I’d never been through that kind of pain. It took my breath away from the inside out, leaving me hollow and empty, gasping for air and answers.

I did not need to solve my whole life at once. I just needed the courage to take the next step with God.

I have learned that I cannot continuously give away pieces of who I am to appease other people. The priority has to be, first and foremost, “I am God’s child, God’s prize possession,” and I have to accept who God tells me that I am. The tunnel did not get the final word; God did, and God’s truth became the light that led me forward.