Hope Is More Than A Wish | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Hope Is More Than A Wish | Previous Challenge Entry
By Mariane Holbrook
11/05/20
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Have you finished packing?" I called out to my husband, John. I was hurriedly checking the kitchen, making sure the stove was turned off and everything was in order.

The phone call I received an hour earlier left me shaking with unbelief. My father was dying and Mother called to give me the news and encouraged me to get there in time to say goodbye to him.

Daddy had Multiple Myeloma, a dreadful form of cancer which had only been diagnosed during a doctor's visit two months earlier. The oncologist informed us Daddy had about a year to live so to hear he was dying now was devastating news. "There is no hope now that he'll last more than a few days," the doctor had sympathetically explained to Mother.

Because we lived 600 miles away and air travel was complicated with changing planes and delays, we usually drove home for visits rather than flying. We had visited them two weeks before receiving Mother's unexpected phone call.

Soon we were on the highway, with John trying hard not to exceed the speed limit.He was distracted by my weeping but also because the news had hit him hard. He loved my father and enjoyed the long talks he had with Daddy about various Scripture verses when they were alone. My father was a serious student of the Bible with a near-eidetic memory. As a lay preacher, he was often called upon to fill the pulpit whenever local pastors were on vacation.

I prayed aloud, "Lord Jesus, please keep him alive until we get there. I want to say goodbye to my precious dad. Your word comforts us with the verse, "May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you."

As the miles went by, we quoted verses, shared memories of Daddy, wondered how Mother would live without him. I couldn't give up hope that he would be alive and alert when we arrived.

As we drove through Richmond, I spotted an illuminated sign in front of a church which read, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope." On the ornate double doors of the large church were two wreaths of white carnations. "I guess a member of the church has died," I said to John, sadly.

I began to cry again. John reached over to hold my hand briefly. "We have that blessed hope of seeing Dad again, honey," and as he began to sing, I joined him:

"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust a sweeter frame but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand."

To make the time go faster, we tried to think of all the Scripture verses and hymns we knew with the words "faith" and "hope" in them.

"I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope."

"But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more."

I remarked, "I read something the other day written by Robert Cottrill about hope," then I removed a small notebook from my purse and began reading aloud: "We tend to use the word 'Hope' as a Wish or a Maybe, like 'I hope it won’t rain on Saturday.' But in Scripture, the word is better defined as: the joyful certainty of future blessing. It describes a settled confidence in God, and His faithful Word, a living hope.”

As we reached my hometown, I felt my pulse quicken. I desperately hoped there wouldn't be a white wreath on my parents' home. I was relieved when I didn't see a wreath; instead, I saw this note tacked on the door:

"COME TO THE HOSPITAL AS SOON AS YOU ARRIVE.
LOVE, MOTHER"

We sped to the hospital and raced down the hall. Daddy was half-awake and smiled weakly. As I embraced him, he whispered, "Honey, will you sing, 'Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine'?" I held his hand as he silently mouthed the lyrics while all of our family joined in the singing.

We sat with him all night, hoping and praying as he slept peacefully, and when He awoke in the morning, he was having breakfast with Jesus.

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Mostly based on a true story.

Scripture verses in order of appearance:
Psalm 33:22(NIV); 1 Thessalonians 4:13(NIV); Psalm 130:5(NIV); Psalm 71:14 (NIV)

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