Upside Right

Have you ever received a phone call that turned your world upside down, inside out and forever changed your life?

 

As a parent, particularly as a mother, we worry about those calls when our children are young and are outside playing. We wonder, will a car hit them, will something unfathomable happen to them or will we get that dreaded phone call. Then they start driving, and Heaven forbid, they are late, oh my goodness, they’re late! Something devastating has happened says our mind. Worry creeps – or leaps – in. Off to college they go and then out into a life of their own.

We may or may not receive that dreaded phone call. Yet what happens when you do? I’m speaking from experience as I did.

On a magnificent March morning in 2008, my husband and I were shopping for garden ornaments for the yard. It was a spectacular day.

My cell phone rang about 10:15 as we were checking out with a new arbor. On the end of the line was my older son Matt wailing into the phone, “Kyle died last night. Kyle died last night.”

How can your older son tell you your younger son died and your world not turn every which way but upside right?

I felt like the earth opened and I fell into a big black abyss. Everything was amiss in that moment and for the rest of my life. All I knew to ask was HOW do I stand up for I’d fallen to my knees with that dreaded phone call every parent imagines yet prays they never receive. I pray you never receive a call with news of a wreck, a death or any other catastrophic information.

Yet here’s the truth. On the morning of Kyle’s service – I can’t even say funeral – service, I had a dream. In that dream, Kyle was dressed in his favorite Scooby Doo T-shirt, his blue jeans, and blazer because he was at an official hockey function. He was dancing way down low like the kids used to dance with their arms circling and in a deep squat position. Propped up against the wall were two hockey sticks, crossed at the top of the sticks. Mirror image to Kyle was Jesus dancing – just like Kyle!

When Jesus saw me, He turned to me and said, “This is to bring you great joy. I taught him how to dance, I taught him how.”

And my life changed once again, for I knew where my son was. He was with the One – the only One – His Name is greater than death. He is Jesus Christ.

And that’s how your world turns upside right once again. Jesus.

I pray you know Jesus. If not, please read John 3:16, for God loves you so much, He gave His one and only Son to turn your world upside right forever. That’s called eternity. Jesus came for one reason – to save you.

Have you received a call that turned your world upside down and inside out? See how one mom lost a son yet now lives upside right, restored and hopeful.

Oh, by the way, Susan received this picture she had never seen two days AFTER that dream of Kyle dancing. Her “forever 20” son Kyle would have been 30 on August 27 this year.

She and Holt celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary on September 1 – a rare thing for a marriage to last after losing a child. She celebrates the goodness of our mighty God.

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