No words

Most of the day I have been struck with no words, no words to express the morning we had.  Drew stayed home from school to visit Gailen.  Tommy wrote Gailen a letter last night, and Drew did one this morning. I may scan and share those later, I haven't decided.  Trust me they are beautiful and from the heart.   Drew is particularily close to Gailen, for a few reasons..Gailen coached him in basketball and Drew is close friends with their son Grant.  For those of you who don't know Drew, he doesn't let a lot of people into his world, he is very private and ultra loyal.  But once you are IN his world, you are IN.


Drew has been asking to visit Gailen but has been so concerned over it and sobbing every time we brought it up.  Today he woke up and told me "Mom I am excited to see Mr Veurink, I have been nervous and this morning I am ONLY excited."  That's due to the prayers people have prayed for Drew to be prepared for this day I know that.


I am going to attempt to put their time together in words, not sure if I can.  I have never experienced anything quite like it.  It was as if the Holy Spirit was speaking right OUT of Gailen's mouth into Drew's heart.  This scripture was ALL I could think of as I watched from the other side of the room....and listened.  The picture from my children's bible, as a little girl, of Jesus with a little boy on his lap and looking into his eyes and speaking to him.  

Mark 10:14-16

 ¹³And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.

 ¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them;for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

 ¹⁵"Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."

 ¹⁶And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

Now I know Gailen is NOT Jesus, I know that.  But it was this kind of a moment for me as a Mom.  Here is a man, who loves my son, who wants my son to grow up and love the Lord with all of his heart...  Here is a man whose body is currently dying, who is awake and talking to my son with every ounce of energy he has.  Who spent almost 30 minutes sharing with Drew what God wants out of our lives, sharing with Drew how his faith needs be his own, how he needs to use sports to bring God glory, how to deal with kids on teams that swear and make bad choices how Drew can bring God glory through HIS actions not necessarily his words. He spoke to Drew about the Dad he wants Drew to be, the kind of husband God calls him to be... He was POURING words of truth into our son.  He prayed the most beautiful prayer of blessing over Drew.  Drew cried through most of the conversation and Gailen sat there, had Drew scoot over, and had his arm around him the entire time.  It was breathtakingly beautiful and I fear my words don't do it justice.  This was a moment that Drew will NEVER forget, the words Gailen spoke to him will reverberate for years and years.  I pray this will be burned into his heart for a lifetime.  This time will make Drew a different man, this is Drew's first experience with someone close to him dying.  And he is learning about death in such a beautiful and God filled way.  I am struck by the beauty of God right now, amidst this UGLY cancer, the beauty of these moments that God is allowing our family.


One more thing that brought me to tears, and once again, showed me the kind of man Gailen is...I asked Gailen if he had other visitors planned for today he told me he had 2 visitors coming.  One was Drew Shisler and the other was flying in on a private plane and is the CEO of US Bank...talk about a man who knows what matters.  He knows the blessing of children is what Jesus would do.  So he first gave his energy to this young boy and was going to nap so he could be rested for the CEO of the company he has worked for so many years for.  Talk about a man who has it figured out...

"Let the little children come to me..."

We love you Gailen.


P.S.  I sent these pictures onto Gailen last night and this email just came back.  

From: Gailen Veurink <gv44@q.com>

Date: April 20, 2011 8:51:26 AM CDT

To: Shisler Susan <smshisler@aol.com>

Cc: Drew <drewgobucks@aol.com>

Subject: Re: love both of you....precious time

Drew...I really enjoyed spending time with you yesterday.  You are a child of God and that is what is most important.  Trust in Him in everything in life.

Love,

Mr. Veurink