me across the board, put me in the car, put down the arm, fold up the chair, open the trunk, put in the chair, close the trunk, close the door, get in the car, back it out, close the garage door, and drive to the restaurant. When we get there the whole process is reversed. We sit down at a table, she feeds me, wipes the drool from my mouth because I can barely eat, gets up, pays the check, and then the whole process is reversed again. Go out to the car, open the door, take off the arm, put down the board, slide me across, put down the arm, fold up the chair, go to the back, open the trunk, put up the chair, close the trunk, get in the car, drive. Get to the garage, up goes the garage door, everything else reversed, take me in, clean me, empty the fecal and urine bags, bathe me, put me in my pajamas, and lays me in my bed. He says, Son, these are her last words to me. Thank you honey for taking me out to eat tonight.
The Bible says that when we get to heaven God is going to say, Well done good and faithful servant, and I think that I am going to feel like Dave Ireland. I am like a quadriplegic! When I get there it will not be because I held onto God but because He held onto me. He deals with the worst parts of me when I disobey and get scared and want to give up, but He does not let me go.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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