“Sometimes people would come up and offer me a drink or something to eat or would say, ‘Come with me. I will show you a good time.’ But I have to treat them as if they are little children and say, ‘No, not this time.’ You see, the Lord already has everything that I need—and he’ll give it to me. For instance, I know that I’m going to finish my education and get my doctorate. Why do I need my doctorate? Because I need to teach again. I already had my master’s, but after 9/11 we were laid off because tenured professors get all the important teaching positions.
“So you just have to keep believing, sweetheart. Always believe, no matter how dark it gets. Even tonight, it will get darker and darker and darker. Then, when it gets really dark, you know what I do out here by myself? I wait because I know that in just a moment, it will become daylight. It doesn’t flash or anything, but there it is. I just have to keep my faith steadfast.”