‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Sarah Drew reveals pastor father’s advice that transformed her life

Sarah Drew has never forgotten the advice she received from her father, a pastor, that changed her life.

The "Grey’s Anatomy" alum is starring in the new Lifetime film airing Saturday, "When I Said I Do," as Ali Corley, a widowed search-and-rescue K-9 handler who rebuilt her life and found love again after losing her husband on the job.

The actress told Fox News Digital that faith has always been the foundation of her life. During her darkest struggles, she turned to her father for words of wisdom rooted in the Bible.

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"One of the biggest, scariest risks that I leaped into was choosing to become a mom," the 45-year-old told Fox News Digital. "I took the risk, and I was pregnant. I was probably about six months pregnant, and I had been having panic attacks."

"I’d been so caught up with anxiety about all of it," she admitted. "I was worried I was going to screw up. I was worried for my kids that I wasn’t going to have the necessary selflessness that’s required. I was worried that I was too self-absorbed to do this well. [I was worried that] I would resent the fact that [my kids] were … demanding things from me."

"There were so many big fears that I had walking into [motherhood]," she said.

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At the time, Drew was starring in "Grey’s Anatomy," one of America’s biggest television shows. She and her husband, Peter Lanfer, were preparing to welcome their first child after a decade of marriage. From the outside, life seemed picture-perfect, but behind the scenes, Drew was overwhelmed by fear, terrified of becoming a mother and uncertain she was ready for the challenges ahead.

Drew did what she knew best — she reached out to her father.

"I remember writing to my dad and just saying, ‘Do you have any advice or any wisdom or any Scripture that you can point me toward that could help combat this fear? Because it’s really overwhelming,’" she recalled. "And he wrote back with some really lovely Bible verses that I have taken to heart for sure."

"But the biggest thing that stuck with me was that the best way to combat fear is with aggressive gratitude," said Drew. "And I was like, ‘Tell me more.’ … He calls it ‘aggressive’ because it’s not always easy when you first start practicing gratitude because sometimes you’re just in a mind spiral, and all you can see is the scary and the dark."

Her father urged Drew to confront her fears and anxieties with faith. He encouraged her to speak aloud the blessings God had given her, even in moments of uncertainty.

"… You’re replacing the scary and the dark with, ‘I’m grateful that there is oxygen in my lungs. I am grateful that I have a roof over my head. Look, I have this beautiful meal. I’m so grateful for this. Thank you for this. Thank you for that.’ All of a sudden, your brain chemistry starts to shift."

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"You start bushwhacking a new pathway in your neurotransmitters so that you’re literally looking toward the good things," said Drew.

"You’re looking for the good things because you’re thanking God or the universe or whoever for the good things, and you’re in the practice of doing it. And honestly, I started practicing that, and it has been the greatest combatant of fear in my life for me. 

"Whenever I’m feeling really scared about something, I go straight to gratitude, and that generally turns the corner for me. As soon as I start being grateful for things, I start noticing more things to be grateful for, and it transforms."

Today, Drew, a devout Christian, is a proud mom to two children. Since exiting "Grey’s Anatomy" in 2018, she has written two Christmas movies for Lifetime and has kept busy acting, People magazine reported.

Drew said she was instantly drawn to "When I Said I Do," a romantic drama inspired by Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black’s 1999 hit duet, because of its powerful message of hope, resilience and perseverance. Those uplifting, heartfelt stories with deeper meaning, she explained, are exactly the kind she feels passionate about telling as an actress.

Looking back, Drew said her parents never doubted her decision to pursue a career in Hollywood. Instead, they embraced it and encouraged her every step of the way.

"I love them so much, and they’re such good people," said Drew. "And for them, they always recognized my acting as a gift that was given to me to be used for goodness. For them, it was an outpouring of the love of God. And so, there were never any guardrails in terms of, ‘Oh, that’s a scary place to go into.’ It was like, ‘No, look at the opportunity that you have to use your gift and love people over there.’"

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"My mom’s parting words to me when she dropped me off at college were, ‘Go out there and love some people,’" said Drew. "That’s always been the motivation that my parents raised in me. First, you love people, then everything else happens underneath that. But the first thing you do is go out, and you love people."

Over the years, Drew has been inspired by the 1981 historical drama "Chariots of Fire," which tells the true story of Eric Liddell, a devout Christian who refused to run an Olympic race on a Sunday because of his religious convictions. The movie’s title comes from a line in William Blake’s poem "Jerusalem," symbolizing noble purpose and spiritual strength.

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"[Eric’s] sister wants him to … become a missionary," said Drew. "He’s like, ‘No, I’ve got to keep running.’ And she just can’t understand. She’s like, ‘How is running more important than being a missionary?’ And he goes, ‘Well, when I run, I feel God’s pleasure.’ And all through high school, all through middle school, that was my theme song."

"… When I act, I feel God’s pleasure," she noted. "That’s what it is. It’s a beautiful, divine thing I feel — like I’m dancing with God a little bit whenever I get to play a role. It’s really sweet and meaningful. It’s an expression of my faith more than anything else."

These days, Drew has plenty of reasons to feel grateful.

"I don’t want any moment to be motivated by, ‘What’s this going to get me? How is this going to be a stepping stone for the next thing? How many followers should I have?’ All the things that come with gaining notoriety," she said.

"My purpose has always been to make a connection with people through storytelling," she said. "My younger self wasn’t reading the reviews. She didn’t care if this was taking her into another place in her career. She didn’t care if this was starting her career. She was just soaking up every single second of this experience because it had been the most magical thing that had ever happened to her."