Story time!
We have gone to see this one man we call “Mr. T” about 3 times.
Mr. T’s neck, arms, and head are sooo skinny. His head is so small that you can see the veins on the side of his skull. His legs and feet are a little swollen but still have no fat on them, and his stomach is HUGE, filled with fluids not fat.
The first time we went to see him, we prayed for him and the pastor we were with, preached to him a little bit and gave him a Christian salvation bracelet. Every time we saw him after that, he was still wearing the bracelet 🙂
We hoped he would be getting better but every time we went to see him, he looked a little worse.
At first he could still get out of his hammock to pee, but the last time we went, he had a funnel running from his hammock to the bathroom. Obviously he couldn’t get up and pee anymore. The last time we saw him, he had open sores on his stomach. Since his stomach was filling with so much fluid, his skin would stretch and itch and he would scratch his skin away. It looked very painful.
He was asleep when we got there, so we prayed for him while he was still sleeping. Then he woke up and we sang some praise songs and prayed for him again while he was awake, before we left. At first it was hard to grasp how we could possibly be singing praise songs over this man’s death bed. Are we thanking God because he is dying in so much pain? I don’t want to thank God for his suffering. I mean, I love God, but to me, singing praise songs was the LAST thing I wanted to be doing. Instead of praying for healing or for less suffering and more peace… instead of that, we were telling The Lord how awesome he is for this man dying painfully? How twisted is that?
The last time we saw him, the three children from our house came too. A 13 year old girl named Sok Na, a 10 year old boy named Enad, and a 5 year old girl named Sunna. I’m glad they came, but they couldn’t possibly grasp the severity of his condition.
At one point while we were singing worship songs, Sunna found a piece of chalk and one of my teammates was wearing black shorts, so clearly Sunna thought that her butt was the perfect surface to draw a chalk picture! Sunna would laugh so carelessly, and then I would look over at Mr. T, barely able to keep his eyes open as he is deteriorating in his hammock.
Even though this man is dying before my eyes, I couldn’t help but smile as I looked at the little girl. What a bipolar situation!
Then it dawned on me. This is just the cycle of life. We are born into this world knowing that we are going to die. At one point in Mr. T’s life, he was the little boy playing and laughing so carelessly, and at some point I could be the old woman suffering on my death bed.
All I can hope for is that I enjoy my life to the fullest, while I still have it. My childhood is already gone. I’ve already completed that part of my life, and thanks to my wonderful parents… I had many moments of carefree laughter. I had a fantastic childhood! Now it’s up to me to enjoy the rest of my life, before I find myself suffering on my death bed.
About 3 days after we left Mr. T, we were told that he passed away.
I still don’t understand why God found it necessary for him to die painfully, but The Lord has a reason for everything and I’m not meant to understand it all. I just hope that Mr. T really enjoyed his life while we was still able to.
Too often we think negatively. We think about what God takes away, I shouldn’t be upset with God that Mr. T died (everyone’s going to die) I should be thankful that He gave Mr. T all of his healthy years to live.
Let’s be honest here… All of us deserve to die and go to Hell. Thankfully for God’s grace, some of us get to live long and happy lives and then when we die, we get to go to Heaven with Him! How cool! So instead of being angry with God that people are dying, we should be thankful that they got to live in the first place.
I intend to fully enjoy my life while I still have it because The Lord has every right to take me off this earth whenever He wants. I LOVE BEING ALIVE! I love laughing and smiling every single day. I love my experiences and the people I’m friends with and related to. I love it all 🙂 … but the day I die will be the happiest day of my life! <3
