Hope for our Hearts

Today would be my Dad’s 95th birthday. This is the second one without him here.

He loved birthdays, and family, and being the center (and life) of the party.

To say our family misses him is an understatement.

My Dad taught me so many things, but one thing stands out to me in this year of hard things —Dad taught us to count the blessings.

He lived this way
and it changed things.

A few years ago, I sat with Dad in the hospital as he lay waiting for his blood thinners to get out of his system so his surgeon could work on his fractured hip. His arm was also broken from the fall and in a sling.

He would drift off to sleep, but every little movement would cause him to cry out in pain. He even asked one of my sons to tie him to the hospital bed so he couldn’t move as he slept.

It’s was hurt-your-heart hard to watch.

But I also watched my Daddy, thank every person he came in contact with for their care for him.

I listened as he told me how beautiful his hospital room was and how nice those people were to him.

Despite his pain, he still managed to find reasons to be grateful.

And I realize, once again, it’s true….Gratefulness is a powerful weapon that defeats the enemy.

As we look for, and call out the blessings, in even the hardest of situations, our hearts glimpse the eternal, where pain and suffering are no more.

We remind ourselves, and the evil one, that death, and sickness, and sorrow have been defeated, and what troubles us now, will one day be swallowed up in rivers of joy.

RIVERS of JOY!

Forever. Forever, for those who know call on the Lord as Savior.

Those aren’t just words. It’s truth. It’s help-you-get-through-your-stuff hope. For right now -on this side of Heaven.

As the hospital doctor left dad’s room that day a few years back, the doctor told my dad to “have a good day” to which Dad responded, “Yes, Jesus has really been with me.”

And friends, knowing that, remembering that, changes everything.

And as I miss my Dad today, I will count my blessings like he taught me to do—because Jesus really is with my Daddy. And with me and all those who know Him as Savior —today and for eternity. ❤️

Kimjaggers.com