Amazing Faith

Amazing Faith I have to say that today, I saw God in a way that I had never seen him before. Brother's uncle Mack has been in and out of the hospital the past two weeks and within the last week, his condition began to deteriorate. He developed Pneumonia, ARDS and coded Monday morning. Not knowing if he was going to pull through, Brother, Rollins and I headed to Birmingham this morning. Once we got there, we realized how serious the situation was. His chances of surviving the ARDS was 10%. I think everyone knew the inevitable was going to happen very soon.


If you do not know this family, let me share a little bit about them with you. Mack is an elder in our church, he is on the board of directors at Lipscomb University, and he is just an amazing Christian leader, father and husband. His wife and children share in his love for God and they are all wonderful leaders in the church. I have been fortunate enough to know them my whole life. I started babysitting all his grandchildren from the time they were infants, and I had the wonderful opportunity to watch them grow into the young women and men they are today. This family is focused on God and they have a special gift of music.


While Rollins and I went to the other waiting room to get a snack, I noticed another family in there that you could tell was going through the same thing as the Whitaker family. Not too long after I got back in our waiting room, Kim, Mack's daughter-in-law, walked in with the other family and introduced them to everyone. It was at this moment that I saw God's presence in that hospital waiting room. Joe, Mack's son stood up and said, "let's sing Beulah Land". We all stood up, joined hands and began to sing--Joe is an amazing singer--he is our songleader at church and he did the music for our wedding. His voice is like an angel's. It was hard to hold back the tears, especially as I watched Diane, Mack's wife, sing her praises to God while her husband was taking some of his final breaths. Here are the lyrics to the song. They are very touching especially considering the situation.

I'm kind of homesick for a country,

To which I’ve never been before.

No sad good-byes, will there be spoken,

For time won’t matter, anymore.

Beulah Land, I’m longing for you,

And some day, on thee I’ll stand.

There my home shall be eternal,

Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land.

I’m looking now across the river

Where my faith will end in sight.

There’s just a few more days to labor,

Then I will take my heavenly flight.

Beulah Land, I’m longing for you,

And some day, on thee I’ll stand.

There my home shall be eternal,

Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land.

There my home shall be eternal,

Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land.

Beulah Land,Beulah Land,Beulah Land,

Sweet Beulah Land.

At the end of the song, our preacher, whom Brother and I both adore, Philip Bradley, led a prayer, praying for the two families. At the end of the prayer, Joe led us in one of my favorite songs, A Common Love. I realized that God brought these two families that have never met before together and to share a common love, God's love and to give eachother peace. The words of this song tells us that although we may be strangers, we have so much in common when we have God in our lives. I think Joe does such a wonderful job at picking just the right songs to sing. I wanted to share the lyrics to this song as well.

A common love for each other,

A common gift to the Savior.

A common bond holding us to the Lord.

A common strength when we're weary.

A common hope for tomorrow,

A common joy in the truth of God's Word.

Brother was right out the door and said even the nurses stopped to listen and he said a couple of them got emotional. To me, this is a testament of this families amazing faith in God. Even in the lowest moments, they are able to give praise to God and know that he is their savior. I can only hope and pray that Brother and I can raise a family like this. We had a talk on the way home about how we wanted to make changes in each of our lives to be more like Mack and Diane.


Uncle Mack lost his earthly battle a little after 5 this evening, but he has won the most important battle, and now he has eternal life with God in heaven. Even in his last moments on this earth, he was touching individuals he didn't even know. I am so proud to be a part of this family and get to have the experiences like I had today. Despite the sadness of the day, I learned so much about faith and God's love.


Uncle Mack, you will be missed by so many, but please know that your example lives on and will continue to touch so many because you left a legacy with your wife and children. I know they will continue your good works.