MEET ME IN HEAVEN WILL YOU?(Debbie Brooks-Langford) MEET ME IN HEAVEN WILL YOU?

Debbie Jo looked at her sister Rhonda laying on the hospital bed…Her eyes were crying rain for her beloved sister. Her sister was only forty five years old, and she was dying of the dreaded cancer.

Rhonda was too young, it wasn’t fair and she was her best friend. She was so pretty yet still with her long blond hair and beautiful big brown eyes.

She hadn’t looked at Rhonda’s eyes since she had been in the hospital room at her side dying. Debbie Jo sat beside her sister’s bed holding her hand, crying and praying. Her heart was breaking.

Rhonda was leaving three children; two sons and a small eleven year old daughter Natalie. It was heart breaking to see their parent’s suffering. Debbie Jo was the oldest of nine children and Rhonda was one of the middle children. They had been a close family with five girls and four boys.

She sits beside the bed, singing softly and believing, just believing that Jesus would save her sister and make her whole. Her sister Bobbie came in bringing some sweet ice tea and along with Bobbie was her sweet sister in law, Kim Brooks. They took turns sitting with Rhonda.

How could this be happening to her sweet sister? ‘If kisses were water, I will give you the sea, if hugs were leaves; I will give you the forest. If friendship was life, I'll give you mine. Quite simply I love you my sister.” Her tears were falling on her sister’s arm; Love is what makes you family, not just blood.

Fear not my child, I'm with you always. I feel every pain and every tear. I see and I know how to care for what belongs to me ~ God

“My Lord do you hear me now? My Lord, I need you now.”

Life is a precious thing; you never know when you're going to lose it. Live life while you can, because you never know which second is going to be your last. And my sister was losing hers.

Then the other sister Margaret showed up in the room with her tears.

They stood around the bed holding hands singing “Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound”, “How Great thou art”, “My Sweet Lord, Came down and touched my Soul”. All the while still believing and never doubting Jesus would make their sister whole.

They thought of a thousand reasons and a thousand gifts that Jesus would let her live.

We recalled the Bibles words, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for HIS appearing”.

As she sat looking to heaven; to the wonderful word of God, She realized the need she had for HIM, dreaming of heaven, dreaming of promises; the owner, SON OF GOD, a trillion gifts… with blessed assurance.

The baby, the Light, and the night; are making our journey which one day will end. A realistic HOPE…Perhaps disappointed dreams; our best opportunities to transfer; it’s Hope to its rightful place. Heaven is our biggest dreams. We need help to make it through the here and now without placing a burden on the present that was never meant to be. Just knowing that JESUS is our reality and that Jesus is our heaven. If we let him, HE serves to carry us the rest of JOURNEY.

As we pray our prayers, sometimes our dreams seem so unreachable. But our growing up is realizing less of dreams but rather knowing JESUS makes our dreams a reality.

‘Rhonda, I have loved you, your heart always spoke to mine in the hurting I know so well. I am no angel but I think you were always so great, so hard working, so close to being an angel so much more than I ever could be.’ She had to keep believing.

For who knows where mortal dreams go? But those by which we reverie and long for our Divine Father and his Son, we know those dreams ascent to grace; HE who blesses our immortality in his likeness and his name.

But Rhonda only got worse.

Her blood pressure was so low. She was on every machine to keep her breathing.

We were standing in front of the bed that day that Rhonda was dying, and watching her take her last breath, realizing she was in her last moments of life.

“God spoke to me just a few words, “take no thought what you will wear, eat, drink or thought for tomorrow”. While I was wasting time, someone else is counting the seconds, moments, hours, and days with their wife, mother, cousin, aunt, and friend. As I write this, tears fill my eyes over my precious friend and sister who is the most beautiful Spirit I have ever known and I don't think I will ever know anyone else quite like her. While we were there our other sister Joann showed up at the hospital and with tears in her eyes saying the same thing and even brought up the fact that every time you saw her she was always the same, she never wavered on her love for her family and others and for Jesus. I think of time I've wasted on things that really don't matter, chances I've not taken to hug someone who needed it, given time to someone who needed me for a short time in the whole scheme of things. Times not taken to love, laugh, dance, enjoy my family, pray for a stranger, and sing to lift someone's spirit, or just give a smile or an encouraging word. Even if no one else ever sees hears or knows about it, that person and God does. At that moment it doesn't matter what your clothes look like, color of your skin or how much money you have or how talented you are. All that matters is you were there and took time for them. I really am not sure why I am writing all this down except maybe the fact to remind myself and others life is too short to hold on to bitterness and un-forgiveness or to worry about things that really don't matter and the universe does not revolve around us. It is all about serving others and having a servant's heart. In the end it's not about how much money you made or how you looked or how well you did this or that. It is all about what you did for Christ and others and what you did with the life He gave you. I want to leave a mark in this world like my sister for Christ that makes a difference in other's lives and to hear well done my good and faithful servant, and be able to spend eternity with an awesome and loving God.

By this time the doctors had come to take her off all the machines which kept her alive when she really wasn’t. I sit by her bed holding her hand, watching her life leave, watching JESUS come down and take my sisters hand. As I sat watching my sister take her last breath, and still knowing she was with JESUS, The pain was still there and did not go away.

I had to call mom and dad telling them to hurry back to the hospital, and watching our mother call out to JESUS, that her child was dead. The pain will never go away but just knowing our LORD JESUS will make it easier.

Standing at her grave site with sobs in our souls, with hands touching offering comfort, us girls holding on to each other… really holding each other up… smiling those empty smiles to reassure everyone else we were fine…

The next day we were all given a letter from our dear sister, a letter from the grave.

It read:

Dear Debbie Jo,

If you are reading this then I am with Jesus, just know you are so dear to me. Just like you are dear to Our Lord Jesus; Please do not ever forget it. But there is one last thing I want you to promise me that I want you to do… And it is the most important thing you will ever do. Please promise me “YOU WILL MEET ME IN HEAVEN.”

I LOVE YOU DEBBIE JO.

Love your sister Rhonda, forever and ever…

She was crying sobs of rain…. Her body was shaking…her heart was broken, her soul was disoriented. Then hearing her Lord talk to her plain as day… “My child it will be all right. You will meet her again. And it is all right to cry, to mourn. I will hold you and guide you if you will only let me.“

Debbie Jo starting making plans on seeing her sister again one day… She knew there would be obstacles to overcome… but she just prayed that she would let her LORD help her with her life, her loves, her motives… So she could see her sister in the GREAT BEYOND.

BY: DEBORAH BROOKS LANGFORD

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