It was in a hospital. The head nurse had seen both young and old struggling in the agony of pain and the fear deep within their souls. She had observed people from all walks of life and various beliefs as they prepared themselves for that decisive final step.
Among her memories there was one that moved her heart more deeply than all the others. A mother had come with her seriously ill child. Poor mother! Like a sacrificial lamb the child lay on the examination table. The doctor touched the delicate little body which she would have preferred never to let go from her motherly hands. One could see how her mother’s heart suffered during the examination. Yet she remained calm and composed. The doctor almost found it harder to maintain his composure when he came to her after the examination.
“It is as I feared,” he said. “There is no hope in this case. An operation might ease the pain somewhat, but the surgery cannot save her.”
The mother’s face became a shade paler, but she kept her composure. The doctor thought he had never seen such courage as on the face of this woman. She went into the room where her only child was already lying in bed again and slowly coming out of the anesthesia. She knelt down beside the bed. Now she could no longer hold back the tears. But she buried her head so deeply in the pillow that the little one could not see her. Once she had received her child from the Lord as a precious gift. Now she needed to be ready to lay it back into His arms again.
But could she truly say from her heart, “Your will be done”? Life without her beloved child? “Lord, give me strength to bow under Your will! Give me strength to make the last path easy for my little one!” She still had much to say to the Lord. The fact that she had long ago given Him her heart and life, everything she had—that helped her in this terrible struggle.
“Mommy!” The dear eyes opened. The blond little head lifted from the white pillow. The mother was ready for her final, difficult task as a mother. Quickly she brushed away the final tear and forced the smile she had asked God to give her.“Mommy, what happened to me? I slept, but it was different than usual.”
“If you only knew, dear, what I must tell you! Something so beautiful! What would you say if it was suddenly Christmas now in the middle of summer?”
“Is that possible, Mommy?”
“No. But you are going to experience something far more beautiful. I have a real surprise for you.”
“Mommy, tell me quickly!”
For a moment she hesitated. Wasn’t this beyond her strength? But she had resolved that her little one should go toward death with the bright joy of a child. Certainly, it was beyond her strength—but she had a Helper. She held fast to the One she could not see as if she saw Him.
“Mommy!” The little voice sounded impatient.
“Just think—Jesus wants you to come to heaven. You know that it is much more beautiful there.”
“Oh Mommy, then I will see Jesus Himself, won’t I? And the angels!” Never had she seen her child’s eyes shine so happily.
“Yes, dear—perhaps in eight days.”
“Mommy, if I wake up now and you say I only dreamed it, that would not be a good story! But, Mommy, it is really true, isn’t it?”
The little girl did not notice how her mother’s voice trembled as she said, “It is really true, my child.”
She had not been mistaken. Her child was already “at home” in heaven. In the short time she had been able to raise her, she had led the child’s soul so near to the best Friend of children that this little one could imagine nothing more beautiful than going to Him.
“Mommy, only seven more sleeps—or was it eight? And then heaven?”
The mother’s heart tightened painfully. But the child laughed her bright, cheerful child’s laugh.
“Well, it’s so nice to hear such joyful laughter in here,” the nurse said as she walked in. Quietly she thought, How good that a child doesn’t have to understand how close death is. But that wasn’t the case.
“Have you heard already? I’m going to be with Jesus!” And once again, the child’s bright laughter filled the room.
The nurse was speechless. The child’s laughter, together with the quiet strength in the pale mother’s face, moved her so deeply that she quickly stepped out of the room.
These Christians are remarkable, she thought. So full of joy and strength. If only we could save this woman’s child…
“Mommy, will you come too?” The mother had feared this question. Oh, if only she could have said yes!
“A little later, my love.” She tried to smile.
“That will be so special. Then you can come to the door when I arrive. And you can show me everything.” – Oh, the power of a mother’s love!
If only the day had not come when she had to bring her child to the door of the operating room!
“Mommy, now?” That question—asked with shining eyes—was the last thing she heard from the bright little voice.
“My child, Jesus will come very soon now,” she answered slowly.
Later, as her child lay in the coffin, a smile of joy rested on her small face, born from a confident hope of meeting the Savior. The long-suppressed grief in the mother’s heart finally broke forth. Yet she walked bravely to the door through which her child had gone.
For the head nurse, it felt as though she had been given a glimpse into an unknown world. And in the years that followed, whenever patients lay in the hospital struggling between life and death, she would sometimes share this most precious and sacred memory—a faith radiant like the sun, a courage strong enough to fill even the darkest valley with light.
From “God’s Garden”
Be the first to comment