it took him 13 years to say it

pops is my father-in-law. i have known him for 13 years and on many occasions have told him that i love him. his response was either thanks or okay. and coming from him it was okay. cancer began a battle with his body several years ago and this past summer as he was leaving our home i gave him a hug and said those words again... his response was i love you too. it took me 13 years for me to hear those words.
pops is a physically strong self made man who can be intimidating at times. and until today he did not know jesus. he knew who jesus was... through the gracious life of his wife, through the moral and godly men who call him dad and hopefully through the women those sons married. but he did not KNOW jesus. cancer now has this strong man lying in a bed ~ confused at times, angry at times and impatient at times. several weeks ago he entered the hospital with pneumonia and we are not sure he is coming home. my mother-in-law has been at his side continuously, only leaving if someone else is there to sit with him. on christmas day the sons set up a rotation so mom could spend a good portion of the day with her grandchildren. during this time my husband had a heart felt conversation with pops. "do you know that jesus died for you, dad?" "yes" "do you know he wants to spend eternity with you" "yes" "do you want me to pray with you to ask jesus into your heart?" "yes" john david started praying and his dad took over the prayer saying his own words, jumbled at times but understandable. john david then led him in a version of the sinners prayer which he repeated word for word. there have been times over the last few weeks that pops is unable to have a coherant conversation, so for a conversation of this length to take place was a miracle. pops has been unwilling in the past to get to this point, he needed to straighten out things before he would be accepted, could not understand why a God he had rejected for so many years would just now accept him without conditions. God waited for 75 years to hear those words.