This is my Dad, approximately around the age of two.

Late last Saturday night, I received a phone call from my brother, who informed me that our Dad died suddenly on his Kansas farm. I will not go into details of the frantic phone calls among the family, the last-minute packing, the 380-mile drive, the hurt, the intense pain and feeling of loss, or the tears I have cried and continue to shed each day over our loss. I will just say it was one long week of stress, grief, comforting, remembering, and wondering how we will ever live our lives like normal again without Dad.

Dad's widowed wife, (my stepmother), told us about an experience Dad had over a year ago while undergoing open-heart surgery. He was reluctant to share, but he told her about a vision that changed his perspective on life.

In this vision, he saw himself on the operating table. He was out of his body. But he wasn’t alone. A man was with him. Dad knew it was Jesus, but He didn’t look like any pictures he had ever seen. He had short, gray hair, slightly curly. Jesus walked around the operating room, and calmly rested His hand on the shoulder of each surgeon in the room as they worked on Dad’s heart.

Then Dad saw his deceased father and mother watching over him. He recalls making eye contact with them. Not a verbal word was spoken between them, but intense communication took place through their eyes. Through the whole experience, my Dad recalled feeling completely at peace, with no fears or worries. Jesus was with him through the entire surgery, and Dad recovered very well and was able to go back home.

Dad found a faith like he had never experienced before. He began attending church, praying, and building a relationship with Jesus. When he spoke to family on the phone, he always ended with “I love you,”, something I had never heard him say before. I was unaware during his last year of life that Jesus had appeared to him and made him a believer. But my stepmother and their Pastor confirmed that Dad had given his testimony and accepted Christ as his savior.

So even though he has passed on and is no longer living among us, I find peace knowing that he has eternal life. I pray that when I die, he will be there on the other side waiting for me.

I love you, Dad.