As Calvin declined in strength and awareness so did his appetite and my hours were spent working with the "angels" at the Tennessee State Veterans Home to meet his physical needs. As we worked together to get him to eat or communicate or just to keep him comfortable, God gave us such favor with everyone. People were drawn to us and each one seemed to work extra hard to take care of us, even though there were at least fifty others on that wing. One nurses aide in particular, Amanda, worked to get Calvin to eat when no one else, including me, could. She would come on her shift at 3:00 pm and by 3:15 she would be in Calvin's room. One day, when he had been particularly lethargic and had not eaten any lunch, smiled or responded to me in several hours, Amanda came on duty! At the sound of her voice, Calvin opened his eyes and smiled. "What's up with that?" I wondered, but that smile thrilled my heart and Amanda's. Calvin was always a big flirt! When Amanda's voice moved him to smile, I knew there was still a little bit of Calvin left in that poor, failing body. Sometimes, to get him to eat, she would tell him he had to keep his strength up so that he could spend time with me. She reported that her comment would always make him try a little harder and I knew that despite his diminishing health there was a heart that still loved me very much.
One point that was reiterated to me during Calvin's long illness and later his death was the fact that we, each of God's human creatures, has a soul/spirit/personality that is eternal. Oh! I knew that factually, but not by experience. When that body dies, there is a very real part of us that lives on throughout eternity. Where is Calvin spending eternity? Where will I spend eternity? Will I see him again? Fifty years is not enough time! More importantly, I want to know that my life partner is now whole and living in peace with Jesus and that I will join them someday!
Where will you spend eternity?
Waiting until life is almost over to that most important is not wise, but more than that it's foolish! Surrendering to the will of God for your life is surrendering to the reason you were created. Calvin made that choice gradually! Just as he made every decision of his life, he thought and pondered until he was convinced that the Word of God was Truth. I've been reading some of his old letters which were written October, 1974 through April, 1975. At that point, he had just gone back to sea duty after a three year break. I think he was feeling pretty insecure about leaving me and became concerned about my faithfulness to our marriage. He decided to pray about it and ask God to confirm the security of relationship with His Word. Later, he wrote that God had led him to some verses in John 14:2 "In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." After quoting those verses in his letter, he said this: "That's it! I'll never doubt your love again and I am looking forward to spending eternity with you." It was 1988, before Calvin committed his life to Christ and I am sure that those verses took on a renewed meaning for him from then on. I found and reread those letters just after he passed away! The Holy Spirit preserved and gave me new assurance with words that were written decades ago. Can you have that sort of comfort about yourself; your loved ones. Don't be caught waiting!
MATTHEW 25: 1-13
Have you read the parable of the ten virgins? If you are curious, you can find it in the Bible. The address is Matthew 25:1-13. (Parable: a short story that uses familiar events to illustrate a religious or ethical point.)
"In the parable of the wise and foolish virgins and the parables surrounding it we see the Lord Jesus preparing His bride for His second coming. In Jesus' day when a man chose a bride an engagement was the same as being married. The bridegroom would pay the father the agreed price to purchase his bride and there would be an engagement party where the bridegroom would make a toast and say these words to his bride to be, 'I go to prepare a place for you in my father's house and I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you will be also.' When the bride took the cup and drank from it she was saying, 'I accept this contract.' The bridegroom then held up the cup and would say these words to his bride, "I will not drink of this cup again till I drink it with you in my father's house. Then he would leave to go and prepare a bridal chamber on his father's house and the bride would not know when the bridegroom would return for her so she had to be ready at all times." (Excerpt from The Bride Adorned for the Wedding, by Ginny Porter.)
Can you see the significance, to me and to Calvin, of this story? I am confident that I will see Calvin again. My confidence is based in Truth. Not the truth as the world sees it, but in the Truth in God's Word.
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