Blogtember Day 4 - A time when you were afraid...

I'm participating in a fun blogging "party," known as Blogtember. Every day in the month of September, we're given a different prompt to write on. Some are serious. Some are fun. The point is to get you thinking outside the box, so to speak. I know I tend to write about the same ol' things a lot. So, this is a fun way to "force" me to write about new stuff :)

Are you a blogger? Do you want to join in this blogging awesomness? Click the button below to see the prompts for the rest of the month.

Today's prompt was... Tell a story about a time you were very afraid.
Rewind to February 2011. I'm living in Dakar. I'm a few thousand miles and an ocean away from family. I get a text from my mom telling me to call ASAP because something's wrong. What I hear when I call makes my heart feel like it's going to break in two. My mom says, "Your dad's had a heart attack. We're on our way to the hospital. Pray."

Over the course of the next 24 hours, I kept in touch with my family via text, skype calls, and emails. I am so thankful for my roommate at the time and for my mission supervisors for being there right away - for letting me cry it out, for being there, and at the same time, for giving me space when I needed it. I was so incredibly afraid. What if something else (something worse) happened?

He recovered from that and was able to go back to work not long after. But then, a month after the first heart attack, he had another one. So the fear, once again, started rising up in my heart. I became fearful of the phone ringing. I was so scared that it would be even more bad news. 

He recovered from that heart attack and went back to work. Things were going well for him, but then a month later, he lands back in the ER. It wasn't a heart attack this time. He was diagnosed with peritonitis, a severe infection of the area where his dialysis tube is located. This infection was bad. ...real bad! In fact, it was so bad, there were times we didn't know if it'd make it or not. Because of how sick he was and because my mom had already missed a lot of work, I, after receiving the blessing of my bosses/supervisors, made the decision to change my flight and come home a month early. This way I could be with my family and could help out wherever needed. 

I remember being on the plane, flying over, and feeling like I was going to suffocate from the fear gripping my heart so tightly. I was so scared that I wouldn't make it to see my dad again. I know it was God's awesomeness that gifted me with a row to myself. That way no one else was sitting next to me to see me crying periodically :) It was so hard! The feeling of the unknown. It was scary.

But you know... We all had the best summer ever! We became closer than ever before. And as for the fear? I just remember crying out to God one day, asking Him to take that fear away. I didn't want to live with that anymore. And He did. ...just like that :)

My dad's doing better now. He's had multiple heart attacks, multiple stents put in his heart, and more. He's still on dialysis. But he's doing great. He pastors a church. He teaches full time. He coaches. He spends time with his family. He just lives life to the fullest, doing what God wants him to be doing.