It’s the Little Things Like Sherbet (scripture memory #11)

It was just a receipt…an old receipt that I dug out of my purse yesterday as I organized its contents. There were other crumpled receipts I quickly discarded at first glance, but this one gripped me.  I had to save the Walgreens receipt for a pint of orange sherbet.

I bought it after a hospice visit with Dad F. and his son John. John read Ephesians for an hour and we all talked about it…well John and I talked…Dad wrote on his board because he had a tracheotomy and couldn’t speak. I sat next to the hospital bed reading Dad’s comments about the scriptures and his comments about our comments as John sat in the cozy chair across the room loudly reading The Book for Dad’s hearing-impaired ears.

When we finished at 3:00 Dad used his small white board to tell us that he wanted some orange sherbet. Even with his new trach and feeding tube he said Teri his nurse thought it would be fine to try some sherbet. I talked to Teri and rolled across the street to the Walgreens…praying they’d have it so I wouldn’t need to make a trip to the grocery store. I was on a mission for orange sherbet.

The large freezer had what seemed like hundreds of varieties of ice cream. I looked and looked and finally spotted the ONLY sherbet in the freezer – and it was ‘Orange’! I rolled the cold treat to the hospice and gave it to Teri to give Dad later.

Little did I know that the few spoons of sherbet Teri gave him in tiny little pieces that night would be the last earthly taste to his tongue. Later she told me he enjoyed it as they visited that evening. Dad really liked Teri…she has a special ministry.

He was so vibrant that day and the next morning when he got up and shaved and enjoyed bible study and prayer with his best friend, Paul.  Then suddenly, he was in a comatose state for less than 24 hours before he passed.

Daily my prayers include Mom F. and the family as they live here on earth without him.  Since we were reading Ephesians I am sharing some favorite verses for potential scripture memory this time…

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (Ephesians 1:17 NIV)

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:17, 18 NIV)

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29 NIV)

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:14-17 NIV)

He was a father to so many, he knew how to make everyone feel loved and welcome.  I’ll never look at Ephesians or orange sherbet in quite the same way…