JOSHUA TIME 702

NIGHT WATCH------
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. "Your son is
here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several
times before the patient's eyes opened. Heavily sedated because of the
pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing
outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand.

The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp
ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.
The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.
All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted
ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and
strength.

Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest
awhile. He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine
was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the
clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members
exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said
nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night. Along
towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless
hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what
she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the
Marine interrupted her. "Who was that man?" he asked. The nurse was
startled, "He was your father," she answered. "No, he wasn't," the Marine
replied. "I never saw him before in my life."
"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"

"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his
son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to
tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed"

The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay. We are not
human beings going through a temporary spiritual experience. We are
spiritual beings going through a temporary human experience.

PLEASE PASS THIS ONE ON AND GOD WILL BLESS YOU.
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE PUT ON THIS EARTH TO DO ANYWAY. RIGHT ?
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND BLESS SOMEONE ELSE IN SOME LITTLE WAY TODAY!
GOD IS SO GOOD!