Don’t You Ever Quit!

Who knew that 7 years ago, I drove all the way to Washington D.C. to walk the stage for having completed my Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Phoenix? The tears roll as I reflect 😪. I recall people trying to talk me out of going because they thought it was foolishness for me to drive all the way out there for a diploma, so the person taking me basically just took their time. The end result was that I arrived late. When I got there, many of my classmates were standing outside taking pictures with their families. I can recall several of them saying "they called your name." My heart was broken 💔. You wouldn’t know that by this picture because I internalized a lot of things and hid a lot of pain to protect other people’s peace. I did a lot of my crying late at night or in the wee hours of the morning 🌄.

What others hadn't understood was that not only was I contemplating suicide because I thought my life was just that bad, my Pastor Dennis C. Ruffin (I called his name) kept preaching "faith" to me. He kept trying to make me see what he was seeing about my life and I couldn't because low self-esteem, rejection, feeling worthless, unloved, depressed, and a host of other things had a strong hold on me mentally. 👈

Who knew that every time he spoke "faith" to me, one by one, it was driving out the strongholds and breaking up those stony places in my heart...until one day I said to myself "if he can see all of this in me, why can't I see it in myself?" I said, "I'm going to try it and see if it's true." 😁

I applied to college and at first, either I couldn’t get in or got in and couldn’t finish because I couldn’t get to school etc. Soooo many things came against me to try to prevent me from accomplishing what I set out to do...but look at God! 💃

This is why I preach and teach "faith!"

Because again...it’s easy to criticize others when you don’t know the price that they paid to get to where they are! You don’t know my story! 👈

One of the best days of my life was walking back into church and calling my Pastor down and presenting him with a copy of my degree! Because he was able to inspire me and impact my life, I’m able to do the same for thousands of others! ❤

Shout out to my Pastor! ❤

He believed in me. Clap for yourself and don’t you ever quit! 👏👏👏