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.

The call is not always to run faster, but to keep running. Even a slow, halting step forward is still faithfulness.

Maybe hope isn’t meant to feel strong all the time. Maybe hope, in its truest form, is quieter than that. Smaller. More stubborn.