Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. Matthew 4:23 NIV

Hospice interrupted our drawings. Five and three-year-old fingers gripped Crayola’s while Dad was slipping away. He only had hours and I needed to go. But what do I tell my grandchildren? How do you explain you’re saying good-bye to your dad without frightening them?

They’d already experienced the loss of their grandmother less than a year ago, so they were familiar with good-byes. I wish I could spare them, but these kids are inquisitive and intuitive. While I fumbled for my shoes and waited for their dad to arrive, they asked the question.

“Where are you going Grams?”

“I’ve got to go say good-bye to my Daddy.”

“Where’s he going?”

Gulp! “He’s going to heaven.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s very sick.”

I would have appreciated a simple, “Oh” and been done with it, but my grandkids are smart (just like yours).

“But (my sister) prayed for me when I was sick and Jesus made me better,” he said.

I love how he knows this – how Jesus heals when we pray. I love that he expects the healing, but with my mind preoccupied with Dad’s home-going I found myself almost annoyed. After all how do you explain that God never planned death; that we were meant to live forever until we made bad choices and those choices bring consequences? That sin always leads to death – naturally and supernaturally? How do you explain that to a little boy and girl so they can comprehend it?

I breathed a desperate prayer and the words came. “Well, sometimes when we’re old we get very broken – so broken that only Jesus’ hands can fix us. And, the only way Jesus can fix us when we’re that broken is to take us to heaven.” What? I looked around the room and wondered who said all that.

“Oh,” they said.

I think I needed that conversation more than they did.

After battling COPD for twenty-nine years, my dad succumbed to the disease. He was so very broken, but aware that this world was not his home. As much as he would have loved to stay and watch his family grow, he was ready for Jesus’ healing hands.

Blessings,