Paul

You may have never heard of Paul John Tomastic. He did not have a Wikipedia page or a YouTube channel. He did not have a college education, so you will not find any scholarly journal articles or books authored by him.  He did not have his own reality show. He was not a professional athlete. He was not mentioned in any of the Forbes’ lists this year.

Before about 4 years ago, I’d never heard of Paul John Tomastic, either. You see, my husband and I joined one of the many Sunday School classes at our 4000+ member church in the Midwest. The name of our class is called “Truthseekers”. We joined that class because the teacher did/does a fine job of teaching God’s Word and it was very diverse in that about half of the class is disabled in some way-physically, mentally, or both. Everyone has a story. I wish I had taken the time to know Paul’s story. Paul was physically and mentally disabled-bound to a wheelchair, yet he came to church as often as he could. You see, coming to church was more than a notion for Paul and our other friends as it involved the need for reliable wheelchair-friendly transportation. But, he came. . .until he could not anymore.

A couple of years ago, Paul was hospitalized, and it was determined that he could no longer breathe without being on a ventilator. Paul had a choice. He could either remain on the ventilator or go and be with Jesus. In this day and age, phrases like “consider your quality of life” are thrown around often. Courage and perseverance are rare qualities, yet Paul possessed them both. He decided to spend the rest of his days on a ventilator in a nursing home until the Lord called him home to Heaven. I am very confident that during these last years, he has blessed beyond belief those with whom he came in contact. He blessed my life. He had this incredible joy that only comes from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. His smile was absolutely amazing! Ten months ago, we relocated from the Midwest to the West Coast. Recently, we sent graduation announcements for our oldest child and requested prayer for our second oldest child to our family and friends. One of our dear friends from our Sunday School class visited Paul and he shared the photo of our oldest as well as the prayer request with Paul. Our friend sent us the photo of Paul flashing the biggest smile ever (in a photo) congratulating our oldest and committing to pray for our second oldest. That warmed my heart beyond words. Less than a month later, he is no longer with us.

I began by telling you about what Paul did not have or do because for some reason, our society seems to judge one’s worth based on those things. Paul was an amazing man who lived and suffered well for his Savior Jesus Christ. And now, he gets to worship Him face to face. It saddened me to hear of Paul’s passing. My life is richer for knowing him. But, it was almost immediate that I went from mourning to rejoicing in the fact that Paul is no longer limited by wheelchairs and ventilators, physical and mental limitations. He is healed! And that makes me smile.

When I think of Paul, I am reminded of James 1:2-4 (ESV):

Count it all joy, my brother, when you meet trials of various kinds,

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete,

lacking in nothing.

Paul John Tomastic
1957-2019