- Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...
Well, I hope that each and every one of you had an amazing Father’s Day. I want to be completely honest with all of you; Father’s Day is tough for me. I’ve been contemplating about writing on this, but God has put this on my heart.
My father Richard Castro passed away in September of 1998 after battling a rare form of lung cancer for sixteen years. Out of anger and frustration, I only visited his burial site three times. I visited him after I graduated from college, again after Kay and I married, and just recently again with my brother Evan. I would have given anything to have my Dad at my college graduation, since I knew it was his dream to see me graduate; he was never fortunate enough to have the option to attend college, since his family was financially strapped. During our wedding in Kauai, I knew my Dad was there in spirit but I still visited his grave site afterwards to tell him the good news.
Last week, as I was stressing about coordinating the fundraising event for Sarah Amento, I had an emotional and spiritual awakening because of it. Sarah Amento, wife and mother of five, was diagnosed with stage three, triple negative breast cancer. I’ve been working tirelessly with my team to orchestrate a fundraising event to help raise the amount needed for her treatment costs while she’s in Austria. I came home on Wednesday night stressed and overwhelmed beyond all measure. A majority of all the planning was done, but there were a few loose ends that weren’t coming together as easily as I had anticipated. I was praying diligently but felt as if my way was easier than God’s way.
At around 11PM on Wednesday I was still working from home, so I decided to shut the laptop down, put on my trail running shoes, my head-lamp, grab my boot-knife (I always run with one, since we live close to the canyon and there seems to be a dense population of coyotes and mountain lions…I mean you never know, right!?) and I was gone. I ran to the bottom of the canyon and as I was heading back up I began thinking of how much I missed my Dad. Sarah’s battle has brought back all of those not-so-fond memories. Anger, mixed with pure frustration, overcame me. As I was sprinting up the canyon my legs were on fire and thoughts of my Dad and Sarah filled my heart with fury. Why does God always allow the good ones to suffer? My leg pain sent me yelling at the top of my lungs and I could hear myself echoing through the dark canyon as I sounded like a wild man. Hopefully I didn’t wake any of my neighbors.
I finally reached the top of the hill. I was breathing heavy and with tears in my eyes, I stopped, bowed my head and prayed for peace. After praying I instantly felt comforted and as I ran home, I remembered how much my Father taught me about putting my faith in Christ. I will be leaving here after I am done writing this to head out to my Father’s grave site where I’ll find it written “A Heart for Jesus.” My dad is my hero and I hope he would be proud of me for giving back to Sarah. God Bless You All!
In His Love,
Garrett Castro
P.S. The fundraiser is at Fitness 19 in Yucaipa on June 25th beginning at 4:00 p.m. Hope to see you there; I would love to meet you!
No comments:
Post a Comment