JOSHUA TIME 777

A real Marine
>>
>>
>>
>> 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 answer red.
>>
>> "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.
>>
>>
>> (love this line)
>> 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 H TO DO ANYWAY
>> . RIGHT ?
>> HAVE A GREAT DAY AND BLESS SOMEONE ELSE IN SOME LITTLE
>> WAY TODAY!
>> GOD IS SO GOOD !!
>>