Evidence

Joan’s Story

Joan had fallen on the floor and by morning she still lay there.  Crippling arthritis prevented her from getting up.

If it weren’t for a neighbor who poked her head in the door the next morning to ask how she was, Joan would have died there on the floor.  As it was, special measures had to be taken to stabilize her heart because she had not been able to take her heart medicine.

6 Months to Live

Joan lived in a retirement community, which was basically a large apartment complex for independent living adults.  That meant she had the freedom to come and go as she pleased but had neighbors up and down the hall.  Mary was her neighbor next door and is the one who looked in on her that morning.

The trip to the hospital and the tests were all protocol and told them what Joan already knew.  She had crippling arthritis and a bad heart.

What Joan didn’t know was that she had colon cancer and due to her poor health, she was not a candidate for surgery.  This meant that Joan’s condition was terminal.  The doctor gave her 6 months to live.

The Events and Timing

Because of Joan’s faith in Jesus Christ, she was not afraid of death.  Her personal affairs were in order so she could go whenever the Lord wanted her.  Joan died two months later.

So why am I writing about a 79-year-old woman who died from cancer?  To look at the events and timing of the last few months of her life on earth.

Joan was a single woman who lived in her own home for more than 40 years.  Eleven months before her passing, she decided it was time to sell her home and make a move to an independent living facility.  She would live on her own but have the benefit of a retirement apartment complex.

When Joan sold her home, she was not aware of any pending health crisis.  In fact, she had seen her oncologist in January of the same year she died for a routine checkup concerning a prior episode of cancer, but the doctor found nothing.

Joan Needed Medical Attention

At first glance, selling her home seems like a natural event.  It was a time of life when many downsize and move to an independent living facility.  But, if Joan had stayed in her home, she would have died on the floor when she fell because no one would have been there to help.

When Joan’s neighbor, Mary, looked in the door that morning and found Joan on the floor, she did more than just pick her up.  Mary was a retired registered nurse and intervened with knowledge and understanding.  She knew what questions to ask and understood that Joan needed to go to the hospital to be checked out.  It was her instinct as a nurse to check Joan’s vital signs and that is how she realized Joan needed medical attention.

Timing is Everything

It is important to note that Mary shared Joan’s faith in Jesus Christ.  The two had barely spoken in the few months since Joan moved in to the apartment next door.  Now, here was this almost, perfect stranger opening her neighbor’s door to check on her for no reason other than she felt it was important.

I need to stop and mention that for a Christian, timing is everything.  There are many examples in the Bible, but for now, let us continue looking at the timing of events in Joan’s life.

When Death is Imminent

The day Mary found Joan on the floor and called an ambulance to take her to the hospital was May 2nd.  The cancer was found while Joan was in the hospital.

When Joan, left the hospital, she needed convalescent care because she no longer had the strength to care for herself.  A group home was found and Joan was moved there.

It didn’t take long for Joan’s condition to worsen.  I can only imagine how Joan felt, having been an independent woman, caring for her home and personal needs, then becoming completely dependent on others for literally all her needs.

Two weeks before she died, Joan was being taken for a shower by two caregivers.  On the way to the bathroom, Joan suddenly looked up and exclaimed, “That’s my daddy!  There’s my daddy!”  She had either seen a vision, hallucination, or the real person of her father.

Ask any hospice nurse and they will tell you that it is common for someone when death is imminent to see a loved one who has already died.  Sometimes people even see angels.  So, I believe that Joan actually saw her father that day.

Life After Death

Joan passed away the morning of July 2nd, 2022.  She had gone into the hospital on May 2nd, 2022.  Joan died 2 months after going to the hospital where the cancer was discovered.  Ironically, the room number that Joan occupied in the group home was room number 2.

Is there something about the number 2?  Joan was born on November 12th, 1942 and was survived by 2 sisters.   Someone noted that if you subtract the numerical values for months, that is 5 for May and 7 for July, you have the number 2.

What is my point in this?  Can I answer a question with a question?  At what point does a coincidence become a miracle?  Or at the very least, when can we acknowledge there are things about life after death that we don’t know and perhaps that evidence is staring us in the face?

A Relationship with Jesus Christ

I want people to see evidences of the next life and learn that Jesus Christ is for them.  Eternity is a long time so we should resolve the question of where we will be when this life is over.

Joan believed in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.  As a result of her relationship with the only living God, Jesus Christ directed her final months.  He even left a testimony that He is alive and active in our lives as seen in Joan’s final days.

How can I tell?  Think about the relationships with those around you.  Are they random or intentional?  I mean, when you have conversations with the people in your life, are those conversations meaningful or just gibberish?  Obviously, our conversations with those we know are intelligent and purposeful.  We know them and they know us.  It is the same way in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Existence of God

The final months of Joan’s life show order and direction as if they were being directed by Someone who knew before Joan did, the events that would unfold in her life.  And those events were planned for.

The only One who could have known what would transpire in Joan’s life is God who knows all things.

There are so many things we don’t know.  Why do we act as if we know everything?  And why are we so quick to doubt the existence of God or deny that Jesus Christ came to the earth to save mankind?