God, Please Spare My Dear Papa

Today was a every 'eventful' Sunday.

After Sunday school ended, we adjourned to sanctuary with intention to join DS and Mom. But the sight of both of them standing outside the entrance was unforgettable. DS with red teary eyes and Mom on the phone. My heart skipped a beat. Mom, still on the phone, turned to me and said "Papa fainted in the church" and anxiously returned to her phone conversation. I was left to figure out what happened and my imagination went crazy while I waited for Mom to finish with the conversation.

Many thoughts, feelings and images went through my head. I fear loosing my dear Papa, I will never see him again, that I will hate and not forgive myself for not loving him enough, for being angry at God for taking my Papa home so soon, for not doing enough for him and most of all, for not being there for him when he needed us most. Even when typing this down, I can't stop my tears, even though I know now that he is alright.

It may not sound serious to some but we know what that means. Dad has history of fainting when he feels nausea and throw up. Doctors has diagnosed that it is highly possible due to vertigo but can't be sure till he goes for a complete medical check up to eliminate other possible reasons. I could remember clearly that in my younger years, I have witnessed him fainting and the memories terrifies me that I might lose my Dad. What scares us was no doctors could tell why it happened. Vertigo was what I believe, the doctor's good guess.

Today's 'event' was a little different because all of us specially Mom was not with him when this happened. But we thank God that we have many good friends and family members were around when he felt something was wrong.

My brother and cousin took care of everything while we pack and got ready to leave town. After 3 hours ride in the car which used to feel not too far for us seemed endless today, we reached the hospital at 5pm and I am so so relieved to see that he is fine. It is good that the doctor kept him in the hospital for observation so that he HAS to be in bed and get all the rest he needed.

He was delighted to see us (specially Isabelle) and his face literally lit up despite still feeling low and lousy. Mom said that Isabelle is his medicine. :)

Picture sourced from google

Running his own business. Helping with my late Grandpa's estate stuff. Being overly active with church matters as the committee member and always going the extra mile to help others. At 62, we feel that he is working too hard and all the above is way too heavy for him. We have tried numerous ways to tell him that he should consider slowing down. He was stubborn and thinks that if we can afford to do it and doing it for God, why not. We think that this incident could be God's signal to him to take things easy and taking care of his own health IS taking care of God's temple and THAT is doing something important for God!

The doctor is going to examine him again tomorrow if it was really vertigo that caused him dizzy. If it is not, we will be sending him for a more thorough check up and we are truly hoping that it is not something serious.

If you read this, please pray for my dear Papa. Thank you thank you thank you. Would really appreciate your thoughtful prayer.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6