The Badge, The Man, The Son: A Tribute

Ten o’clock at night, it may as well be midnight. The house is dark and everything is quiet; except my mind. Two more hours and you will be off shift. What will those two hours hold? Tears fill my eyes as my heart bleeds for another mother. A few short days ago, in the dark of night, her son too was just a few hours from the end of shift. He was working what was just another jack knifed semi on the highway. Suddenly, an inattentive motorist swerved to miss a barricade, then, hit her son instead. He was pronounced dead at the scene. So many lives abruptly changed. He was a loving husband, father and a son; her son. I whisper a prayer that she will know his life made a difference. Even in death her son’s calling carried on as over one thousand people heard a salvation message at his memorial.

I get out of bed and walk down the hall to get a Kleenex. My mind goes back twenty seven years ago at about this time of year. The University hospital and a room full of doctors and nurses. I remember the room was so crowded that the only place left for your dad to stand was by my feet. I lay there on the table taking slow deep breaths and trying not to hyperventilate. I watched the monitor as a nurse performed an ultra sound. For a fleeting moment I saw your tiny foot. The nurse said they would find an area as far away from you as possible for the procedure. “Amniocentesis,” a word I still have trouble pronouncing. It is a procedure where amniotic fluid is taken to find if there are any abnormalities.

The presence of God was so very strong when we drove home that day. I looked over my shoulder into the back seat a couple of times fully expecting to see an angel sitting there. I didn’t see anything, but, I know God was there. I also knew that somehow in some way everything would be okay. Our prayers were answered that day in a way beyond anything we could have dared hoped for. Years later, I watched you run down a football field for yet another one of many touchdowns. People looked at me funny as I jumped up and down and loudly cheered. I didn’t care what they thought. I knew that every time you crossed an end zone was a punch in the enemies face. He didn’t win, God won. And God always does more, exceedingly more than we dare ask or think.

I guess I wasn’t really surprised a few years after that when you came into our bedroom. Your dad and I could tell by the look in your eyes there was something important you wanted to tell us. You were changing your college major from paramedic to law enforcement. “I will get to an accident before anyone.” You said, “I just want to make a difference; I want to help people.” Fear tried to slip into my soul but it was quickly pushed aside by the voice of my Heavenly Father. “What you saw him do on that football field is nothing more than a shadow. It is a picture of what I have called him to do.”

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph..” (2Corinthians 2:14) That was the scripture God gave me that night. That is the scripture I will speak over you tonight. “Where ever he is, whatever he may be facing. I will give him to You. I will trust him to You, Lord. I have fought for his life with the power of Your Word before he was born. And I will fight for him with the power of Your Word tonight and always.”

I slip back into bed and peacefully drift off to sleep.  I know you are in good hands. The God of the Angel Armies is right there with you.

You are a man that wears a badge; a loving husband, a son. You are my son.