During my wife’s recent surgery and subsequent hospitalization due to complications (see posts here and here), our marriage grew based on a conversation that we had never had in all the years we were married.
In the evening and early morning before I rushed her to the ER, she had held back something from me. She had been thinking that each time she closed her eyes would be her last and that she would wake up in heaven. She wasn’t ready to die but she was at peace in her faith knowing where she was going and knowing that she and I would be reunited in Christ in heaven. Now that’s not to say that it wouldn’t suck for me and it would be terrible for the kids. If she were to have died it would have had a huge impact to our family. However, she and I are confident in the fact that God would get us through that valley and we would see each other again when we came home to Jesus.
Interestingly, I had also held something back from her. I saw her limp, crumpled, bloodied body on the floor of our master bedroom that early Valentine’s Day and, as I drove her to the ER, I did not know if I would be driving her home. She was in terrible shape. However, while I definitely did not want her to die, I was confident in her faith and my faith in Christ that we would be reunited at home in heaven. Her departure would resonate indefinitely in our family impacting each of us deeply. But God would get us through it and we were not without hope — we would see each other again based on our faith in Christ.
We did not reveal those experiences with each other until several days after she returned home. But the conversation and marriage growth that resulted was incredible. We had never talked about death or the loss of either one of us before. That tends to be a topic that most of us relegate to the back dark corner hoping that if we don’t think about it, it won’t happen. But the freedom and hope we both felt after that conversation was truly perspective changing. And while we cannot dismiss the impact to our children, we are both now in better places mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I can only hope that others have this same faith confidence in Christ with their cherished relationships.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
