Sunday, September 4, 2011
A man's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed.
The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit.
"I guess you were expecting me," he said. "No, who are you?" said the father.
The minister told him his name and then remarked, "I see the empty chair
I figured you knew I was going to show up." "Oh yeah, the chair," said the bed ridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the minister shut the door.

"I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man.
"But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest."

"Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised, "I'll be with you always." Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right now."

"So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon. "Did he die in peace?" he asked. "Yes, and when I left the house about two o' clock, he called me over to his bedside and told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?" The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we could all go like that."





I know some of you may think that this post is very sad..But it is not. It is uplifting. When Peggy told us of the story behind the 2 chairs, and her cherished trips to Aruba with her husband, I was saddened to think that their final wish didn't play out...And Gods plan is never known to us while we are here in the flesh. I though of this story.
Peggy, thank you for sharing such an intimate part of your life with us. We chose this Layout not only for it's beauty, but for the glorious photo that has so much of a story to tell. It is your story, and we could only speculate what it is. Each layer could be a different chapter in your lives. The map were your worldly travels. The flowers, were the beautiful visions you both saw. The 2 chairs on the beach...contentment...And in the end, that's all that matters. During those glorious times, you were both content.
Thank you for the vision in this wonderful LO. It is beautiful.

4 comments:

Anna C said...

Wonderful story! Beautiful layout too!

Elle said...

That is a really moving story... and the layout is fabulous, makes me think about memories and possibilities, it brings to mind dreams past and future. Thank you so much for sharing.

Lizzyc said...

oh i have just read this.. it is so beautiful.. we don't know how we will leave this earth, but to go in peace is a wonderful blessing.. thank you for sharing this beautiful layout which has such meaning.. it makes me want to put a chair beside my bed! bless you ...

Pendra said...

I had sat many days beside my Mother's bed in her final days... she passed July 31st from breast cancer. And in her final days she talked a lot to someone in the room, we never knew who, maybe...
Thanks for sharing this story, it brought me much peace!

Facebook

Facebook
Be sure to "LIKE & FOLLOW" Swirlydoos for special FB only deals and promos

Pin Us!!

Follow this blog with bloglovin

Follow on Bloglovin

Scrapbook Sketches

Scrapbook Sketches
see all of our sketches here

Grab the Blinkie!

Photobucket

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

Followers

Live Ustream


Live Feed