A Glimpse of Heaven

By Susan Dollyhigh –

“At Christmas, all roads lead home,” Marjorie Holmes said. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere but home at Christmas. With the excitement of a small child, I anticipated gathering with my five siblings and each of our families at Mama and Daddy’s house on Christmas Eve. Like the snow on our jackets, the years melted away as we walked in the door where Mama’s outstretched arms met us with soft hugs, laughter greeted our ears, and the smell of delicious home-cooking tantalized our taste buds.

My parents were only in their mid-fifties, and I had never imagined our Christmas celebrations changing, and certainly not anytime soon. However, on December 10th, 1991, Daddy went into respiratory failure, was rushed to the ER, resuscitated and placed on a ventilator. A few days later, he suffered a stroke, and his condition only deteriorated.

Christmas Eve found my family gathered in a cold, sterile intensive care unit of the hospital. “I’m sorry,” the doctor said. “His EEG is flat, and he’s not responding to any stimuli. The ventilator is the only thing keeping your dad alive. Unfortunately, you have a decision to make.”

But Daddy had already made that decision; he’d told us he didn’t want to be kept alive by machines if there was no hope for recovery.

Daddy was taken off the ventilator and moved to a private room. When I walked in to see him, I noticed his eyes were open as they had been in ICU, but something was different. Then Daddy, who’s EEG was flat, began talking to us in a low, raspy whisper. Yet when doctors or nurses checked on him, he returned to staring straight ahead, and made no attempt to respond.

On Christmas morning, a single red poinsettia graced the window ledge of that hospital room. As we gathered around Daddy’s bed, he got a far-off look in his eyes and spoke to us of heaven and angels. “Jesus is here in this room,” he said. Standing there that Christmas morning, I reflected on Jesus coming to earth 2000 years before, and realized that once again, He had come down to earth and given my family not only a Christmas miracle, but a little glimpse of heaven, through our Daddy’s eyes.

Prayer: Father, thank you for your love and grace, and for the blessing of miracles. Amen

Bible Verse: “He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted” (Job 9:10 NIV).