A Pastor's Daughter's Diary

Near Death Experience

Dear Jesus,

I had a bad dream about my dad.
The strange sign I saw yesterday over the cafeteria door appeared over our house's front door.
As my dad stepped out into the lawn, the image of the lion came alive, grew huge, emerged, and started chasing my dad.
I was shouting and running after them.
The thorns also became living, raced past me towards my now-wearied dad, trapping his legs so he couldn't run anymore.
The lion caught up with him. It let out a triumphant roar.

I woke up with sweat all over me and with a silent scream—Jesus!—just as it was about to devour him.
My digital clock showed 4:34am on its screen.

I knew I had to pray, and I did. I prayed so fervently. Who wouldn't after what I saw? It looked so real.

By the time I was done it was already 6:00am. Dad was rushing to the airport, which was in another state, so he wouldn't miss his flight. I didn't have the chance to tell him about my dream.
After kissing Mom goodbye, he dropped me off at school (I was super early today). I hugged him and asked him to be safe for us.

I guess he noticed my pensive mood cos I was quiet all through the drive to school. He took some minutes to watch me walk in before he drove off. Even though I didn't turn back, I felt his stare.

Throughout school today, I was uneasy. The burden to pray for my dad was heavy on me. Classes slipped by slowly. So did the excruciating uneasiness I felt. I had to find a secluded place in the school hall to pray again for him.

Kathlyn, being the ever-faithful friend she is, asked me what's up with me while we were on our way home. I summarized my plight to her and asked her to join me in prayer. She obliged.

I found myself home. Mom was pacing the length of our living room like she does whenever she's really worried about something.

Alarmed, I flung my school bag off my shoulder to the couch and went to her.

"Mom, what's wrong? You look worried!"

"Your dad hasn't called me ever since he left, and that was about ten hours ago. I've tried calling his line several times, but it's not going through."

Her voice was laced with panic even as she tried to put up a bold front. I understood my mom's panic-mode.
Dad and Mom were like cake and icing.
Most of the time, she follows him on his trips. But at times like this, when she has to stay back with me as per school going, they ensure to keep in contact 25/8.
No more than an hour must pass by without them talking to one another on the phone-that's if he isn't driving or sleeping or busy with his mission.

This situation was bad. So bad I feared Mom would start to hyperventilate with the way she was pacing about.

"That's odd," I said as I checked my phone to see if I had maybe missed a call or SMS from him. There was nothing.

"What's wrong with him, Radiance? I'm more than worried about him as it is now," Mom said.

"Mom, you've got nothing to worry about. Maybe his phone battery is dead or something. Besides, Jesus is with him to protect him," I tried to comfort Mom.
"Still, I want us to pray for him right now. Something was revealed to me via a dream last night. I wasn't able to tell you before we went out because we were all in a hurry."

I went ahead to tell my mom every detail about the dream I had as far as I could remember, and also about the prayer burden upon me while I was at school.

She also told me what you ministered to her while she had her personal devotion. Psalm 2: 'Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing against the Lord and his anointed?'