"I don´t know how long I´m going to live. I´m 38 now, and I´d like to become 68 at least. But I can´t count on that, I can´t be sure of it. I´d like to be old, to see my girls grow up and have grandchildren, so if you offer me now to be 68 and to have had a fulfilling life, I´d sign right now. I´m not ashamed of becoming older, don´t understand why anyone would be.
On the other hand, if the Bigger Guy Up There decides to do me the honour of calling me to him sooner, I can´t be unhappy about it either. It´s such a big honour and an undeserved favor, that I wouldn´t be able to say no or complain. But I guess if I´m still here it´s because I have to soften some of my hard edges".
I heard that yesterday from a man I´m quite fond of. His two-month-old baby girl, born in early July after a complicated pregnancy, is now in hospital, probably with a case of whooping-cough. But he´s dealing quite ok with it, and as a matter of fact we were joking lightly: a friend of mine, a priest, was teasing me about being 40 (am actually 24) and I was complaining about the "cruelty", when the first man became very intense and gave us that whole speach without realizing it.
Later, he explained us how his faith had helped him through the difficult summer he´s having, and how those very problems had helped him grow in his faith, but he really didn´t need to. We just knew it from his testimony about facing his own death.
I just hope that same faith could also help his wife, who´s having a much more difficult time.
Those out there who believe, please pray for them.