A Faith I Witnessed With My Own Eyes

There are moments in life that mark you forever. Moments no one can take from you. Moments that become anchors for your faith when everything else feels uncertain. This is one of mine.

During my daughter Jahmya’s 40 day hospital admission, I witnessed something that changed me at my core. Jahmya was only 14 years old. She was a typical teenager in every sense. She loved her music loud and unapologetic. Secular music. Rod Wave, NBA YoungBoy and other Artists I couldn’t even name, but their voices lived in my ears because that’s all she listened to. She was a music girl. A beat girl. She took after her dad, who is inclined toward music and love, especially rap. Music was her language. Her comfort. Her vibe. She always said she wanted to be a rapper.

When Jahmya was first admitted to the hospital, I would play gospel music in her room. And she was not having it. She would get upset, frustrated, annoyed simply because that wasn’t her choice of music. In that season, I remember strengthening my own faith quietly. Leaning on God personally. Doing what I needed to do just to survive each day.

But something began to shift.

As the days turned into nights and the nights into days, as Jahmya endured things no child should ever have to endure, I began to witness a transformation I never expected. I would walk into her hospital room and hear gospel music blasting. Not softly playing. Blasting. Worship filling the room. Peace settling in the space. It stopped being my music and became hers.

One moment in particular is etched in my heart forever. My cousin and a friend came to visit Jahmya. We were standing in her room talking, probably talking too much. Jahmya looked at us and signaled for us to be quiet. Then she raised her arms and began to pray. Right there. In that hospital room.

That moment filled my heart in a way words can barely explain.

In that moment, God showed me that anything is possible. That He can step into a life and make a complete transformation. A true turning of the heart. Not forced. Not pressured. But surrendered.

What I witnessed in that hospital room was not emotion. It was not fear. It was salvation. Jahmya didn’t just listen to gospel music. She believed it. She confessed with her mouth and believed in her heart. I watched Scripture come alive right before me.

Romans 10:9 and 10 (NIV)

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

Witnessing Jahmya give her life to Christ strengthened my faith more than anything I could have done on my own. Why? Because I didn’t just believe it. I saw it. I saw her soul change. I saw her hunger for God. I saw her choose Him.

That experience is why I share my story. Because somebody can find Christ through testimony. Somebody can encounter God through what I witnessed and lived. Somebody needs to know that it is possible. I share all the time how grateful I am for God’s grace and His mercy. I say it often because I mean it deeply, from the bottom of my heart. If I had not been walking with Christ, I truly do not know where I would be today. Mentally. Emotionally. Spiritually. I don’t know.

But because of my walk. Because of what I believe. Because of my surrender. Because I called on His name and spoke His will into the atmosphere, I was able to stand in the middle of spiritual warfare and still believe. Spiritual warfare is real. I still have questions. I still think about many things. But my faith does not go unnoticed. It is not unseen.

My daughter Jahmya is a big reason why my faith is where it is today.

I witnessed her give her life to Christ with my own two eyes. I saw her soul change in that hospital room.

And that is something no one can ever take from me.

This promise is what carries me now.

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

When the days feel heavy and the questions still rise, I hold on to the assurance that God is with me. He strengthens me. He upholds me. What I witnessed in Jahmya was not the end of a story, but the confirmation of a faith that endures. Even in grief. Even in loss. Hope remains.

This is my UniqGrief Garden.

Where faith grew in the most unexpected place.

Where love, legacy, and God’s presence met me in the middle of my pain.