My Testimony: Dad Issues, Part 2

I go to Denver by train. I arrive on a freezing December morning. A friend of my dad's met me and we went straightaway to his hospital bed. He is in a semi-coma, and had been in one for weeks. He couldn't talk, do or say anything. But I was told he could hear me. I knew he was dying, and I say something. He opens his eyes and grunts an acknowledgement of me.

That was all it took. The floodgates open: I cry and tell him I forgive him and that I love him. I let it all out and speak from a heavy heart. I then tell him go on... to heaven. I tell him he can stop holding on, waiting for me, because I am here now. I don't know why I said all this, I just did. It was all very quick. The next morning we got a call from the hospital that he died.

We to the hospital to see his body and make the final preparations. That was
quite difficult, but I also kept having feelings of peace that my dad was in a better
place. This kept me going. Our friend was very grief-stricken, but he had known
about my dad's situation for months. It seemed that I was able to console him and
drew from some well of faith I didn't know I had.

That morning, while viewing the body, I was given a few moments alone. I did not know what to say. I just looked up at the ceiling, thinking that that was where
my father's spirit had gone. The main thing was that for the first time I had a

curiosity about what happens to someone when when they die. I had read about
near-death experiences and new some of what the Bible had to say... but I was pretty cynical about alot of things until this point in my life.

For years I has not really understood the need for a father in my life. I thought I could get by without him, just like my mother and siblings appeared to. And now with my father gone, I suddenly realized such an important part was missing.

So, as I was sitting in the hospital room, then and there I made a decision to really seek out what happens after death: to understand this process. At the same time, such feelings of peace and calmness were all over me. It was strange, these feelings. I later learned that they were the presence of God. The Holy Spirit was comforting me, drawing me to Him, the Heavenly Father, that I really needed. I did not know God personally yet, but knew something was happening.

Within the month, I became close friends with this Christian girl who witnessed to me and encouraged me: helped me move on. She showed such great faith in Jesus Christ even though she had difficult trials in her life. I wanted this for myself, and came to know that this was for real.

That summer, after reading the Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) in the Bible, I got down on my knees and asked Christ to come into my heart and life, forgive my sins, and make me into His child. No magic, no bells or thunder were heard from heaven, but I knew that God did something that day in August.

It took a tragedy the previous December for me to realize my need for God. My loss of my earthly father made me see my need for our Eternal Father. I will always be thankful to God above for showing me this, even through a tragedy. And I wish to share with everyone how God used this experience to change me forever. Amen!