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The series of events that occurred after that are remarkable. Unexplainable. Unknowingly, I was about to fall into a dark pit. Unbeknownst to me, God was about to dispatch His angels to surround me and comfort me. It seems to be what He does when you’re about to walk in a valley of darkness.

You’re not going to stay down forever. That’s not your legacy. That’s not who you are. You have to move to remind yourself you’re alive. For now, make it a slow move. Just enough movement to roll over and show the world you’re not defeated. You took the shot, but you’re bulletproof. 

She did what moms do, and took on my pain like it was hers. Took on my anger like it was hers. Took on my every emotion like it was hers. We cried the same tears. 

Sank to the same floor. 

“Don’t ever let them change you, baby,” 

she whispered through her tears. 

 Call, come, pray, search, seek. There’s something more to life than you. You may have given up on God, but He has not given up on you. Even if you don’t believe that, you should at least live your life like a greater power has not given up on you. As for me, in case of accident, kindly call a priest.  

“And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen and establish you.” 

– 1 Peter 5:10

Notice it doesn’t say that you’ll suffer your whole life? It doesn’t say your suffering will last forever. You will suffer “for a little while” and then you’ll be restored, supported, and strengthened. 

Break yourself free of the gossipers and the haters and the casual acquaintances. You don’t have time in your life to waste on them. Find the good people you can trust and who will raise you up. They may be hard to find, and there’s only a few of them, but the quickest way to find them is to start by being that person to someone else. 

For me, at that time, that was the direction and clarity and faith that I needed. Those same words from anybody else may not have resonated the same way with me as they did from a circus clown, so that’s who God put in my path to say them to me. 

 You have more meaning. You have more love to give. You have more goals. You have dreams to chase. The impossible ones are now possible. There are no longer any such things as impossible dreams. 

 This isn’t going to destroy you. This is a wound that’s going to leave a scar but it’s going to heal. When you’re laying on your back and you’re on the ground and it doesn’t seem like there’s anything left, say to yourself: “Whatever happens; whatever you see. Whatever your eyes tell you has become of me. This is not, it’s not the end. I am making all things new again.”  

   Don’t let the devil make the rules in your playground. Don’t let the enemy rent any more space in your mind. Don’t let the darkness of the night steal away the light of your day. And if this world has blessed you with someone who loves you, let them help you get off the ground, hold them, love them, hug them, kiss them, but don’t say goodnight. 

 You might have been pushed and fallen into a pit of darkness, but that doesn’t mean you start digging deeper and deeper and watch it get darker and darker until you’re so far down that all you can do is sit there and die. You look up. You see the light of the future and it’s bright. And you gotta get up.

 Be compassionate. Be generous. Be faithful. Be hopeful. Be giving. Be patient. Be honourable. Be respectful. Be loyal. Be authentic. Be grateful. Be committed. Be empathetic. Be brilliant. And be ready, so when the monsters and predators and demons and disasters and tragedies and traumas and illnesses and catastrophes find you, you’ll be bulletproof.