These are photos of my brain 🧠. The white areas are where the stroke happened.
They said my brain was on 🔥 fire. Burning what it could devour. Initially, I was completely paralyzed. I couldn’t speak. I could hear everything.
I found myself yelling ” I’m coming “at the top of my 🫁 lungs. No one could hear my silent, my tortured, my horrifying screams.
More on that later…
Tonight I stopped by to encourage someone. Starting with me.
I don’t ask why me. I HAVE wondered why the hard must be so damnably hard ALL day.
Yet, I fight on. So, too must you. Recently, I have had a major setback. They say my brain is burning embers causing my body to experience the same symptoms as before. At first, I freaked out. I hollered ” OH, God not AGAIN “
I couldn’t bear weight on my right leg. My left was fine. I was in excruciating pain.
After. The MRI showed no NEW stroke I was told I may have to live this way for the rest of my days.
Now, when I’m tired I can barely speak due to numb left cheek. Still, I have 📞 calls I have to make. Sis and niece no longer do anything I can do myself.
Now, I can finally get on my potty chair. I call it The Potty Wars.☺️🤠
I have gotten down to an hour. Last week it took three hours. Egads.
My life would have been easier if the stroke affected the other side so I could use my right hand.
Life said HA! DEAL WITH WHATYOU HAVE NOW.
So, I deal. I have to. So, do you!
We got this.
Life is NOT over!
I copied all the images for things I have planned for you. Yet, a stroke interrupted my life, my plans
Don’t know if I’ll get to finish.
However long I have, you shall have my heart/my love, beloveds.
I love you. Be encouraged.
loving you for the rest of my life, with the best of my life,
Beloved, You Can Stop Trying to Earn What We Already Desire to Give You
Beloveds,
Today, we’re going to be quiet.
No teaching first.
No fixing.
No proving.
No trying to impress God with how well we’re handling everything.
Just…
come.
😭❤️🔥
Imagine setting everything down for a moment.
The guilt.
The shame.
The fear that you’re asking too much.
The embarrassment about what you cannot do.
The worry about everybody who’s helping you.
The questions about whether you’re becoming a burden.
The frantic need to prove that you’re still useful.
The old fear that love always comes with strings.
Set it down.
And hear the heart Scripture reveals to us from the Father and Jesus.
❤️🔥
❤️🔥 BELOVED, COME.
You keep thinking you have to get yourself together before you come close.
But Jesus already told us:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28, KJV
Not:
Come when you’re stronger.
Come.
Not:
Come when you’ve stopped crying.
Come.
Not:
Come when you’re useful again.
Come.
Not:
Come after you’ve cleaned up the mess.
Come.
Not:
Come when you finally have something impressive to offer.
Just…
come.
😭❤️🔥
You’ve spent so much time wondering what you can bring to God.
Maybe today the answer is:
yourself.
Tired.
Confused.
Grateful.
Angry.
Hopeful.
Scared.
Healing.
Hurting.
Laughing one minute and crying the next.
Still figuring things out.
Still learning how to receive.
Come anyway.
❤️🔥 YOU DO NOT HAVE TO APOLOGIZE FOR NEEDING US
Some of us have been apologizing our way through life.
I’m sorry I need help.
I’m sorry I’m tired.
I’m sorry I can’t do what I used to.
I’m sorry I’m crying again.
I’m sorry I’m not stronger yet.
I’m sorry everybody has to help me.
And Scripture keeps showing us a God who invites needy people closer.
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” — 1 Peter 5:7, KJV
All your care.
Not only the respectable worries.
Not only the spiritual ones.
Not only the problems you think are big enough to bother God with.
All.
😭❤️🔥
What if the Father isn’t standing over you irritated because you need Him again?
What if He is exactly who Scripture says He is?
A Father.
And what if Jesus isn’t exhausted by the fact that you’re still learning?
What if grace anticipated that?
❤️🔥 WE KNEW YOU WOULD NEED GRACE BEFORE YOU EVER NEEDED IT
Grace wasn’t God’s emergency backup plan after humanity became messy.
👀❤️🔥
He knew.
He knew we would stumble.
He knew we would hurt.
He knew we would need forgiveness.
He knew we would become frightened.
He knew we would become exhausted.
He knew some days our prayers would sound magnificent…
and other days they’d sound like:
“Jesus. Help.”
😭🙏🏾
And somehow two words can still be prayer.
Sometimes one word can.
Jesus.
Sometimes tears themselves seem to carry what language cannot.
You don’t have to perform spirituality either.
❤️🔥 STOP BRINGING US YOUR RÉSUMÉ
Some of us keep approaching God with our list.
Look how faithful I’ve been.
Look how much I’ve served.
Look how much I’ve given.
Look how many people I’ve helped.
Look how hard I’ve tried.
And those things can be beautiful.
But beloved…
they aren’t currency for purchasing the Father’s love.
❤️🔥
Scripture says:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” — Ephesians 2:8–9, KJV
Gift.
There is that word again.
Gift.
And some of us don’t know what to do with gifts.
😭❤️🔥
We know what to do with wages.
Earn them.
We know what to do with debts.
Repay them.
We know what to do with contracts.
Fulfill them.
But a gift?
A gift leaves us standing there with empty hands.
And perhaps that’s exactly where grace wants us.
Not empty because we are worthless.
Empty because:
there is finally room to receive.
❤️🔥 BELOVED, WE ARE NOT ASHAMED OF YOUR NEED
You may be ashamed.
God isn’t surprised.
You may look at your weakness and think:
“Surely this makes me less valuable.”
But Jesus has never needed your strength in order to be strong.
👀😭❤️🔥
Read that again.
Jesus does not need you to pretend to be strong so He can remain Savior.
You are allowed to need saving.
You are allowed to need carrying.
You are allowed to need comfort.
You are allowed to need mercy.
You are allowed to need rest.
You are allowed to need Him.
In fact…
that’s the whole point.
❤️🔥 YOU KEEP TRYING TO CARRY WHAT WE KEEP ASKING YOU TO RELEASE
Somebody needs this.
You’ve prayed about it…
then picked it back up.
😭😆❤️🔥
Lord, I give this to You.
Five minutes later:
WHERE DID I PUT THAT WORRY?
🏃🏾♀️😭😆
Right back in the bag.
Back on the shoulder.
Back into the mind.
Back into the 3:17 a.m. emergency meeting nobody invited Jesus to.
Beloved…
put it down again.
And if you pick it up tomorrow?
Put it down tomorrow.
Grace is patient enough for repetition.
❤️🔥 WE ARE NOT KEEPING THE SCORE YOU THINK WE ARE
Maybe you’ve imagined the Father with a ledger.
Good day.
Bad day.
Strong day.
Weak day.
Faithful day.
Messy day.
Prayer completed.
Prayer forgotten.
Bible read.
Bible untouched.
Kind words.
Bad attitude.
Excellent Tuesday.
Absolute foolishness Wednesday.
😭😆❤️🔥
And accountability matters.
Repentance matters.
Growth matters.
Obedience matters.
But none of those means the Father’s love fluctuates every morning according to your performance.
Scripture says:
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8, KJV
While we were yet sinners.
Before the cleanup.
Before the improvement.
Before the impressive testimony.
Love moved first.
😭❤️🔥
❤️🔥 JESUS: I ALREADY KNEW THE COST
Maybe this is where the fear of strings attached finally meets the Cross.
We’ve been asking:
“What will this love cost me later?”
And Jesus points us toward Calvary.
The cost wasn’t hidden.
He knew it.
He chose it.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13, KJV
❤️🔥
The Cross isn’t Jesus giving us something so He can manipulate us later.
The Cross reveals sacrificial love.
Grace doesn’t say:
“Now spend your life trying to pay Me back.”
Grace says:
“Follow Me.”
There is a difference.
One is debt.
The other is relationship.
One says:
Repay.
The other says:
Come with Me.
😭❤️🔥
❤️🔥 THE FATHER: YOU ARE MY CHILD, NOT MY EMPLOYEE
Some of us understand employment better than sonship or daughterhood.
Employees earn wages.
Employees prove productivity.
Employees receive performance reviews.
Employees can be replaced when they stop producing.
So sometimes we unconsciously bring that model into our relationship with God.
What did I accomplish for You today?
But family asks another question:
Whose are you?
😭❤️🔥
Before you accomplished today’s list…
His.
When you got tired halfway through…
His.
When you cried…
His.
When you needed help…
His.
When somebody had to carry you…
His.
When you finally did something you couldn’t do yesterday…
His.
When tomorrow turns out harder again…
still His.
❤️🔥 JESUS: LET ME WASH YOUR FEET
Oh, this one.
👀😭❤️🔥
Peter struggled with receiving too.
When Jesus came to wash his feet, Peter resisted:
“Thou shalt never wash my feet.” — John 13:8, KJV
Does that sound familiar?
No, no. I’ll do it.
You don’t have to do that for me.
I’ll handle it.
Let me serve YOU.
And Jesus challenged Peter to receive.
Sometimes humility isn’t kneeling down to serve.
Sometimes humility is remaining seated while love kneels in front of you.
😭😭❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
WHEW.
Some of us can wash everybody’s feet.
But when somebody reaches for ours?
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Because serving feels holy.
Receiving feels vulnerable.
But Jesus demonstrated both.
And perhaps He is teaching us:
You cannot follow the way of love while refusing to ever occupy the receiver’s chair.
❤️🔥 BELOVED, SIT THERE.
Don’t jump up yet.
Don’t grab the towel.
Don’t say:
“Okay, now it’s my turn.”
Sit.
😭❤️🔥
Let yourself be served.
Let yourself be loved.
Let yourself be comforted.
Let somebody pray for YOU.
Let somebody encourage YOU.
Let somebody bring YOU something.
Let somebody make the phone call.
Let somebody drive.
Let somebody sit beside you.
Let somebody say:
“I’ve got this part.”
And don’t immediately answer:
“But—”
No but.
😆❤️🔥
Sit.
Receive.
❤️🔥 FROM THEIR HEART TO OURS
If we gathered the invitations of Scripture into one place, perhaps this is what our hearts need to hear today:
Come.
Cast your cares.
Receive grace.
Let Me give you rest.
Let Me love you first.
Let Me serve you.
Let Me carry what you cannot.
Then, when you have received love, go love somebody else.
Not to repay Me.
Not to prove yourself.
Not to purchase your place.
But because love received eventually becomes love overflowing.
😭❤️🔥🌎
“We love him, because he first loved us.” — 1 John 4:19, KJV
There it is.
The whole thing.
He first loved us.
We receive.
Then…
we love.
🙏🏾 OUR RESPONSE
Father…
we have spent so much time trying to prove ourselves.
We’re tired.
Jesus…
we have resisted having our feet washed.
We thought strength meant always being the one holding the towel.
Forgive us where pride has kept our hands closed.
Heal us where hurt has kept them closed.
Comfort us where shame has kept them closed.
Give us wisdom where past manipulation taught us to fear every gift.
And then…
slowly…
gently…
teach us to open our hands.
😭🙏🏾❤️🔥
We receive Your grace.
We receive Your mercy.
We receive Your correction.
We receive Your comfort.
We receive Your rest.
We receive the trustworthy people You place around us.
We receive help without calling ourselves helpless.
We receive love without calling ourselves burdens.
And when guilt says:
“You need to pay this back,”
remind us that gratitude can simply say:
“Thank You.”
Father…
Thank You.
Jesus…
Thank You.
For coming.
For staying.
For carrying.
For loving first.
For loving still.
And for teaching us how to love because we finally learned how to receive Yours.
Amen.
😭❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
Beloveds…
Maybe today there is no Cassandra Challenge.
No homework.
No assignment.
Maybe today receiving IS the assignment.
Sit there.
Let Them love you.
Let grace finish its sentence before guilt interrupts.
And when your heart finally finds words…
just whisper:
“Thank You, Father.”
“Thank You, Jesus.”
“I receive.”
😭🙏🏾❤️🔥
From His heart to ours. From our hearts to yours.
Unapologetically His. Unapologetically yours.
Asking for A Friend, Cassandra
#YourLifeMattersToMe
One step. One step. One step. You are loved. You are NOT alone. Keep on being…YOU! ❤️🔥🌎
August 14, 2026 💔😭 GOD, WHAT DO I DO WITH MY BROKEN HEART?
For Me—and Everybody Else Who Is Crying
Today 🫂💞 Beloveds, today I need comfort.
Not a lecture. Not somebody telling me how strong I am.
Not somebody rushing me toward the bright side.
Comfort. 🫂💔
Because today… I am devastated. 😭😭😭
And before somebody mistakes my tears for surrender, let me make something very clear:
I AM NOT DISCOURAGED.
I have not quit. I have not stopped believing. I have not decided my life has no purpose.
I have not stopped trusting God.
My heart just hurts. Badly. 💔😢
And maybe somebody reading this needs permission to understand the difference.
You can have hope… and hurt.
You can trust God… and cry.
You can know you’re going to keep going… and wish with everything inside you that you didn’t have to go through this.
You can be grateful for your life… and grieve what has changed in it.
You can say, “God is good.” and then put your face in your hands and sob. 😭🙏🏽 Those things can live in the same heart.
I know because today… they are living in mine. 💔❤️🩹 — 😭
GOD…I MISS ME.
There. I said it. Sometimes grief isn’t only about losing somebody else. Sometimes you grieve yourself. The person you remember. The things you used to do without thinking about them.
The ordinary pieces of life you never imagined you would one day miss.
And some days the difference between then and now hits harder than others.
Today is one of those days for me. 💔🧠😭
My symptoms are really bad today. And sometimes when things are especially difficult, grief comes knocking again.
Not necessarily because I’ve lost hope. Sometimes because I remember. I remember ME.
And there are pieces of that woman I miss so terribly that I don’t have prettier words for it.
I just… miss her. 😭😭😭
And God, if I’m going to walk this road, I need You to help me understand something:
What do I do with all this LOVE I have for the life I remember? What do I do with the memories? What do I do with the frustration? What do I do when my heart screams: “I WANT IT BACK!”
💔😭🙏🏽 — 🫂
MAYBE I DON’T HAVE TO “DO” ANYTHING WITH IT TODAY.
Maybe that is part of the lesson. Maybe every painful emotion doesn’t immediately require an assignment.
Maybe sometimes grief needs permission to simply be grief.
Today I hurt. Period. No explanation required. No apology required. No inspirational ending required.
I can sit before God and say: “Father, Your daughter is hurting today.” 🙏🏽😭 That’s enough.
And if you don’t believe as I do, perhaps your words are simply:
“Today hurts.” That’s enough too. You don’t owe anybody a performance of strength. 🫂💞 —
🙏🏽 GOD, PLEASE SIT WITH ME HERE. I don’t need You only in my victories. I need You here. In this.
In the tears. In the questions. In the memories. In the frustration. In the moments when I am tired of having to be courageous.
In the moments when I don’t want another lesson. In the moments when I don’t want my pain turned into purpose yet.
Sometimes, God… I just want my heart held. 💔🙏🏽🫂
Your Word says: “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart…” — Psalm 34:18 KJV
Then please… come near.
Not tomorrow when I’m feeling inspirational again. Not after I’ve dried my tears. Not after I’ve figured out what I’m supposed to learn. NOW.
Come sit with the crying woman. 😭🙏🏽 — 💔
AND TO SOMEBODY CRYING WITH ME TODAY… Come sit over here. 🫂
You don’t have to explain everything. You don’t even have to talk. I won’t tell you to cheer up. I won’t tell you everything happens for a reason.
I won’t tell you somebody else has it worse. I won’t tell you that you should be grateful because at least you still have ______.
No. Your heartbreak gets to be your heartbreak. 😭💔
Maybe somebody died. Maybe somebody left. Maybe your health changed. Maybe your family changed. Maybe a dream died.
Maybe you received news that knocked the wind out of you.
Maybe you’re grieving a version of yourself you desperately want back. Maybe you don’t even know WHY you’re crying.
You’re just tired. Come anyway. 🫂💞 There is room beside me. — 😭
CRY. Yes. CRY. I mean the ugly one too. The runny-nose, swollen-eyes, can’t-get-the-sentence-out kind. 😭😭😭😩🫠 Cry if you need to.
Because tears aren’t always saying: “I give up.” Sometimes tears are saying: “This mattered.” “I loved deeply.” “I wanted something different.” “I’m disappointed.” “I’m exhausted.” “I miss what was.” “I need somebody to hold me.”
And sometimes… tears don’t say anything at all. They just fall. Let them. 💧💧💧 — ❤️🩹
THEN LOVE THE PERSON WHO IS CRYING.
That person is YOU. This is where the HOW of love matters. We talk so much about loving everybody else.
But what does love look like when the person falling apart is staring back at us in the mirror? Maybe love says:
“You don’t have to accomplish anything impressive today.” Maybe love says: “Rest.” Maybe love says: “Eat something.”
Maybe love says: “Call somebody safe.”
Maybe love says: “Turn the music on.” 🎶
Maybe love says: “Pray.” 🙏🏽
Maybe love says: “Laugh if something ridiculous happens—even while you’re crying.” 😂😭
And maybe love simply whispers: “I am staying with you through this.” ❤️🩹 — 🙏🏽
MY PRAYER FROM A BROKEN HEART:
God, I don’t have a polished prayer today. My heart hurts. You already know why. You know every thought I haven’t found words for. You know what I miss.
You know what I’m afraid to lose. You know what I wish were different. You know the parts of this journey I would NEVER have chosen. 😭🙏🏽
So I’m bringing You exactly what I have. A broken heart. Take it. Hold it.
Please don’t let pain make me bitter. Don’t let grief steal my capacity to love. Don’t let what I have lost make me unable to see what remains.
And when I cannot understand what You are doing… help me trust Your heart. 💔🙏🏽❤️🩹
And Father… if this truly is being asked of me… then You already know what I’m going to say. 😭💪🏽 I CAN.
Not because it is easy. I WILL.
Not because I wanted this. I MUST.
Because there is still purpose inside this beating heart. 🙏🏽❤️🩹
But God… please hold me while I do it. Amen. —
💞 FOR THOSE WHO PRAY DIFFERENTLY—or DON’T PRAY AT ALL…
May you give yourself permission today to be human. May you stop measuring your strength by how rarely you cry.
May you recognize that grief and hope can occupy the same body. May you treat yourself gently while your heart is hurting.
And may somebody remind you: You do not have to solve your whole life today.
Just stay with today. 🫂💞 — 🌱
TODAY’S LOVE CHALLENGE :
Find somebody—including yourself—who needs comfort. And resist the urge to FIX them. Sit. Listen. Hold a hand.
Send a message. Let them cry. Say: “You don’t have to be okay with me.” That’s love too. 💞🫂 — 🏆 TODAY’S VICTORY
Maybe today’s victory isn’t getting back up immediately. Maybe today’s victory is finally admitting: “This broke my heart.” 💔
And discovering that after saying it… your heart is still beating. ❤️🩹 Mine is. It hurts like crazy today. But it’s beating.
And apparently it still has enough life left in it to love somebody else who is crying.
So if you’re crying today… you can borrow some of mine. 💞 I’ll sit with you. You sit with me. We don’t have to pretend. We don’t have to hurry.
And when we’re ready… not when somebody else decides we should be ready… we’ll take another step. 👣 Then another. 👣 And another. 👣 Crying if necessary. Laughing when we can. 😂😭💞
Praying when we have words. 🙏🏽 Sitting quietly when we don’t. 🫂 And believing that a broken heart can still hold an astonishing amount of love.
💔❤️🩹💞 Asking for A Friend,
Cassandra #YourLifeMattersToMe
Note: One step. One step. One step. You are loved. You are NOT alone. Keep on being…YOU! 💔❤️🩹🙏🏽🫂💞
And God? I’m still here. I’m crying. I’m hurting. I’m heartbroken. But I’m still here. If this is being asked of me… I CAN. I WILL. I MUST. Just… hold my hand while I do it. 😭🙏🏽🤝🏽❤️🩹
Hate, come over here and claim your well earned L!
Yea, I see you, hate. You mad, bro?
YAAASSS, hate, we beloveds saw you a mile away. HA! Hate we have no room for you. It’s check out time. Get packed, hate. We are fixing to kick you to the curb.
Take two seats, hate. Hate, there is no room, at the Inn. See, as Jesus lay in the manger, He declared your foolishness null and void.
Listen up, hate. We know that haters gotta hate. We understand that love, that Love, is the key.
Yes, hate our love SHALL unlock EVERY DOOR!
We see your tricks for what they are, hate:
We are done with you, hate. Hate, come over here and claim your well earned L!
We are going to love this world. We are going to care for one another, hate.
Don’t forget, clown, these words. Not today, hate!
Note: Keep going. Keep writing YOUR story. This is not the end. You have enough begin agains! Begin! Again. As many times as it takes. Go for it. I go with you. So, does He
Write a new song, beloveds. Yea, I know, life came and slapped your song. Heartache robbed you of your voice. Despair stole your sweet song.
Anger, snatcher joy, from your lips. Unbelief, stole your peace Apathy, destroyed your desire to move forward, to keep on keeping on.
Ah, beloveds, I come sharing good news:
God sees you. God loves you. God CARES DEEPLY about you
E EVERYTHING that concerns you concerns He who loves you.
Ah, beloveds, I have NO idea how much longer I have to be able to encourage and love you. I spent yesterday in the Emergency Room waiting to hear if I had had a second stroke.
I must admit, I wondered if a second stroke would end me or rob from me, the ability to speak, to move, even take the ability to breathe on my own.
Beloveds, as I lay there, I had no fear of death. Truthfully, I didn’t have ONE fear of what could happen, of what could go wrong.
I said, outloud, over and over that I COULD/WOULD do all things through He who loves me. Yes I was content with whatever would come.
I thanked God for walking WITH me.
As I am on blood thinners, I am susceptible for other strokes. When the nurse removed the IV, I bled as if someone had slashed me. Blood went every which way. Ewww!
Beloveds, I’m not afraid to die I’m terrified of not taking advantage of EVERY second I have been given.
Why Can't I Be Loud?! 