Dec 1, 2025 – Breathe
As I walked down the hall this morning, from our bedroom to the kitchen, a sudden bright glow appeared in the dining room, and I knew it was Daddy’s digital frame waking up for the day. The image that greeted me was one of the sayings/quotations that I’d put on there to hopefully inspire him each day whether he was in his room or a hospital room:
“I BREATHE IN CALMNESS & BREATHE OUT WORRY.”
JC – “I love you with an everlasting love, which flows out from the depths of eternity. Before you were born, I knew you. Ponder the awesome mystery of a love that encompasses you from before birth to beyond the grave. Modern man has lost the perspective of eternity.” We spend our lives celebrating our birthdays not knowing when the end here will come. My faith has grown through the years, keeping eternity on my radar, but my perspective came more into focus those last weeks of my father’s life.
For most of my life, I suppose eternity was perhaps more of a concept than a reality. Young points out, “To distract himself from the gaping jaws of death, he engages in ceaseless activity and amusement.” In these last months since my father’s death, as I’ve seen photos of family and friends who have passed, it has hit me that we know birth and death dates now for them. Their time here is done; and, until some time goes by and the busy-ness of life creeps in again after their passings, I find myself wondering what they now know.
As with everyone else in the world, I’ve experienced the deaths of loved ones; but, I’ve never sat vigil like I (and my sister Mary Beth and my friend Vicki and Daddy’s dear friend Pat) did with him. Many kind and caring people kept up with us through calls, texts, and visits but the four of us had the privilege of being beside him, literally holding his hand all day and all night, as he moved further from his home here with us toward his eternal home. Young continues in God’s voice, “The practice of being still in My Presence is almost a lost art, yet it is this very stillness that enables you to experience My eternal Love.”
I didn’t orchestrate the conditions of those last weeks that allowed us all this kind of stillness. God did. Leading up to those days and weeks, though, I felt like I was quite distracted by decisions and responsibilities; but, I believe that I was just going through the doors that God was opening before me setting the scene for Daddy’s beautiful homecoming, and my perspective change. Breathe in. Breathe out. Young concludes today with, “During times of severe testing, even the best theology can fail you if it isn’t accompanied by experiential knowledge of Me. The ultimate protection against sinking during life storms is devoting time to develop your friendship with Me.”
Utmost – “There’s only one way in which I can get right with God, and that is by the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the lurking idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience – which of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!… In one mood we wish He would make us do the thing, and in another mood we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in the ascendant, all compulsion is gone. When we choose deliberately to obey Him, then, with all His almighty power, He will tax the remotest star and the last grain of sand to assist us.”
Power – Proverbs 19:11 NIV – “A man’s wisdom gives him patience.” Joyce writes, “Wisdom tells us to wait a little while…. Emotions urge us toward haste…. But godly wisdom tells us to be patient and wait until we have a clear picture of what we are to do and when we are to do it. I like to say it like this: Let emotions subside and then decide…. step back from our situations and see them from God’s perspective.” Breathe in. Breath out.
Streams – Hebrews 4:9 – “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.”
Cowman tells this story, “A prominent believer once told of his mother, who was a very anxious and troubled Christian…. He would often talk with her for hours, trying to convince her of the sinfulness of worrying, but to no avail. She was like the elderly woman who once said that she had suffered a great deal, especially from the troubles that never came. Then one morning his mother came to breakfast with a smile adorning her face. He asked her what had happened, and she began describing a dream she had in the night. In her dream she was walking along the highway with a large crowd of people, all of whom seemed very tired and burdened. The people were all carrying little black bundles, and she noticed that more bundles were being dropped along the way by numerous repulsive-looking creatures that seemed quite demonic in nature. As the bundles were dropped, the people stooped down to pick them up and carry them.
Like everyone else in her dream, she also carried her needless load, being weighed down with the devil’s bundles. After a while she looked up and saw a Man whose face was loving and bright as He moved through the crowd comma comforting the people. Finally He came to her, and she realized it was her Savior. She looked at him, telling Him how tired she was, and He smiled sadly and said, ‘My dear child, these bundles you carry are not from me, and you have no need of them…. drop them and simply refuse to touch them….’ The Savior touched her hand, and peace and joy quickly filled her soul…. she suddenly awoke, finding that all her worries were gone. From that day forward to the end of her life, she was the most cheerful and happy member of her family.”
Breathe in; breathe out.
