Athaiah Deshawn

What’s a chapter of your life you’d title “The Hard Years” — and what got you through it?

Every season of life shapes us, but the hardest years of mine were the ones where it felt like everything I had hoped for was falling apart. Dreams I thought would last came to an end, relationships failed, plans unraveled, and I found myself asking questions I never imagined I would have to ask. It wasn’t one single moment that made those years difficult. It was the weight of carrying disappointment day after day while trying to keep moving forward.

What carried me through wasn’t my own strength. It was my faith. There were days when all I could do was pray, write, and believe that God was still working even when I couldn’t see Him. Looking back, I realize those difficult years taught me perseverance, compassion, and dependence on God in ways that easier seasons never could.

Today, I don’t celebrate the pain, but I am grateful for what it produced. Those years shaped not only who I became as a person but also the stories I tell. They remind me that even in our darkest chapters, hope has a way of quietly writing the next page.