"For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." 1 John 3:20
"Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Matthew 6:8
The hardest thing I ever had to do was to leave my dad at the rehab facility. He was brought from the hospital in the evening; I met the ambulance there to help my dad become acclimated with his new "home." He's 90 years old, blind in one eye, survivor of a stroke, has dementia and, now, a fracture in his spine. My heart went out to him, this hero of mine, now so feeble and lost. The very sum of the surroundings and the futility of the situation weighed heavily on my soul like a sinister fog.
He won't be able to return to his home, the humble place that's been his since the 1950s. Will never again sit at the round, oak table he'd refinished, where our family had countless gatherings. He can no longer read the classics, research a topic in the encyclopedias or even go upstairs, for that matter.
Now garbed in an ugly hospital gown and in need of a shave, I have to leave him in the care of complete strangers in this glaring, yellow room. The flourescent light outlined the homliness of the place and the direness of life. My heart sank.
Then the fog lifted and the light of God shone through my depression as He reminded me: "I am your dad's Heavenly Father. This man is not lost to me; I know exactly where he is because he is my son. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. Your dad's name, Russell, is written on the palm of my hand - he is mine and I am his."
I went home and slept like a child - a child of God.
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