We were just standing there talking as I dried her hair….
Suddenly, a shadow passed across her face, as she turned her head away from me.
I called her: “Honey. Honey? Honey!”
She didn’t respond and her body became dead weight in my arms as she went down.
The next few minutes were a blur as we called 911 and attempted to explain what we could not understand. How do you convey that your daughter was just fine a moment ago, and now she’s unresponsive and completely dead weight in your arms?
And how do you attempt to stay calm when you aren’t sure if she will draw another breath?
Suddenly, I realized that her life was out of my hands and that my heart was begging God to bring her back, while waiting for the ambulance.
After just a few seconds, she opened her eyes. She had no recollection of how she got out of the bathroom and into the living room, and she never heard us calling her.
Within just a few minutes, the angels arrived.
They weren’t wearing white robes and halos, though.
These angels had on dark clothing, latex gloves, they carried stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs and came with a truck full of equipment that could be used to save her life if necessary.
The explanation from the emergency workers was that maybe she’d been too hot between the low-grade fever, the warm bathtub and time spent drying her hair. Her body attempted to cool her off but wasn’t able to properly combat the heat, resulting in her passing out. A follow-up visit to the doctor the next morning confirmed that. The nurse found an additional infection which we were able to treat easily, and our girl has been on the mend.
My real-life situation gave me a new perspective on our spiritual lives.
We are given countless opportunities to speak into people’s lives. We were made for community - to need, and thrive from, relationships with one another.
As Christians, we have the benefit of being able to share about the most important relationship - the one with Jesus Christ.
We have many chances to talk, to interact, to share truth. Every day we cross paths with people who need to hear about the hope we have in Jesus.
What we don’t often consider is that the words we say to someone may be the last words they hear.
We don’t know when a life will come to an end. We don’t know when God will turn the last page of someone’s life.
As a mother who stood over her daughter’s body, I willed her to hear my voice, to come back to me.
As a heavenly Father, don’t you think God does that, too?
The Lord is…not willing that any should perish.
II Peter 3:9
Consider how many people you see each day - at the grocery store, at your child’s school, church, at a job outside the home, wherever your day may take you.
Now, I’m not saying that you have to talk about Jesus with every person you see, but consider how your actions, your expressions, your thoughtfulness can bless someone.
You are interacting with a child of your heavenly Father. If the person is a believer, that’s fantastic - we’ll have eternity with them.
If the person is not a Christian, though, they have a heavenly Father standing over them, wanting them to come back to Him - much like I waited for my daughter to return to me.
The Father has a love that is so great that He sent His Son to die for us, providing a way for us to come back to Him.
How great the Father’s love for us!
And we have the opportunity to share that love with others - in word, in deed, in kindness.
Like the first responders who came to my house, prepared to fight for life, we are first responders in the lives of others. We have the key to life - to everlasting life.
[bctt tweet=”We are first responders in the lives of others. We have the key to LIFE! “]
Friends, let’s fight for life this week. Let’s remember that this world here is not our home. One day the Lord will turn the last page in our story.
I hope these thoughts are an encouragement to you; they have stayed with me since the night the angels came.
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