Saturday, December 22, 2012

Jesus Holding Tommy


For every parent who has had their child snatched from the safety of their arms, may this painting give you comfort as it did us.  The moment our precious Thomas (we called him Tommy Franks because he was a fighter) left us after a hospital battle for his life, Jesus took him into the safety of His strong arms.

Tragedy can come, but because of Jesus, our precious loved ones live again waiting for us to come to them.  What a wonderful Christmas gift! Death lost it's boast of having the final say. Heaven became our final outcome. Praise God we will see... and hold... and kiss... and love on our Tommy again!

Good friends, we pray that you will experience that same joy.  Please receive the wonderful gift that God has given you and your family...the gift of living again.  Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid the debt for all our sins.   By the Holy Spirit's power, Jesus won the battle against the power of death and rose from His grave so that anyone and everyone who wants to can live again.  Life is very precious to God.  He wants all of us to live again in the safety and comfort of His arms. 

Accept Jesus as your Life Giver and Receive His gift today! We'll see you in Heaven holding our precious Tommy and enjoy seeing you embracing your children!

Merry Christmas!
Tommy's family



Love of the Father’s Son

By Steve Morton

10-4-12

 

 

What can be said about Thomas?  Much in every way.  Thomas is God’s poster child of Jesus; what is sweet, innocent, holy and loving.  In Thomas there was no malice towards anyone.  No lies were ever spoken from his lips.  He did not complain when he was wronged.  He loved all who were near and far from him.  He was not ordinary but extraordinary.  He was not natural but super natural.   He was a mystery and complex to the medical world for they could not understand him, yet simple to those of us who knew him.  He had no enemies for everyone who had seen him or knew of him instantly became his friend, and he loved them all.

 

As a father who was raised by his father who in turn was raised by his father before that, there just were certain things that a father was expected to do.  To provide for his family in good times and bad, raise his children with respect and discipline sprinkled with love and compassion.  All fathers have a great hope of having sons they can teach how to play baseball, football, go fishing and hunting with.  Fathers look forward to the simple fellowship and raise their sons to be a father also. 

 

It seemed like my life was picture perfect with 3 sons and a daughter who even liked to hunt and fish.  My life was filled with baseball, softball, soccer, football practices and games.  Hunting and fishing were the norm.  What more could a father ask for?  Then our lives became just like the commercial “when life comes at you fast” but they left one thing out of that phrase.  Not only does it come fast but at times, it comes hard.  Just when we thought our quiver was full and done with diapers forever, along came our special surprise, Thomas.  Our lives completely flipped upside down not knowing what the issues or problems were fully, but we fought through every battle.

 

As a father, my life and expectations were shattered, so I thought.   My time went from the adrenaline rush of ball games to being in survival mode 24/7 for Thomas.  The time I was able to spend and devote with the other 4 children was drastically cut back.   For Katie she went from a ten year old little girl to a mother.  For Luke and Nathan, at age seven and four, they became the big brothers and for Jeremiah at twelve, he became a young man.  None of them grew up that fast by their own choice but, out of their love for Thomas.  To them, he was not heavy he was their brother. 

 

Thomas soon became the center of our lives and we all rallied around him no matter what battle he faced for that is what a family does.  For eight years my hopes and expectations for Tommy, as we called him, were always that someday I would be able to teach him how to play ball or to hunt and fish like the other children.  Little did I realize that it was not me, the father, raising and caring for Tommy but, Tommy was raising me to be a real father.  Though he could not talk, I now realize, through his love he did talk to me.  He said, “Dad why are you being selfish?  I was never selfish with you?  Dad, if I can endure my battles, hardship and pain then you can endure your battles.  Dad why do dislike that person?  When I met them they became my friend.  Dad, love one another did you not see me love everyone I met”?

 

Through the eight years of battles, I would find strength in the Lord.  I have a daily routine where I have a time of devotion and fellowship with the Lord before starting my day.  As I went about my routine Thursday morning, I glanced down and re-read what I had the day before, the day Tommy went to be with the Lord.

 

 1 John 4:7-10 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

 

I John 5:1 “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.  

 

I John 5:3-5 “This is love for God: to obey his commands.  And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only he who believes that Jesus is the son of God.

 

I John 5:11-12 “And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has his son has life; he who does not have the son of God does not have life.”

 

Little did I know when I read this that morning how profound my day would become.  By the end of the day, Tommy would take his last breath in this earthly realm and be instantly catapulted  into his eternal life; transformed in the twinkling of an eye to be healed, delivered, and set free… all at the same time. 

 

We mourn and grieve for our loss while he rejoices.  Our loss is to his gain but shall we not rejoice with him?  And make it our gain as well as his gain?  It is not intended for a parent to bury their own child but the child for the parent in old age, but that is not reality.  That is only a great expectation and hope, but where is our faith without hope or a great expectation?

 

The devotion the following day, Friday, seemed to be equally profound which was 2 John.  After I read it, it seemed to be as if it were from the Lord for Mary and the children.

 

2 John 1:1 reads, “To the chosen Lady and her children, whom I love in the truth- and not I only, but also all who know the truth- because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace , mercy and peace from God the father and from Jesus Christ, the Fathers Son, will be with us in truth and love. It has given me great joy to find your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear Lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning.  I ask that we love one another.  And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning his command is that you walk in love.”

 

Now God created Tommy for our family but God also created all mankind to be in his family and created him different and unique from all other creatures.  He gave mankind a spirit and soul that no other creatures have.  The purpose was so that God would have someone to fellowship and communicate with.  But some would have you believe that man and all creatures evolved from each other over millions of years.  If that were true, then where is the chicken that moos or the mouse that trumpets like an elephant or a monkey that speaks?  For if that were true there would be creatures stuck in the middle of their evolutionary change, but God created them all uniquely and wonderfully made, just like He made Thomas.

 

In order for man to fellowship and communicate with God, man created an altar.  The altar was not for God for the entire earth is His altar.  The altar was a symbolic point of contact for man by which he could approach God at the same level to fellowship and talk to him.  So today, Thomas is at the foot of the altar praising and rejoicing his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To fellowship with the Lord is an act that is freely given and received by him unconditionally to anyone who approaches him.  Today, there may be someone reading this, who knew the Lord in their youth and desires to rededicate their life or someone who wants to say to the Lord forgive me of all my sins or for all the wrongs I have done, or someone who just wants to say thank you Lord for being in my life and giving me eternal life.  You can make your home an altar; a place where you meet with God.

 

There will be a point in time, maybe tonight, tomorrow, next year or in the next fifty years that we all will be catapulted into our eternal destination.  For tomorrow is promised to no man.  I have a great expectation at that point in time that I will be transformed in a twinkling of an eye and will once again be with Tommy at which I can say, “Lets go play ball.”  As for me and my family, since we have such a great hope and expectation, we shall serve the Lord all the days of our lives.

 

 

Tommy’s father, Steve Morton
 
 
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