Erm...Hello?

I know I've not been blogging like since forever. Many things happen throughout this close-to-2-months of me not blogging. The most recent incident being that my maternal grandfather passed away exactly a week ago. However, I have a wonderful testimony to share about how real God is. My grandfather was diagnosed with cancer about a year ago. But seeing that chemotherapy will only give him a 50% chance of survival, he decided not to undergo chemotherapy.

So all went well until he fell down one day. Then he started to experience a pain in his left leg. I could see that it causes him much pain because whenever it "attacks", he will just fall to the floor and writhe in pain. Not a very nice sight. Trust me. So he went to the doctor and the doctor gave him some painkillers for his pain. Unfortunately, it didn't work very well, so the doctor gave him some painkillers with a stronger dosage. But it didn't help either. After going for MRIs and all, they discovered that he actually had spurs on his spine.

One day, he heard a voice telling him to contact my aunt on my dad's side. So he did. And my aunt, who knew someone who has been through an operation like this before referred him to the doctor who did an operation on her colleague. He went for a consultation with the doctor and he decided that he wanted to go ahead with the operation. After the operation, he was healthy and well. He could get up and walk about. But after awhile, the pain came back again. Then he consulted the doctor again. The doctor discovered that the spurs were not completely removed. My grandfather had to undergo a second operation right at the same spot within a month. I really don't know, but I guess his body couldn't take all the stress of the operation what with his cancer and all.

After the second operation, his health just started deteriorating. We could see so much change in him everyday. It wasn't a change for the better, but it was a change for the worst. He went from being able to walk on his own two feet to walking with the assistance of a walking cane to being able to pull himself up to sit once in awhile to being bedridden. Towards the end, he couldn't even get up to pass motion anymore.

When he was bedridden, he started seeing spirits. He said that there were many spirits who asked him to follow them, but despite all that, he told them that he didn't want to follow them. Everyday, he would tell my grandmother and my mother that he sees this spirit or that spirit. Once in a while, I would be there to when he says that he sees the spirit. My mother would pray for him and read the Scriptures to him. His personal favourite was Psalm 91.

Sometimes you can see that he is so afraid of those spirits that he'll be shivering under the blanket. And so I told him, "Ah Kong, say that you are a child of God; and they will leave". So he would declare that he is a child of God, and the spirits would leave. Isn't it amazing that Jesus' name is so powerful? So as days went on, whenever we go and visit him, we would just pray with him and ask him to declare that he is a child of God. And all those spirits that he saw fled at the mention of Jesus' name. We also prayed for God's peace to be in his heart all the time that he's suffering. Even until the end, I could see how great his faith was in God.

Whenever he is in pain, he would cry out to Jesus, asking God for help. I was staying over on the Sunday before he passed away, and I was getting up every now and then to give him some water. The most astounding part was when he called out to Jesus to help him overcome the pain. I was very tired and already half-asleep. But when I heard him praying even in great distress, I was very, very encouraged.

Regrettably, I had to go back to uni already the following day. And I wasn't given the chance to talk to him after that Monday morning. My mom called me at about 6.30 pm on Tuesday, crying and telling me that my grandfather has already passed away. And so I rushed back, praying that I would be able to see him for the last time before he was taken away to be embalmed. Praise God, for I reached there with half an hour to spare. When I had time to talk to my grandmother, she shared with me that the night before my grandfather died, he told her that he can only see one person now. And so she asked, "Who"? And he said, "Jesus".

That really gave me comfort, because now we know that he is safe with Jesus and Jesus personally came to take him back home. During the funeral as well, I prayed that God will open the doors for the gospel to be shared, and true enough, when my church elder, who conducted the memorial service got to the pulpit, he was sharing the gospel of how Jesus Christ came to die for our sins. Later when I talked to my mom, she said that she was also praying for the same thing. Praise God!

During the service, my mom also saw a vision of a red fire with angels surrounding it. In the midst of the red fire, a blue sparkling light was shining. My mom interpreted the blue light as salvation. The vision that we had confirmed that my grandfather is now in Heaven. All glory to God because after my grandfather's death, things began to change in my family.

Previously, all my mom's siblings were doing their own things and they are not united as a family. But the love of God binded all her siblings together. But do we need to wait until something tragic happens before we are united as a family? I will end this post with my grandfather's favourite Psalm.

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling—

even the LORD, who is my refuge-

then no harm will befall you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life will I satisfy him

and show him my salvation."