GODS Under the Bed

[Richard R.]

This is a very touching story. If you don't have time to read it now, please save it and read it later when you do have time. It's awesome and very touching.

God's under the Bed

My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night. He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped outside his closed door to listen.
"Are you there, God?" he said. "Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed."

I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique
perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in. He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will.

He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas, and that airplanes stay up in the sky because
angels carry them.

I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever
dissatisfied with his monotonous life? Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, returning to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed. The only variation in the entire scheme are laundry days, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child.

He does not seem dissatisfied. He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work. He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores. And Saturdays-oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. "That one's goin' to Chi-car-go!" Kevin shouts as he claps his hands. His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.

I don't think Kevin knows anything exists outside his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips. He doesn't know what it means to be discontent. His life is simple. He will never know the
entanglements of wealth or power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. He recognizes no differences in people, treating each person as an equal and a friend. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.

His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.

He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize
instead of argue.

Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God. Not confined by
intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God-to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an "educated" person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.

In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith. It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions. It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap-I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances-they all become
disabilities when I do not submit them to Christ. Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of the Lord.

And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed. Kevin won't be surprised at all.

A PRAYER, THE POWER OF PRAYER.
When you receive this, say a prayer. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards.

FRIENDS ARE ANGELS WHO LIFT US TO OUR FEET WHEN OUR WINGS HAVE TROUBLE REMEMBERING HOW TO FLY

Richard R.

 

[Steven Rowlet]

Life

Richard, Thanks for sharing that with us. Most people don't realize how great their life is till they stop and look at others and then they still don't appreciate life. I have an uncle that is on a respirator as I write this due to years of smoking and at the same time his son is outside the hospital smoking. My brother-in-law asked me how he could see his father in that shape and still smoke. I told him the same way my uncle did while my grandfather was dying of the same thing. This was also the same way my father died. I am not trying to preach here but it is hard to witness someone suffocating to death and grasping for life and then see people outside the funeral home smoking. I truely hope this will touch anyone that smokes. I have just buried too many people over the last 46 years and it hurts.

 

[Richard R.]

Steve,
I hope everyone realizes that this is not my biological Brother.
The email came to me by way of a very sweet Christian Lady from the Church.

I feel your concerns but I know how smolers feel as well.
First off, I don't truly agree with Doctors who say smoking causes many of the desease they claim.

I like many others, have a story to share about this topic. Although I had an uncle who died of the same thing your talking about, and he too was a smoker, I really don't believe it was his smoking. In this story, I think you'll understand what I'm talking about.

Several years ago, I did handy work to make extra money, to supplement my low Police pay. I was working in the back yard of a little elderly ladies home repairing her fence. A little later an Elderly neighbor came over to watch me work. Since he was an elderly man whom I also learned was a retired Doctor, I tryed to respect him and decided not to smoke. Boy did I want a cigarette. As I continued to work, the man all of a sudden lit up a cigarette. Out of shock, I thanked him and told him I had been having a nicotine fit and advised him why I hadn't smoked in front of him. I then told him I knew Doctors perspective on smoking.
You want believe what he said. He told me that smoking was NOT what caused the majority of cancer. He said not only was he a Doctor, but that he was a retired Pulmonary Doctor. He said, Son, I wish I had kept all of my records. He told me that smoke causing cancer was from wood. He stated that patients with pulmonary problems that smoke were more rare than what you would think. He said the majority of his patients were not smokers. My understanding was that most lung cancer is hereditary and people that had been subjected to a lot smoke from burning wood during their lives.
After hearing this, it stands to reason why my uncle died. My uncle was a wood restoration specialist for many years. He restored hard wood floors. He sanded hundreds and probably thousands of gym floors and other hard wood floors with the big commercial sanders. Since I helped the family when I was young and continued to do this for part time work after I retired, I knew the extent of smoke and saw dust that he dealt with on a regular bases.
Would he had been healthier if he hadn't smoked, probably. There is a lot of opinions about smoking, but I believe they are just that, they are just opinions and I've yet to see anything proven except that it may cause a person to become more subceptable to things such as allergies. I believe it weakens the bodies immune system and causes one to be short winded. The one thing to keep in mind though, for every illness caused by smoking, you will find as many people with the same illness that do not smoke or even subceptable to second hand smoke.
How is that explained.

Take Care
Richard R.

 

[Steven Rowlet]

Richard, Why take the chance. The only one I bave buried with lung cancer that did not smoke was my grandmother that lived with my grandfather's smoking over 50 years. That's enough reason for me.

 

[Richard R.]

Steven,
Your absolutely right. It would break my heart to know that my Son started smoking.
I totally agree that no one should ever smoke, but we that have loved ones who do smoke, should at least try to understand the over powering effects that Billions and probably Trillions of dollars spent by the Big Business Giants, have on young children growing up. Once hooked, it's almost like fighting a loosing battle.
I don't know if the general public knows, but it has been said that cigarettes carry an addiction rate equivalent to Cocaine. I believe just recently they uncovered evidence that many if not all tobacco companies were putting additives into the tobacco to make sure people got hooked on them.
Smoking has haunted me since I was 11 years old and I'm 44 now. I could kick myself everytime I think of the bad choice I made back then and I'm sure there or others who feel the same way I do.
I am ashamed of smoking , as I'm guess others are, but denial is human nature, and the majorit will always defend their short comings until they are released from the clutches of addiction.
Until then, we need to be supportive of organizations who continue to research ways to help a tobacco abused victim.
Suing tobacco companies is not the answer. When you take away someones freedom of any kind, it only causes that person to crave the substance more. I think if we could find something that people could take that would trick the body and brain, but yet not be addictive, we would win this battle.
I'm not saying that people don't die from smoking, I just don't believe that smoking is the single most culprit in the cause of pulmonary deathes.
I could go on and on about this subject, but my main point is that we should have patients and approach our loved one with love and understanding. We should let them know that we understand that they were victims of something so unfortunate.
Our grand Parents burned a lot of wood for heat and energy back in the earlier days, I sometimes wonder if that assisted in the bad health problems they were faced with later on in their lives.
Who knows?

Take Care
Richard R.

 

[Dave Olson]

Hello Richard,

Thanks for posting the email you received from your friend.

I think we all can feel like Kevin sometimes in some ways. I know that I have!

Thanks again for sharing.

Dave Olson

 

[ParadiseProWash]

Richard everything is addictive and if you do kick that addiction you will just find something else to be addicted to. I know this first hand as I smoked for 15 yrs and quit cold turkey. When I quit smoking I was a wopping 205 lbs now 7 yrs later I am a wopping 350 lbs thus I went from smoking to eating as many of us do. I dont know if one is worst than the other. They are both bad.

 

[Dave Olson]

I smoked for 28 years.

I reduced my intake of nicatine over a couple months down to about 10% of what I was, then quit cold. That has been 17 years ago. Now I really Hate Second Hand Smoke!

I have gained weight since then but only 25 pounds or so. Quiting was one of the best things that I have ever done for myself! My wife likes it too!

Dave Olson