March 9, 2009 Message of the Week

Lake Louise
Alberta, Canada
Photography By Bob Fuhrman C. Copyright August 28, 2005
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“Reflection of Faith”

In August of 2005 I was in Calgary, Alberta Canada. For the prior 10 days there had been unseasonably cold weather in Alberta. I planned a tour to Lake Louise during my stay. In this photograph the camera captures the reflection of the snow covered mountains in the blue water of Lake Louise. This is not a usual condition for this date, August 28, 2005.

Trusting God, by Faith in His Son Jesus Christ, will be evident by God’s Providence in our lives. We can go forward by faith in the arena of life’s circumstances when we remember the reflections of God’s witness to our faithful loyalty in Him. (Hebrews 11:1)

“The Real Value” is a true reflection of God’s evidence of my faith in Him.

“The Real Value”

February 19, 2004

As a Mc Donald Douglas DC-9 Captain for Airborne Express I was able to fly to Detroit, Michigan on a regular basis. My 91-year-old Father was in assisted living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My Mother passed away earlier in July, 2003. My Dad who had spent 62 years married to my Mom found himself in an assisted living environment in a quick matter of events.

On my visits with my Dad we shared time watching Ken Burn’s “History of Baseball”, went for haircuts at the Pitts Barber Shop where Joe his barber for over 30 years cut his hair. We went to doctor, eye appointments, and to a store for University of Michigan memorabilia. Dad liked and almost always wore a University of Michigan baseball cap. Though he was a native Ohio Buckeye, born in West Salem, Ohio, my youngest sister had graduated from the U of M and this made Dad a Michigan fan forever.

When I visited my Father during the months from July 2003 until February 2004 I would share bible verses with him before I departed. I always told my Father how much I loved him and we would embrace in a good hug. I would ask him for a smile and he would respond with a wonderful grin and say, “don’t take any wooden nickels”. I would then share a bible verse or two and pray with him just before departing. Philippians 4:4-6, “The Peace of God”, 1 Corinthians 2:11-16, “God’s Communication” and how we listen to Him with the Mind of Christ, Hebrews 11:1, “Elements of Faith” and 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, “The Example” The Glory of God in the Face of Christ. Dad would sometimes say to me, “Bob I am going to go to sleep in this chair one day and I will not wake up, I will be gone”. I responded to him saying, “I know Dad but, God is near you and you will be immediately with him when that time comes. If you feel the Spirit of the Lord near you feel free to go. Dad I will miss you and Mom tremendously. Dad I know without any doubt, because of my past experience with God answering my prayers, that He has communicated His Existence to me; you will be with Him in Paradise”. “And, Dad if you had all of the wealth of Solomon, all of his gold and silver, in your present place in life what would be the value”? With the expression of these scripture verses and our close communication as father and son I saw in his face and smile, that was brighter than a Thousand Suns, the Value of Scripture, God’s Wisdom. My Dad responded as his eyes “Lightened with Hope” and he looked at me, “Expectantly with Happiness”. Therefore, I as a person, his son, truly learned the “Real Value” of the most important possession a person can possess. It is simply the realization of the Truth, which is that God is with us and our Faith in Jesus Christ is a possession of Tangible Value.

On Tuesday, February 3, 2004, I flew from Wilmington, Ohio to Detroit on Airborne Express Flight 138 and after resting at the layover hotel I drove to Ann Arbor to have an afternoon visit with my Dad. On this day I found Dad, also with the concern of the assisted living staff for his situation, weak and not able get out of bed. I told him I would call my sister who lived in Ann Arbor, and we would have his doctor notified of his condition. He usually complained about seeing doctors but this time he did not do so. I called my sister and she contacted the doctor. Dad was admitted that evening to the hospital.

As I departed the assisted living facility I was sensing the seriousness of Dad’s condition. I experienced the emotions of my impending loss and I prayed a Prayer asking God for His Guidance. I was saddened and needed His help for this important time in my life. I prayed, talking to the Lord, “Lord if you will, show me what You are doing for my Dad to prepare his way for his journey to Heaven to be with You? Lord You have answered my Prayers in the past, as I have spoken to You, and now I need Your help for my Dad.” Hebrews 1:1 “At Sundry Times” God speaks and answers prayers.

This is what God did for my Dad in His Sundry way to answer my prayers for him during his time of Spiritual Importance.

Wednesday and Thursday I flew Airborne Express’s flight 138 to Detroit and visited Dad at the hospital. On Wednesday my sister from California flew in from California to be with Dad, We all visited Dad and we spoke with his doctor.

On Friday I was given a personal day from Airborne Express and drove from Wilmington, Ohio to Ann Arbor. My wife flew from Atlanta to Detroit and we were all in Ann Arbor at the hospital by 7:00 PM that evening. My sister’s related what had been to me an answer to my Prayer for Dad. On that afternoon, Friday, Pastor Tim Ziegler, Assistant Pastor at the First United Methodist Church visited Dad for Prayer. Mom and Dad had been members there for their 35 years living in Ann Arbor but had not attended on a regular basis for sometime. My sisters were with Dad when Pastor Ziegler arrived. When Pastor Ziegler completed his time of Prayer with Dad, my sisters and Pastor Ziegler had a conversation. They asked Pastor Ziegler where he was from. Pastor Ziegler responded that he was from Ohio. They then asked him where he had attended college and received his seminary education? He said he went to a small college in a small town in Ohio, that most people were not familiar, Wooster College in Wooster, Ohio and that he had attended seminary in Atlanta. My sisters were both overjoyed as they related to Pastor Ziegler that our Dad had graduated from Wooster College in the Class of 1935.

This is the e-mail that I sent to Wooster College concerning this good relationship between my father and his minister; fellow alumni from Wooster College! This is my answer to my Prayer that I had prayed: God’s Sundry way to answered prayer at this important time in my life.

February 11, 2004
Wooster College Wooster, Ohio

Robert Camp Fuhrman, 91 (Wooster College Class of 1935) passed away on Sunday February 8, 2004. He will have a Memorial Service in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Reverend Tim Ziegler, Assistant Pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan will give the Sermon. Reverend Ziegler is a graduate of Wooster College in Wooster, Ohio (Class of 2000). Reverend Ziegler is a recent graduate from seminary and joined the First United Methodist Church last summer. This will be Reverend Ziegler’s first Funeral Sermon and Service.

God did not send a Banker, nor did God did send a Lawyer from Wooster College, the college my father loved and was proud to have graduated (Class of 1935) for his time of Spiritual Importance. But HE sent a Minister from Wooster College, man of God, to honor him. I feel this is a sign from the Lord to honor my father and welcome him to his eternal place in Heaven.

Sincerely for my Father,
Robert G. Fuhrman
c. Copyright March 9, 2009