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// Once upon a time, there was a young girl who dreamed of becoming a tiger one day. She dreamed about finding hidden treasures, embarking on impossible adventures, and epic failures and triumphs along the way. But most of all she dreamed of the moment that she would meet her Maker face-to-face. But she got tired of waiting. She lost sight of who she was…she became her worst nightmare. She knew not when she slipped, but only that she had been falling for quite a while. Long enough to forget her dreams. Long enough to forget her Maker…

Until one day, she woke up in this pasture. She looked just across the way, and there it was. Home. She thought, “Maybe I haven’t missed supper!” With her eyes set on her destination and tears streaming down her face, she began to run. But her foot got stuck in the mud, her dress was caught in a tree, the birds swarmed around her head, and a great storm rolled over the land. She could not run, she could not rush.

She did not understand why she was brought back here; she wept all the more. The sky wept, too. She felt fear, she was tempted to give up, she hung her head, she stood still. But then she looked again at the home, and she saw her Father waving her on from afar. She cried out to Him, “Come get me! I can’t make it alone!” But He disappeared from her sight. In a moment, He was beside her. She fell at His feet. And He reached into the mud and picked her up off of the ground. He delighted in carrying her all the way home…and she rested in His arms. // 4.19.20

**These photos are of my father’s family. My father, Clyde Dearman Jr., and his six brothers and sisters grew up in these pastures. They shared many meals together around the table, they played cards all night long, sang and played the guitar until the sun came up, and shared stories of new and old. Everything they had was given to them by our Father; my family is incredibly blessed. Generations of preachers, memories, old hymns in a tiny church called Red Hill Baptist Church. I remember this church. I remember my dreams. I remember my fall. I remember His call. I rest in His arms. He will deliver me home.