Thy Will, Not Mine

*Bonus chapter*

"Mr D'Angelo, it has just been confirmed that you are one hundred percent cancer free, so don't stress yourself. This is just a minor migraine and I will just prescribe some head relieve medicines to elevate the pain."

I breathed out a sigh of relief, when the migraine set in for more than three days I thought the cancer was back but clearly the Lord was still working each and everyday I took a breath. He is faithful to keep me and renew me everyday of my life. He is ever present and everlasting. A God who doesn't change even when situations change and I'm constantly reminded that He holds my hand through the difficulties and beauties of this rollercoaster we call life.

****

"Dad, Penny said she would not be coming for the holidays to see us," Daniel; I and Destiny's seventeen-year-old son said calmly but I knew he was far from that.

Peninah was our oldest and only daughter and she and Daniel were like gum to a table but two years ago thinga took a turn for the worst and Penniah was never the same again and so I knew that Daniel was more hurt than anyone else not to be able to see her sister again after two years since he saw her.

"I thought she would come this year at least," I mumbled out. Despite being twenty-one years old she would still be my baby and she was refusing to come and see us.

"Let's give her some time, son. She will come around soon and in the meanwhile we can be praying for her," I tried to be optimistic for him but it just seemed hopeless to have faith for her return, she just seemed too far gone.

I pulled my son into a comforting hug as a sob threatened to escape from his chest before he covered it up with a cough. He was so much like me than he realised.

He had a tough exterior up very sensitive and soft interior full of love enough to give to the entire world.

"I really hope so, dad. I really do. Lord please do this for her — for us," he whispered in a desperate plea as I rubbed his back.

"What's going on here?" My beautiful wife asked. She looked like she did all those years I saw her for the first time. She didn't age even a little bit. Her hair had now grown into a full afro, adorning her head like a crown fit for a queen and mother like her.

"Penniah says she not coming again," Daniel said before wiping a tear that had silently slid down his cheek with his shirt sleeve before abruptly leaving the room; straight to his bedroom.

Just as his mother was about to follow him; I gently grasped her hand.

"Don't, amore. He needs some space, let's just give it to him. Okay?" I asked as I searched her weary eyes.

She was like a mother bear; always looking out for her babies and ensuring that they were always happy.

"I just can't bare to see him this upset. You know how much he loves his sister," she said as her voice creaked.

She never liked to see her children under distress; she would much rather carry the pain for them than watch them carry it. A mother's love was a very great force.

"I know, my love. That's why we need to give him some space. You know who he always to runs to, right?" I gently smiled at her as I wiped a tear from beautiful eyes that still mesmerised me each time I looked into them. The love I could see in them was so palpable and undeniable; it made me fall in love with her even more than I already had.

"God, He runs to the Father," she responded after a long minute with a smile of her own. It always brought a smile on her face to know just how our son had committed himself and his entire life to serve the Lord.

It was a great honour to raise a son who trusted in the Lord even when the going got tough. He didn't build walls around himeself when circumstances were tough; he built bridges to connect to the Lord and seek answers and comfort from the source of comfort itself.

"So, let him be comforted by the Comforter Himself," I said pulling her into a tight hug.

****

"Heavenly Father, I place my children in the palm of your hands. Oh, Lord more especially my daughter. Lord, she had gone astray and gone with the ways of the world, please lead her back to you. Lord, please keep knocking at the door of her heart until she opens the door. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ I pray... Amen!" Destiny ended the prayer as she stood up from her kneed position with her Bible tucked under her arm.

That evening as we silently lay in bed, in each other's arms, reminiscing of the good days and the bad days I whispered, "You know, amore I'm always in awe of how we ended up together, so many things happened but we still found our way to each other and despite the challenges and obstacles; here we are twenty-three years later."

"Let's just say it was the will of the Lord, not our own."