Peter Gruver's Vision Of Henry

Visions By His Dad’s Bedside

by Peter Gruver

It was the morning of October 9th just twenty hours before my dad‘s passing. Abby, Cindy, Christine and I were there with him, in his room. Dad had just been given a dose of medicine to help reduce the pain. It was not as effective as it had been, so I climbed onto the bed with him, placed my hand on his chest and said, “peace.” I knew Jesus was as close as the edge of the bed and the distance between us and Heaven as thin as a veil.

While praying peace over both, his body and emotions, the awareness and adoration of Jesus intensified. As strong as a mental impression can be, I saw two very large angels to the left and right of Him. Each time I shared an attribute of Jesus, and I knew dad could see the image I was describing. By now he was no longer speaking and was barely moving. As a little boy leans into the safety of his father’s chest, my Dad leaned his head into mine. I had never before felt like a father to a father.

Jesus stood quietly as if waiting for His moment. “You can see Him can’t you Dad!” I said, just knowing his awareness was very high. The holiness, beauty and kindness of Jesus were overwhelming and made the worship that morning between us so intimate.

It was then that I saw Jesus crawl onto the bed and place His hand on my dad’s chest. I watched as my imagination animated Jesus’ hand through flesh to illuminate his heart and lungs with each touch.

Jesus was so close and so beautiful. It was during that time I saw three visions. The first was a cylindrically shaped vertical corridor filled with a great cloud of witnesses. One of them, a younger woman with glasses and dark hair pulled up close to her head; very similar to my Grandma Gruver, stood out from the others as she leaned heavily over the edge; her gaze fixed on Jesus. Her anticipation seemed to say one thing; “What new facet of Jesus’ glory will be revealed in this homecoming?”

Next, I saw my Dad standing on a heavenly street dressed in a very simple robe. It appeared to be made of a thick burlap-type material. One single strand spiraled down to his feet while another was loosely weaved up and down across the garment. It was the train that caught my attention: it went on and on, it was so long. “Dad, it’s so long!” I exclaimed. Repeating myself many times over and over.

Last of all I saw a long processional of people that stretched far over the distant hillside. Jesus stood left of my dad, and with each introduction, Jesus placed His hand on each person’s chest saying, “Do you remember this one?” Each one’s response to him was the same, “Thank you for sharing the message of Jesus Christ with me!” By the third person my Dad fell to the ground completely overwhelmed in worship and awe. Without missing a beat Jesus gently pulled him to his feet and said, “I have more people I want you to meet.”