I grew up in a small town, home to Dolly Parton, of course, in East Tennessee. And I was adopted. I was the oldest of four children. And we were a middle-ass family. I was loved deeply. They were good parents. We grew up going to church. We grew up, that was what we did. Sunday morning, we got ready. We went to church.

Around 9 years old, we stopped going to church routinely, but I just wanted to keep going. So, I got connected to a local church at about 12 years old, went to a church camp, and I decided to give my life to Jesus or what I thought that meant at the time. And I was excited. Came home and didn't go to church consistently for a couple years.

Went to another church camp at 15 years old and I felt really led to get baptized. I got baptized and it was a hard decision. I didn't have the full support of my family because of just some pains and just misunderstanding within the church. And so a lot of that felt very lonely getting to know God for myself even though they were believers themselves.

So, fast forward, I go to college at 18 years old. And I really felt lonely, felt isolated, felt rejected. Didn't feel like I fit in even though it was an HBCU school. And I was searching for what? I didn't know, but I was searching for help.

I lived on campus and that was not the life for me. I decided to move off of campus and get in my own apartment at 18, young and just super ready to be independent. And all of a sudden, I move in my new place and the water breaks. Everything's going wrong. I feel more alone than ever. I like the independence, but I just felt like I had no help.

I was still involved with my school gospel choir, and that was the one thing that was consistent, and it brought me a sense of joy. I was getting ready to get dressed for choir on one night. It was a Tuesday night and I just felt miserable. I knew that getting to that place would bring me some kind of joy and peace.

And then the pipes burst in my sink and my apartment starts flooding with mildew water and it was just really, really hard, really nasty. And I was just done. I was in some relationships, in a relationship that was not healthy for me. And things were just not going well.

So, I got myself together and I just decided to go to choir rehearsal, and I called my dad and just kind of let him know that I was having a hard time, and he just kind of talked to me. And I go to choir rehearsal, leave choir rehearsal, headed back home, and I get to my home and my front door was open and my dad was there, and he was helping me to clean it up. And I never even asked him. And for the first time in my life, I felt like I had help.

And so, if there's anyone that has felt like you just don't know what to do, you feel misunderstood, you feel like no one is there to truly help you, and you may be even serving in ministry and you just feel overlooked and unseen, I just want you to know that there is a helper that is there to help you.