"Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord from this forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to it's setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!" Psalms 113:1-3.

We were awakened early this morning by my dad's night nurse telling us that it was time to come to the hospital to be with dad. He had a rough night from which they didn't think he would recover. Katelyn, Brandon, and Cindy were there with dad immediately, while Blake drove me to the hospital. The entire way I prayed that dad would hold on until I got there so I could be with him as he passed into his eternal home in glory. The dark night sky began to melt away into a beautifully serene sunrise. I thought to myself, "Jesus is preparing the beautiful way to take dad home." When I got there dad's oxygen was in the 50's. It had been in that range for some time. He had lost much of his color and looked as if he had been struggling. Doctors and nurses were arriving for shift change as we sat quietly in the room with dad, holding his hands, wiping the sweat from his head, telling him how much we loved him. I prayed aloud with everyone, praising God for giving us a dad like him, however short the time we had with him felt, who taught us so much about life but most importantly creating mine and my sister's foundation in Christ. I told God that we know there is one constant in this life and that is that we will all pass away, but I thanked Him for giving us eternal life through baptism with Christ, and I praised Him that He called my dad to be baptized many years ago. I then asked God for Christ to open His arms to dad and give him the complete healing we've all been praying for...the complete restoration of his soul in Heaven. I told dad to get his deck of cards and fishing pole ready, and to tell Grandma and Grandpa that we said "hello."

For a few hours later Dr. Martin found that dad had yet another blood infection, this one resistant to the antibiotics he was already receiving. Dr. Martin looked us all in the face and said that he wasn't giving up on my dad and he worked as quickly as he could to restore the deterioration that had already begun. Tomorrow will have been one month that dad was in the hospital and he fought hard with every hour of every day that he was there. He was kind to everyone, did everything that he was told to do, and all of the nurses, doctors, and medical team were fond of him.

A little after 10:00 am dad's stats started to become very unstable. We noticed his body broke out in goosebumps and within a minute his color faded and his heart beat for the last time. I imagine that the chills he experienced happened when he saw Jesus with His arms open wide telling dad, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant." Albeit a very emotional experience, I couldn't shed a tear in that moment because dad had made it to Heaven, and I was rejoicing for him as I imagine the angels were too.

We were greeted with sympathies and the tightest and warmest hugs from one of our favorite nurses Stephanie. We have seen her so much this past month that she truly feels like family. She has the most compassionate heart, as she printed off my dad's last heartbeat for all of us and printed his thumbprints on a beautiful card. Dad's recent nurse Tim, who we also loved so much, was a steady rock for us to lean on the past few days, even singing along with the praise and worship we had been playing for dad. He told us that he had been praying for us and that meant a lot. Dr. Martin came in too and hugged us with great sympathy. I could tell he was deeply grieved. We are so thankful for Dr. Martin, who worked very hard for my dad and never gave up on him. Our favorite Church of Christ chaplain, Phil, was there to pray over us for comfort and peace and our close family friend Cindy Butler that works at the hospital, who has been our angel through all of this, took the best care of us while we tried to wrap our head around next steps.

It's been a shocking day; an emotional day. It hasn't really hit me that I will no longer hear my dad's voice, hang on every one of his words of wisdom, or swap hunting stories. He won't get to grow old or watch his grandchildren grow, and that deeply burdens me. But I know where my dad is. Covid did not get my dad...God did.

As this day that seemed like a week ended, a memorable sunset appeared in the sky. It was very similar to this morning's sunrise, with deep pinks and oranges and purples. God brought my dad home to heaven on a beautiful day in January, and though there is a vast hole that remains here on earth with his leaving, I am at peace.

"Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord from this forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to it's setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!" Psalms 113:1-3.