Prayers are appreciated for our sister-in-law Kathy Kayser and nephew Gary Jackson. Kathy fainted earlier today and was take by ambulance to the emergency room. Although she will be admitted, she now says that shes feeling better than she has in days. My report on Gary is in the from of my journal entry from last night: Gary Jackson Event from Charles Kayser’s Journal October 9, 2014 I got to experience an over-the-top blessing today. Today is Thursday. Tuesday evening we learned that our nephew, Gary Jackson, had been brought to Topeka’s St. Francis Medical Center with a very acute diagnosis including a liver no longer functioning. Patty and I visited him in the early evening and, as expected, found him in a comatose state. I laid hands on him in prayer, commanding health to come and infirmity to leave. There was no movement or reaction of any observable kind. Yesterday afternoon, I had only completed the first three stations of shooting clay targets at Revenwood Lodge when Patty called from the hospital to tell me that Gary’s life support equipment was removed and that there was no medical hope for recovery. That report caused my heart to sink, and I told my shooting friends that I could not continue. All three were committed Christians, one a pastor, and they prayed a comforting prayer over me as I immediately drove to the hospital. At St. Francis I entered the somber scene with Patty, Gary, Gary’s wife, his brother and sister, and his parents. We all “knew” he was going to die and we discussed how long it might take. When the doctor was asked about length of remaining life, he replied that he was not going to say because when he had estimated life left in the past, he was always wrong. The only seemingly accepted fact in the room was that death was on the way. This morning at 5:00, a message was developing in my heart for Gary. I read some scriptures, prayed, and formed the message before getting to the hospital a couple of hours later. Patty was needing more rest, so I drove alone. When I arrived, all the same family were present. We talked of some end-of-life details and some trivia and all the while, I was feeling the need to deliver my message. As I delayed, I wondered how my message would be received and whether I could manage my emotions as I delivered it. After a while I plunged in by telling them that I had a something I wanted to tell them and that I wasn’t sure I could keep my emotions in check as I did so. The room was silent and they were very attentive as I shared that in the 1970s, Gary had asked Patty and me to pray for him. It was a wonderful message to them to know that this dying man had, when a young man, reached out to Jesus. As I continued, I was thinking that I could be very well be speaking to Gary even though he was unresponsive. I shared with the family that not many days earlier I had begun to see into Jesus’ eyes as he hung on the cross. Somehow, I had had the sense that as, by faith, I was seeing into His soul, He was seeing into mine. The more I had considered that, I began to have a sense of what was in Jesus’ soul during His last minutes. Here He was, having known for some time that He was the prophesied Lamb of God who would die our death and take upon Himself our punishment for sin. He had lived a life of obeying His Father; He had healed all who came to Him, He comforted sinners and the brokenhearted. He suffered intensely in His body, soul, and Spirit for us. As Jesus looked out from the cross, He saw those who wanted Him to die and said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” While He was suffering, He was loving us. He showed special love to His mother and John as He died saying to John to behold his mother and to His mother to behold her son. Hebrews 12:22 indicates that He saw the joy of eternal fellowship with those who would love Him back. We can each look up into His eyes on the cross and know that he sees us and loves us while we were yet sinners. Somewhere in this mix of sharing was the concept that we yet have hope for healing but that Gary was in a win/win situation. If physical healing didn’t come, we have the guarantee of healing and eternal life forever in Heaven with Jesus, the lover of our souls. Sadly, I know that I am missing some of the things I said and have included some little bits that were not said. I’ll be interested to hear the family’s corrections and additions, but what happened next was an amazing blessing that I cannot adequately describe. Gary started to respond with movements of his hands, with sounds, with attempts to open his eyes. Hope filled every heart in the room and everyone surrounded the bed. We intensely watched for every flicker of movement and expression. Soon, he began to try to sit up; we raised his bed and added pillows behind his head. Gary even shifted his body weight a bit to increase his comfort. Some began to encourage him to speak and to get up and walk. Certainty of death suddenly became hope for renewed life, for physical healing. I’ve attached the photo I took with my phone as all the family stepped forward to Gary’s bedside. I went home for a couple of hours and returned with Patty to hear the report of how the doctor reacted when he saw Gary. They said that he seemed stunned to see Gary sitting up and looked around the room to see whether he was in the right room. The doctor then recognized family members and knew it was Gary. Gary had even lost some of the ashen color and was breathing more deeply and regularly. With the life support removed and the need for the intensive care room lessened, Gary was moved to room 701. I have experienced moments when the presence of the Holy Spirit was felt and hearts were bound in love. For a long time we felt Him together and, I believe, we will always feel close to one another because we were all warmed by that same holy fire. I am reminded today of the apostle Paul’s writing, “I wanted to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Today, we saw the power of that truth in action. Praise You, Lord!
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 22:29:43 +0000
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