Fresh off the Farm – Your Last, First Breath

Eleven days ago, I held my dad’s hand while he took his last breath. After a 15-month battle with brain cancer, he stepped from earth into eternity with Jesus.

In the last hours of his life, we hung on every breath as apnea caused long pauses between each one. Each pause brought the loudest silent words I’ve ever heard as we collectively wondered “was that his last one?”

Watching him transition from earth to eternity was an experience like none other. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8) was swirling in my head as I realized he was moments away from his last, first breath. I can’t fathom the fear and hopelessness of those who don’t know Jesus as they walk the road of the last, first breath. “Last, first breath?!” my daughter guffawed as she sat by me for a moment as I type this… “What’s THAT?” Let me explain.

Yesterday, a new niece and a nephew were born in our family. They will forever share a “first-breath” day. If you’ve had kids, you know the importance of that first breath. At that moment, for everyone in the room, time stands still waiting on those little lungs to do one thing – breath. At that moment, nothing else matters.

Tomorrow, I will celebrate my first-breath day. I don’t remember my first breath, but I guess I didn’t want to miss the party because my dad had to deliver me at home. Although my parents had planned a home birth with a midwife, she was running late and I thought it was high time to get the show on the road. I can imagine my dad calmly, with a smile on his face (because he rarely had anything else on his face), holding me as I took my first, first breath.

Thirty-five years later, I sat holding my dad’s hand, realizing that he was about to take his last, first breath. When he was done breathing on this earth, he would be breathing in heaven in the same instant. Much like the first gasping breath as a baby is born, changing their reality from in utero to breathing on their own, the last breath on earth brings the first breath of eternity.

Billy Graham is quoted for saying, “One day, you’ll read in the paper that I am dead. Don’t you believe a word of it, because I’ll be more alive than I have ever been.”

When my dad first learned of his terminal diagnoses, a tearful smile spread across his face. When my sister asked him why he was smiling, he said he was glad to be “one step closer to heaven.”

Not many of us would have that reaction to that kind of news. For some reason, we wait until our last breaths to think about what happens after they are gone. Not for my dad. He knew Jesus so intimately, it made him excited to get his heavenly show on the road. He was ready for his last, first breath long before it happened.

The other day, my daughter asked how do we know if we believe enough to get to heaven. We gladly walked her through the verses of salvation one more time. The wages of sin is death – that means permanent separation from God and anything good, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23). “But what happens if I don’t believe enough,” she said.

I answered her question with a question – “Is Jesus enough?” I asked.

“Well, YES!!!” she said with wild confidence. Is it by HIS grace that we are saved – not by the good things we do (Ephesians 2:8-9) He’s my ticket. Not me.

As we are preparing my dad’s memorial service, we found a note in his Bible scribbled on the back of a receipt. “God ordained my shelf life,” the top of the note reads in his unique handwriting, “Phil 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…” Because my dad trusted Jesus and fully surrendered his life to Him, I have complete confidence, he is with Jesus for all of eternity.

If you’re reading this, you’re already done with your first, first breath. You’ll have an average of 22,000 more today, but are you ready for your last, first breath? The one that will step you into eternity? One thing is for sure: You’ll either spend eternity separated from Jesus or with Him. Today is the day to make sure you’re ready for your last, first breath.

Meet your farmer – Liz Gerdes. She & her husband run a farm-to-table Raw Milk dairy and farm Airbnb in Caledonia. If you’re looking for raw milk fresh from the farm, visit gerdesfreshfarm.com or follow her on Facebook @gerdesfreshfarm or Instagram @gerdesliz for more info.

Liz’s Raspberry Birthday Dessert

I’ve shared this before, but it really does need to be shared again. In celebration of my birthday, here is my all-time-favorite birthday dessert.  (If it’s good enough for a life long winning streak, I’d say it’s worth sharing 😉

Warning: This dessert may cause moderate to severe addiction. Though eating the whole pan will be wildly attractive, it isn’t recommended

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup Ritz cracker crumbs

½ cup melted butter

¼ cup sugar

2 Tbsp. water

8 cups frozen raspberries

1 ¾ cups sugar

2 ½ packets Knox unflavored gelatin

½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. cold water

½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. boiling water

6 cups thawed Cool Whip (or 1 quart freshly whipped cream)

Crust: Mix all cracker crumbs, ½ c. melted butter and 1/4 c. sugar. Press into a 13×9 pan and bake at 350 for 10 min. Cool crust completely.

Filling: In a saucepan, put 2 Tbsp. water, raspberries, and 1 3/4 c. sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved.

Soak gelatin in 1/2 c. plus 1 Tbsp. cold water. After that is dissolved, boil ½ c. plus 1 Tbsp. boiling water and dump your gelatin mixture into the boiling water. Stir until dissolved.

Add gelatin mixture to your raspberry mixture.

Chill the raspberry/gelatin mixture until consistency of thin jam. (This is worse than watching paint dry because you can’t eat paint. I’d suggest putting it in the fridge and walking away for a few hours to try and forget what yummy-ness lies ahead)

Once the raspberry mixture is cooled, fold the Cool Whip (or whipped cream) into the raspberry mixture. Spread filling on crust. Chill several hours or until set.