Never Give Up: Finding Strength in Three Simple Words – You Are OK

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I remember those years with crystal clarity—the years when my life felt like an endless uphill battle. I had just left my abuser, and every day was a fight to protect my children. I was navigating the cold and crushing Family Court and Social Services systems, climbing a cliff so steep that I was sure I’d fall at any moment and be lost forever. Yet in the midst of my darkest days, God sent a single, extraordinary woman into my life. She was my angel on earth. And she always said the same three words to me: “Sebrenna, you are okay.” She repeated those words at the very moments when I felt most broken:

• When I sat in court listening to my abuser tear apart my character in public, she whispered, “Sebrenna, you are okay.”

• When I stared at my bills and wondered how I would survive financially in the middle of an exhausting custody battle, she reminded me, “Sebrenna, you are okay.”

• When the system failed me and sent my children to live with our abuser, words that should have shattered me were met with her calm voice saying, “Sebrenna, you are okay.”

I never argued with her. I simply cried. Because the truth was, I felt anything but okay.

Today, I understand the profound power of those three simple words. She wasn’t saying I would be okay someday—she was declaring that I already was okay. She was inviting me to see beyond my immediate pain and step into the life God had already prepared for me. Her words became a lifeline, pulling me from the drowning depths of sorrow, pain, and grief. Every time I felt like I was sinking, she tossed that lifeline without hesitation.

She saved my life with her persistence and faith. And now, I want to pass that same lifeline to you.

Beloved, I want you to know:

• Despite the abuse you have endured—You Are OK.

• Regardless of what anyone says about the choices you’ve made—You Are OK.

• Even when the weight of shame and defeat feels unbearable—You Are OK.

Hold onto these words. Say your name out loud and tell yourself: You Are OK. You will make it. You will rise. And one day, you will look back and see the strength that was always inside you.

Never give up—You Are OK.