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THE STORY OF EDITH BURNS
Apr 4, 2006


 This story was sent to me from a woman in Gainesville, Ga.         

 Happy Easter!        

          Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who
lived in San
 Antonio, Texas. She was the patient of a doctor by
 the name of Will
 Phillips.  Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw
 patients as people.
 His favorite patient was Edith Burns.

          One morning he went to his office with a
 heavy heart and it
 was because of Edith Burns.  When he walked into
 that waiting room,
 there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap
 earnestly talking to
 a young mother sitting beside her.

          Edith Burns had a habit of introducing
 herself in this way:
 "Hello, my name is Edith Burns.  Do you believe in
 Easter?" Then she
 would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times
 people would be
 saved.

          Dr. Phillips walked into that office and
 there he saw the head
 nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she
 was taking her
 blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is
 Edith Burns. Do you
 believe in Easter?"

          Beverly said, "Why yes I do."

          Edith said, "Well, what do you believe
 about Easter?"

          Beverly said, "Well, it's all about egg
 hunts, going to
 church, and dressing up."  Edith kept pressing her
 about the real
 meaning of Easter, and finally led her to a saving
 knowledge of Jesus
 Christ.

          Dr. Phillips said, "Beverly, don't call
 Edith into the office
 quite yet. I believe there is another delivery
 taking place in the
 waiting room.

          After being called back in the doctor's
 office, Edith sat down
 and when she took a look at the doctor she said,
 "Dr. Will, why are you
 so sad? Are you reading your Bible?  Are you
 praying?"

          Dr. Phillips said gently, "Edith, I'm the
 doctor and you're
 the patient." With a heavy heart he said, "Your lab
 report came back and
 it says you have cancer, and Edith, you're not going
 to live very long."


          Edith said, "Why Will Phillips, shame on
 you. Why are you so
 sad? Do you think God makes mistakes?  You have just
 told me I'm going
 to see my precious Lord Jesus, my husband, and my
 friends. You have just
 told me that I am going to celebrate Easter forever,
 and here you are
 having difficulty giving me my ticket!"

         Dr. Phillips thought to himself, "What a
 magnificent woman this
 Edith Burns is!"

          Edith continued coming to Dr. Phillips.
 Christmas came and the
 office was closed through January 3rd. On the day
 the office opened,
 Edith did not show up.  Later that afternoon, Edith
 called Dr. Phillips
 and said she would have to be moving her story to
 the hospital and said,
 "Will, I'm very near home, so would you make sure
 that they put women in
 here next to me in my room who need to know about
 Easter."

          Well, they did just that and women began
 to come in and share
 that room with Edith.  Many women were saved.
 Everybody on that floor
 from staff to patients were so excited about Edith,
 that they started
 calling her Edith Easter; that is everyone except
 Phyllis Cross, the
 head nurse.

          Phyllis made it plain that she wanted
 nothing to do with Edith
 because she was a "religious nut". She had been a
 nurse in an army
 hospital. She had seen it all and heard it all. She
 was the original
 G.I. Jane. She had been married three times, she was
 hard, cold, and did
 everything by the book.

          One morning the two nurses who were to
 attend to Edith were
 sick. Edith had the flu and Phyllis Cross had to go
 in and give her a
 shot. When she walked in, Edith had a big smile on
 her face and said,
 "Phyllis, God loves you and I love you, and I have
 been praying for
 you."

          Phyllis Cross said, "Well, you can quit
 praying for me, it
 won't work. I'm not interested."

          Edith said, "Well, I will pray and I have
 asked God not to let
 me go home until you come into the family."

          Phyllis Cross said, "Then you will never
 die because that will
 never happen," and curtly walked out of the room.

          Every day Phyllis Cross would walk into
 the room and Edith
 would say, "God loves you Phyllis and I love you,
 and I'm praying for
 you."

          One day Phyllis Cross said she was
 literally drawn to Edith's
 room like a magnet would draw iron. She sat down on
 the bed and Edith
 said, "I'm so glad you have come, because God told
 me that today is your
 special day."

          Phyllis Cross said, "Edith, you have asked
 everybody here the
 question, "Do you believe in Easter but you have
 never asked me."

          Edith said, "Phyllis, I wanted to many
 times, but God told me
 to wait until you asked, and now that you have
 asked." Edith Burns took
 her Bible and shared with Phyllis Cross the Easter
 Story of the death,
 burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Edith said,
 "Phyllis, do you
 believe in Easter? Do you believe that Jesus Christ
 is alive and that He
 wants to live in your heart?"

          Phyllis Cross said, "Oh I want to believe
 that with all of my
 heart, and I do want Jesus in my life "Right there,
 Phyllis Cross prayed
 and invited Jesus Christ into her heart. For the
 first time Phyllis
 Cross did not walk out of a hospital room, she was
 carried out on the
 wings of angels.

          Two days later, Phyllis Cross came in and
 Edith said, "Do you
 know what day it is?" Phyllis Cross said, "Why
 Edith, it's Good Friday."


          Edith said, "Oh, no, for you every day is
 Easter.  Happy
 Easter Phyllis!"

          Two days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis
 Cross came into
 work, did some of her duties and then went down to
 the flower shop and
 got some Easter lilies because she wanted to go up
 to see Edith and give
 her some Easter lilies and wish her a Happy Easter.

          When she walked into Edith's room, Edith
 was in bed. That big
 black Bible was on her lap.  Her hands were in that
 Bible. There was a
 sweet smile on her face. When Phyllis Cross went to
 pick up Edith's
 hand, she realized Edith was dead. Her left hand was
 on John 14: "In my
 Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a
 place for you, I
 will come again and receive you to Myself, that
 where I am, there you
 may be also." Her right hand was on Revelation 21:4,
 "And God will wipe
 away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no
 more death nor
 sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain,
 for the former
 things have passed away."

          Phyllis Cross took one look at that dead
 body, and then lifted
 her face toward heaven, and with tears streaming
 down here cheeks, said,
 "Happy Easter, Edith - Happy Easter!"

          Phyllis Cross left Edith's body, walked
 out of the room, and
 over to a table where two student nurses were
 sitting. She said, "My
 name is Phyllis Cross. Do you believe in Easter?"


          If you believe in Easter, forward this on.
 God works in
 wonderful ways, and to believe in his power is to
 truly be free. If
 Jesus had e-mail, he'd do the same for you.

          (Actually, maybe He just did)
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Posted: Apr 4, 2006 6:38pm

 
 
 
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Author

Harold Self
male, age 68, single
Spruce Pine, NC, USA
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