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We are to always remember that God is by our side no matter what we may go
through in life. In the good times and in the bad, we can always rely on
the Lord and trust that He will be there to laugh with us in the good times
and lift us up when we fall down in the tough times. The Bible declares
in Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble.” Friends may leave our side when life gets tough, but the Lord
has made an eternal covenant promising that He will never leave us nor
forsake us. Be encouraged to rest in the goodness of the Lord knowing that
God is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. (Psalm 91:9-16)
I hope this message encourages your heart to remember that with God by your
side all will be well no matter what may be going wrong in your life.
THE VISIT
My dad, Angelo, was in the hospital in Tacoma, Washington. A former Marine
and veteran of the Korean War, he was having his third knee replacement
surgery.
A long and very painful operation was going to be made even worse because
Dad was going through it alone. There was no one to hold his hand, no
familiar soft voices to reassure him. His wife was ill and unable to
accompany him or even visit during his weeklong stay. My sisters and
brother lived in California, and I lived even farther away, in Indiana.
There wasn't even anyone to drive him to the hospital, so he had arrived
that morning by taxi.
The thought of my dad lying there alone was more than I could stand. But
what could I do from here?
I picked up the phone and called information for the Puyallup, Washington,
Marine Corps recruiting station, where I joined the Marines ten years
before. I thought that if I could talk to a Marine and explain the
situation; maybe one of them would visit my dad.
I called the number. A man answered the phone and in a very confident voice
said, “United States Marines, Sergeant Vanes. May I help you?”
Feeling just as certain, I replied, “Sergeant Vanes, you may find this
request a little strange, but this is why I am calling...” I proceeded to
tell him who I was and that my father was also a former Marine and 100
percent disabled from the Korean War. I explained that he was in the
hospital, alone, without anyone to visit and asked if Sergeant Vanes would
please go and see him.
Without hesitation, he answered, “Absolutely.”
Then I asked, “If I send flowers to the recruiting station, would you
deliver them to my dad when you go to the hospital?”
“Ma'am, I will be happy to take the flowers to your dad. I'll give you my
address. You send them, and I will make sure that he receives them,” he
replied.
The next morning, I sent the flowers to Sergeant Vane's office just as we
had planned. I went to work, and that evening, I returned home and phoned
my dad to inquire about his surprise visitor.
If you have ever talked with a small child after that child has just seen
Santa Claus, you will understand the glee I heard in my dad's voice. “I
was just waking up when I thought I saw two Marines in their dress blue
uniforms standing at the foot of my bed,” he told me excitedly. “I thought
I had died and gone to heaven. But they were really there!”
I began to laugh, partly at his excitement, but also because he didn't even
mention his operation. He felt so honored: Two Marines he had never met
took time out to visit an old Marine like him. He told me again and again
how sharp they looked and how all the nurses thought he was so important.
“But how did you ever get them to do that?” he asked me.
“It was easy. We are all Marines, Dad, past and present; it's the bond.”
After hanging up with my dad, I called Sergeant Vanes to thank him for
visiting my dad. And to thank him for the extra things he did to make it
special: wearing his dress blue uniform, bringing another Marine along --
he even took a digital camera with him. He had pictures taken of the two
Marines with my dad right beside his bed. That evening, he e-mailed them
to me so I could see for myself that my dad was not alone and that he was
going to be okay.
As for the flowers, they hardly mattered, but I was glad for the
opportunity to express my feelings. The card read: “Daddy, I didn't want
just anyone bringing you flowers...so I sent the World's Finest. Semper Fi.”
By Tre' M. Barron
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
1 John 4:20-21 “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a
liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love
God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he
who loveth God love his brother also.”
Psalm 16:8-11 “I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my
right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory
rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For Thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at
Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Psalm 147:3-5 “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.
Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite.”
Psalm 118:5-9 “I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me,
and set me in a large place. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear:
what can man do unto me? The LORD taketh my part with them that help me:
therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to
trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in
the LORD than to put confidence in princes.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: THE RIGHT WORDS
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem173.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: JESUS STILLS HEALS TODAY
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony35.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
