She was known for her unending strength and courage, but I looked in
her eyes that night and saw fear. It was contagious. I listened to her
every struggling breath, praying that her Creator would sustain her as we drove the long 45 minute stretch to the nearest hospital. Her lungs were closing from the swell of infection and she was losing it. Her mom tried to calmly remind her to "just breathe" as I flipped on the radio to some country tunes, hoping it would remind her that she was tough. She was Texan. She could make it. But she wasn't. She was struggling to even draw another breath. "Heather, BREATHE!" I nervously reminded her as I scrolled my iPod for another song. She had never been a physical touch kind of person, but tonight that didn't matter. She grabbed my hand, from the front seat, and whispered the words I never expected, nor deserved to hear, "I'm so sorry…"

Heather and I had been best friends for a long time. We'd conquered many tough times, supported each other and traveled everywhere together. Somehow along my own search for identity, I had made unforgivable mistakes and among the casualties was Heather. We had fallen away from each other for well over half a year and this was the first time we had even spoken since I lost myself. Fear had taken me down the lonely road away from here, and fear gripped me from making things right with her.

There I was though, at midnight, in a truck headed down an empty road somewhere in Texas. She said it again "In case I die tonight, would you forgive me for all the times I have hurt you?" In that second, my life was changed. I had broken her down. I had destroyed our friendship. I was the one that caused her pain. But, God's love in her was what broke through the barriers of my fear. I couldn't speak, so I just hugged her and cried.

Over the next several hours, I fell apart in a practically empty emergency room, watching the doctors revive her. She pulled through and, by God's grace, we were given another chance at friendship. That night, LOVE penetrated my own darkness and the Lord began His process of reviving me. I never looked at those I loved the same. Life is a breath, but LOVE lasts forever. I knew the importance of really loving those that are closest to you, and never letting fear drive something between you and them. Love became my anti-fear.