A Prayer about My Dad’s Welcome Home
I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.
(Phil. 1:23 NIV)
We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Cor. 5:8 NIV)
Dear Jesus, I already had so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season, but now you’ve upped the ante considerably; you’ve fueled the furnace of my gratitude; you’ve added grace upon grace. I praise you that my dad finally knows the “better by far” of being with you. As of last night, he’s gone from that ninety-one-year-old, Alzheimer’s-invaded body and is free at last. He’s at home with you. What more could I possibly want for my dad? Hallelujah, the gospel is true!
No more of my dad looking at me with kind eyes but with a clueless expression about who I am or even what the word son means. No more loss of dignity and no more limits on delight; no more grabbing for a thought or gasping for a breath; no more confinements, confusion, or cares about anything; no more wandering around, just the wonder of your glory and the fullness of your grace. Hallelujah, the gospel is true!
Jesus, though my dad and I were never able to carry on deep conversations about you or engage in meaty biblical and theological discussions, right now he knows more about you than I ever dreamed was knowable. He’s experiencing the promised “more than all we ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20 NIV), while I still have to ask and try to imagine. Everything I know about your beauty and bounty can fit into a thimble, with room left over, compared to what my dad now knows to be true about you. Hallelujah, the gospel is true!
Jesus, knowing he’s with you also thrills me to think about the company he’s now keeping— the fellowship dad is enjoying. I love the thought of my dad and mom seeing each other again after forty-nine years. Indeed, to be present with you is to be present with everybody else in heaven. My dad is in heaven not because he was a good man (though he was) but because you are a great Savior. Hallelujah, the gospel is true!
I make my prayer with great thanks, in your merciful and mighty name.
Amen.