Founder & Executive Director of How Come How Long, (HCHL)
Writer | Author | Blogger
Seasons confirm there is a time for everything. A time to live and a time to die. We experience the cycle of life in each season. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. These are seasons based on the various stages we experience with every passing year.
Our lives contain a mixture of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, harmony and struggle, and life and death. Nothing stays the same, and we as God’s children, struggle to learn how to accept and adjust to the ebb and flow of the seasons that sometimes leave us in dark places.
We have the tendency to believe that the lives of others are going so well, yet we never take the time to have a conversation to confirm our beliefs.
No matter what you are going through or how dark life appears, the sun will shine again. It won’t rain forever. Words I recently heard from Kandi Burris, a member of the female vocal group Xscape, who when asked on The Real if she had ever felt like the whole world was against her, admitted being in a very low and dark place in middle school when she contemplated suicide.
We may not understand what God is doing in those dark times, but in those times, God is working out His plan in us. Kandi decided against suicide, after speaking with friends who encouraged Kandi not to take her life because she had so many great things to look forward to (and they were right). Kandi admitted that things did get better, but they got worse before they got better. When Kandi was 15 years old and a freshman year in high school, her older brother, Patrick (22) died from injuries sustained in a car accident. Had she followed through with suicide Kandi’s mom would have had to process her brother’s death alone and be left with neither child. Only God knows the plans He has for us. “… plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
Kandi did something that many people fail to do and that is to share their testimony. The word of God tells us that people are “…overcome by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11 KJV).
Life can be a lot to handle. There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves overwhelmed and we don’t see how we are going to make it through. BUT GOD! Just think about the life Kandi has now, a beautiful family, an American producer, television personality, a Black serial woman entrepreneur, actress and songwriter, and a well-known musical artist. Had she made a permanent decision in a temporary situation the world would have missed out on so much.
Suicide is the leading cause of death. People find themselves in a dark place every day and just want to stop the world and get off, not seeing or knowing what the future holds for them. Be that person willing to take the time to share your testimony; you may save a life.
Should you find yourself contemplating suicide, please call the Suicide Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit the website. suicidepreventionlifeline.org and remember to keep pressing. The sun will shine again; it won’t rain forever.
