We all have someone in our lives who we look up to. Someone who made you the person you are and taught you so many valuable lessons.
For me that person has always been my Papa, and if you know me at all you know how much he means to me.
From the time I was really young he simply became my person.
He has always believed in me and told me to never to give up on my dreams.
Eventually he taught me the game that I’m still to this day in love with, golf. That was something we always shared together.
To put it short he was and still is my hero and best friend.
Over 3 years ago I lost him to esophageal cancer.
It was definitely hard at the time, but God still used it and turned it around for His good.
Even though I know how proud of me he would be, I still wonder what he would say if he knew where I was in life now.
I still think about him often, but I don’t let myself as much as I would like simply because I know how hard it will be for me.
Until the last night of debrief…
During worship that night, Hope (our squad mentor) came up to me and said, “I just feel like the Lord is wanting me to tell you how pleased He is with you. He’s smiling down at His daughter right now because He is so pleased with all you are and what you are doing.”
That in itself was pretty awesome, but God had another moment in store for me.
After worship my teammate, Alissa, told us that there was a family that they had been talking to and the lady wanted us to come pray for her and this man who had been sick for a long time.
So of course, we went.
When I first walked in there I was very nervous, I realized I had never prayed for healing like this before.
As we began praying for this man I was becoming more and more overwhelmed by the Spirit.
Then I realized what was wrong with this man, his whole left side was practically paralyzed that kept him from moving much and he had an infection in his throat that kept him from eating or talking.
As I continued praying, it hit me…my Papa was sick in almost the same manner.
It immediately took me back to the last month of his life where he was unable to eat, communicate, or even move much.
Tears streamed down my face as I remembered my Papa like that.
I didn’t want to be there anymore.
I took a step back away from the man and everyone.
God still wanted me there.
As I stood in the back continuing to pray the man had woken up and began to sit up in his bed.
Once he saw how many people were around him praying, one of the greatest smiles I’ve seen overwhelmed his face and joy was in him.
He then also started joking about how strong his right side was by showing us his muscles.
Tears streamed down my face again, but this time in joy, because this also reminded me of my Papa.
I stepped back into the midst of everyone and continued praying for this man once again.
As I was doing this the Lord gave me a vision of my Papa in Heaven looking down on me with one of his unforgettable huge smiles on his face.
Then I realized my Papa was standing next to the Lord and they were both looking down on me smiling and saying, “We are both so pleased with you.”
I began hearing my Papa say that he was also praying for this man and that the man would be healed in God’s time just as my Papa was now healed in Heaven.
The Lord began showing me that my Papa had been renewed and that He was not in pain anymore but that he was simply rejoicing with Him.
I even got an image of my Papa hitting a golf ball just to prove how much he had been healed.
Before my Papa passed away I begged with the Lord for him to be healed, I was a little upset when I thought it didn’t happen.
But that night I was shown that it did happen, maybe not here on earth, but God still healed him!
Through all of this I knew that the man we had been praying for would soon be completely healed too, whether we actually saw it or not.
Because even if he wasn’t fully restored now he would be in Heaven and that’s what truly matters.
I love how this event with the Lord wasn’t even originally meant to be about me, but He still used it to speak to me and to give me confirmation about what I had always wondered about my Papa.
How beautiful it was to hear from my Papa and the Lord that they are both so pleased with who I am becoming and what I’m doing.
Life on the race may not always be what I expect, but it is always so good.
