Where The Soul Never Dies

Dad was in the hospital for almost two weeks before he died. His care by the Dr and the nurses was beyond anything I could have known.  I have thanked them and we have sent a basket of fruit to 3 North at Valley View Hospital and a basket to Dr Steven Philmore.   What a blessing they were to us while we stood vigil for Dad.

Dad lived 48 hours longer than the Dr told us he would.  He had a strong heart.  I knew that Dad would not  leave this world until the Lord called his name so we stood vigil round the clock the last 48 hours.

Dad especially reponded to PE's voice, thus we knew that he could still hear us and was understanding of what was being said.  He struggled.  

I said all that to say this. If I had not been at the hospital when Dad died and if I had walked into that room 3 seconds after he left to go to be with God I would never have recognized him.  It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced.  The shell of Dad's body had NO resemblance to my Dad. Nothing about that body remotely resembled him. We stood in the room for 30 minutes or so after Dad's passing and each one of us kept saying how very very different he looked. 

The next day I had to take a recent picture of Dad to the funeral home so they could see him as he was.  I got to thinking about that and later that day the Lord explained to me why we were so amazed at his appearance. 

The soul of a man is encased in his spirit. The soul of a man is his personality and actions and the sound of his voice and how he moves and laugh's and color of his eyes and attitude and all that we are that make us an individual lies in the soul.   God created man and made him a living soul.  

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7

HE did not give him a soul, he became a soul.  We each have a soul that is uniquely us. 

When the body dies the spirit leaves and when the spirit leaves the soul leaves.  All that Dad was left. The body no longer held any resemblance to my Dad.  When the Lord shared that with me late Frieday afternoon I was overwhelmed with great joy.  Our bodies are just a vehicle and it carries no resemblance to who we are.  The funeral home did a great job on Dad and he looked peaceful and the coloring was beautiful. BUT they had to have a picture of him in order to restore some of who he was, but the expressions were not there and the man that I knew as my father no longer lived there. Now I have known all of that but to see it first hand. To see the body absent of the soul was profound and will be with me forever. Dad was no longer there. I feel so sorry for those that have no faith in God. Those that do not believe that when we leave here we are a home with God.  

What great revelation my Father God gave me that Friday afternoon just a few hours after Dad went home. 

How very peaceful is my heart knowing that my sweet Dad has left this temporary home to dwell in the house of the Lord. All that he was with his laughter and his beautiful blue eyes, his smile and the way he walked and talked is now beholding the face of God, and the very second that I cross over into that land I will know that face and that voice and I will recognize that man that I have called father for the past 63 years.  Then we will live and laugh and share for an eternity.

 So take a good look at me now for when I leave here you will not behold my face until we meet again in that golden city.