Watsons
Josh Watson went to be with the Lord at 3:30am Friday, Aug 21, 2009. The graveside service for Josh Watson was Wednesday, Aug 26 at Cooke-Walden in Pflugerville. In addition, on Saturday, Aug 29, there was a memorial and fellowship celebration at Hill Country Bible Church Pflugerville.
Bill journaled the timeline of the last few days of Josh's life in the hospital and how God ministered to him and Sandy during this time. The following is from Bill's journal:
Sandy and I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support which has been invaluable.
This is the timing and sequence of God leading us through Josh's last days here on earth.
I had been studying Jeremiah 32 & 33 and Ex 19:4 before Josh went into the hospital. The following is a timeline of Josh's illness and how God revealed Himself.
Jeremiah 32 (New American Standard Bible)
17'Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,
27"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"
Jeremiah 33:3 'Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'
Exodus 19:4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself.
August 13 (Wade's birthday) Josh choked on food, stopped breathing, heart stopped and after 22 minutes in Code Blue, he was in a coma having seizures.
Isaiah 40 (God was telling us to wait and gain new strength from Him)
31Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
(I am asking God for a miracle and show us great and mighty things I do not know)
Isaiah 41:10 (God strengthens us and if we need more, He helps us and if we need more, He carries us. This is one of the verses Josh and I would talk about.)
10'Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'
August 15th (2:21 PM) (Sandy and I both found this verse at the same time. We would have been in despair, but now we will see God's goodness and have courage, strength, and continue to wait)
Psalm 27
13I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living. (here on earth; answer will be given on 9-7-09)
14Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD.
August 16th (I realize how precious and vast God's love & thoughts are for Josh)
Psalm 139
17How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
August 17th (4:30 AM) (I realize Josh's days are ordained, God's thoughts are precious for Josh and outnumber the sand)
Psalm 139
16Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand
When I awake, I am still with You.
August 18th (Josh is on multiple anticonvulsants and the seizures can't be controlled. We felt brokenhearted and crushed, but God is near)
Psalm 34
18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
August 20th (5 AM) (Now God will show us the way after waiting)
Psalm 18
27For You save an afflicted people, (Ps12:5 is a verse God gave us after Wade passed away)
But haughty eyes You abase.
28For You light my lamp; (God will show us the way)
The LORD my God illumines my darkness.
29For by You I can run upon a troop;
And by my God I can leap over a wall.
30As for God, His way is blameless; (God's ways are perfect & complete)
The word of the LORD is tried; (God's word is flawless)
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God,
32The God who girds me with strength
And makes my way blameless?
33He makes my feet like hinds' feet,
And sets me upon my high places.
34He trains my hands for battle, (trials test us to help us mature)
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great.
36You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
Psalm 116
1I love the LORD, because He hears
My voice and my supplications.
2Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.
3The cords of death encompassed me
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow. (This is how I feel)
4Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
"O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!"
5Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate. (This is my GOD)
9I shall walk before the LORD
In the land of the living.
15Precious in the sight of the LORD
Is the death of His godly ones. (I felt it was time for Josh to go home to heaven)
August 20th 5PM (Diane shares God knows everything about Josh, from every breath to every hair on his head)
Matthew 10:30
30"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
6:45 PM (Sandy found these verses)
Revelation 21:
3And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
4and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
5And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new " And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
6Then He said to me, "It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7"He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
Psalm 84
11For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
(During this whole time we realize God does only what is best for us, only because of Jesus Christ we walk uprightly. God knows what is best! We are OK with that even if it means Josh goes home)
August 21st 1:00 AM (Ray is reading scripture to Josh and I. We discuss God's mercies and His comfort to us all)
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (God had given us these verses when Josh's brother Wade died 3-31-08)
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
3:30 AM (as I held Josh's hand he took his last breath and Ray texts Diane that Josh passed from the arms of his earthly father to the arms of his Heavenly Father)
John 14 (God showed me this verse when Josh's brother Clay died 9-16-04)
1"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
2"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. (I feel Jesus was there to take him home)
Psalm 145:9-10 (this psalm helps me realize that the focus of life is worship)
9The LORD is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works.
10All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD,
And Your godly ones shall bless You.
August 22nd
Psalm 145
17The LORD is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
18The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
8:38 AM on August 22nd God answered Jer 33:3. God showed me great and mighty things, His compassion, His Glory and the way through out the valley through His word, friends and circumstances. Most of all God showed us His incredible love for Josh, His precious thoughts of Josh out number the sand. Ps 139:17, 18. (number of sand in one cubic yard of sand = one billion) Josh's death was precious in God's sight.
God's miracle was the breathe of life He had given Josh. He created Josh, loved him, and died for Josh on the cross. Gave him forgiveness, Holy Spirit and eternal life when Josh accepted God's free gift of eternal Life. Also the miracle was God had given us 3 sons and each one of them accepted Christ and went to Heaven.
September 7, 2009
Psalms 142:5 (This is the answer to Ps 27:13, 14)
5I cried out to You, O LORD;
I said, "You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
(God is my everything/my whole portion in life here in the land of the living)
