My mother-in-law is not well.  As a matter of fact, recently, the doctors only gave her two weeks to live if she did not have an operation on her blocked kidneys.  She was in pain from the cancer inside of her addominal cavity, but the pain was compounded by the inability to relieve herself.  They decided to go forward with the procedure, and she has two tubes remaining at his point coming out of her back.   They are going in today to replace the tubes with shunts to keep the flow open from her kidneys to her bladder.

No one likes to talk about death or dying.  Yet, it is necessary at a time like this.  We want to make sure she receives the best care at this time, as well as when her time comes and she passes from this world.

Last week, my father-in-law pulled up outside of the funeral home I work for and sat in his car waiting on my husband to arrive.  Together they planned on making the arrangements so that when she passes from this world, they will not have to deal with details during their grief.  Before my husband’s arrival, I walked outside to greet my father-in-law.  He looked at me in a silent protest, unwilling to get out of his vehicle.  After a few moments, I talked him into coming inside where he could sit more comfortably on the couch in the lobby while I fixed him a hot cup of coffee.  He smiled weakly as he reached for the door with trembling hands.  It took a minute for him to be surefooted enough to make those steps into the funeral home.  Once inside, my husband joined him, along with one of our funeral directors, to begin the arrangements.

In times like these, I have often wondered where we go after we pass.  Do we go straight to Heaven?  Are we sleeping until Christ comes back during the resurrection when we will rise to join Him?

I found this article that helped answer some of these questions, and I’d like to share it with you now.  Click here to read more over at Desiring God’s website.