You just never know!
My father was a musical savant. He could hear a song one time, then play it from memory on the organ, piano, or accordion. I think that is where I got my love for music, as I would sit on the organ bench with him and watch him play for hours. He played old songs from, the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. One of the songs he would play was; A Tip Tip Tippy Canoe. We would sing and carry on like we didn’t have a care in the world.
Fast forward twenty years to flooded fields in Kouts, due to an unseasonable week of warm weather, melting all the snow. Because the ground was frozen, run off was the only possible scenario for all that melting snow, thus, the flood. The temperatures dipped back to the normal below freezing leaving us with a 20 acre ice skating rink! COOL! Our friends were down with their two kids, and we all went skating until we were nearly frozen. We came home to dry the wet snow suits, mittens and hats, and made hot chocolate to drink in front of the roaring fire. Could life get any better?
Well, some people are never satisfied with the simpler things in life, so my husband and our friend said, “hey, the water is still coming in over the dyke, let’s take the canoe out and check it out.” Our friend’s wife said, “Absolutely not!” but it fell on deaf ears and they snuck out with the canoe anyway. We were so busy with the children we didn’t notice the time slip by. It was nearly dark when two wet, nearly frozen men came limping up to the house. Carol was in tears when she saw them and madder than a wet hen because, one, she told Paul not to go, and two, he got his brand new leather boots soaking wet. After we got the men changed into non-frozen clothing, the story began to unfold. They canoed all over the farm, then at the end decided to shoot the rapids the breach in the dyke provided. All went well, until they became unbalanced (finding themselves in a tippy canoe) and flipped the canoe into the freezing water. Paul was an excellent swimmer, so he just paddled to berm sticking out of the water next to a tree. My husband was caught in the current under the canoe. He can do the doggy paddle in a very still pool, but this was an ice-cold eddy, and his limbs were getting quickly numb. He managed to flip over the canoe, and hang on a little better, but was losing the use of his legs. “Paul, you better do something, I can’t hang on much longer.” So Paul dove in and drug the canoe to the berm. They only could find one paddle, so Paul sat in the front of the canoe, while my husband paddled the canoe out of danger. They drug the canoe where it would not be in any danger of floating away, and walked the half mile home, having their clothes freeze to them on the way.
Because they made it home safe we could laugh at their antics, but it could have turned out badly for both our families. Carol had two boys and I had two boys and two girls, which would have lost their fathers, and we, our husbands. What would we have done without the men who took pride in providing for their families? I am sure many families have faced such dilemmas. I am thankful that they were spared that day and didn’t catch pneumonia after. Unfortunately there was a causality, Paul put his new leather boots in front of the fire to dry out and they curled up like elf shoes. His wife was not happy about that either, but that is a story for another time!
I am very solid in my faith that when I die I will go to heaven, because I made the choice as a young girl to put my trust in Jesus Christ as my redemption from sin. But in the early years of my marriage, I am not sure where my husband’s convictions had taken him. Would I not only spend the rest of this life without him, but eternity also? Since those early days, I am assured that I am in a lifetime commitment with the guy now, and will be with him for eternity also. You never know when you will be called to give up your soul. How many of you are ready if it were this very minute?
As parents we need to teach our children to learn the Word of God from the time they are small so they can make a decision about their eternal life. We never dreamed we would be burying one of our children, but because Jason was given the building blocks of Christian faith, he made the decision to be saved as a young boy. So I will be reunited with him for eternity also. Do you want to spend eternity with your children? How are you preparing them for that time?
We as authors love to get our teeth into a juicy scene like a near death experience. In our writing it is great, not so much when you are living through it. Are you prepared to write your epitaph, will your address change be in heaven?
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luke 12:19-20
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mark 8: 36-37
And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
John 8:24
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Ecclesiastics 12:7
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
John 5:28-29