Dear Jesus,

My eyes shot open from my dreamless sleeping state. The room was dark, much darker than normal. Still lying on my bed, I turned and checked the neon green lights of my alarm. It was just 12:56am.

Something wasn't right. I could sense it, but I didn't know what.

As I sat up in bed, It came, like the whamming of a baseball bat, full force, on me. Hot, searing pain like that of pins spread through the  cavity of my tummy.

I gasped at the intensity of the pain. It was so sudden that I involuntarily clenched my teeth tightly, missing biting my tongue by a tiny inch.
Now I know what gnashing of teeth means, and I must say, it's a horrible action. All vestiges of grogginesss was flung out my window.

Jesus!

The pain increased, spreading like claws and tendrils of strangling vines through my entire body. I felt like I would die. I had to remind myself to breathe.

Clutching my middle which felt like it was being mopped with white hot coals, I rolled off the bed unto the floor and started crawling and squirming all the way to my door. The door suddenly seemed like a whole universe away.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, I cried, my voice muffled to a whimper.

Upon reaching my door, I reached out to open the handle. A searing pain cut through my tummy. I yelped in pain.

Using grit determination and the last ounce of strength left in me, I managed to pull down the door knob and slither over to my parents room. I was passing out and waking up intermittently.

I gave a feeble knock on their door, too feeble to be heard by even the buzzing mosquitoes. If anything, I wanted the door to be automatically torn down, but that was as impossible as asking a mango tree to be uprooted by an ant.

Oh Lord!
I passed out again. I was seeing white and black.

Dad is not a deep sleeper. Somehow, by a divine miracle, he must have heard me.

He opened the door and was shocked to see a very weakened and pain-ridden version of his dear daughter sprawled on the tile floor.

Out of sheer relief, I let go and fell into unconsciousness. The last thing I remembered was his hands carrying me and his voice calling Mom to wake up.
~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is Saturday, and oh how I wish I could begin this entry with a lovely opening like: 'The sun was up, bright and shinning, the birds in all their chirping frenzy were flitting through the window to my balcony door to alert me of the new dawn, I woke up in my bed...'

Alas! My morning was more like: 'I was awoken by sounds of people in my room, one being my Dad still praying; another being Kathy seated by my bedside, fighting sleep; and the last of the trio being my very own Mom, hovering over me like a bumblebee.'

And oh! You might be wondering about the handwriting. It's beautiful, isn't it?

Actually, I'm not the one writing. It's Kathy. I can't write, so she's helping me to transcribe what I'm saying. And she's pretty fast at it too.

•√√√√√•

Kathlyn Taylor: Hello Jesus! I have never thought of this idea of writing personally to you, but I think it is a fabulous idea. Maybe I'll try it too. I'll sure add more glitters and diagrams to mine. Words alone are kinda boring.

The last time I slept over with Ray, I saw her writing in this big pink journal but I just thought it was a normal secret diary thing, we girls do. I feel so honored she allowed me to write in her special diary. I feel like I'm intruding into something very sacred. Is it alright that I am very curious to know what she has been writing so far? I mean, this is huge.

Ray is tapping me now and telling me to get back to writing. She's one piece of work. I love her like that. And she's strong. She's pretty too but doesn't think so. Thank you for making me transfer to Charios High just so I could meet with her.

•√√√√√•

Radiance

I had to tap Kathy like a billion times before she even noticed me. I wonder what she was writing in there. It's our book anyway. I'll have all the time in the world to read it and probably 'torture' Kathy for ignoring me.

If not for the fact that I'm still a tad bit weak, just recuperating from the attack, I wouldn't have been forced to permit her to write for me. I'm scared I might forget all I experienced and saw yester-night.

So, what was I talking about? Oh yeah! My morning.

But before that let me rewind time to a few minutes after 1:00am, a few minutes after me being attacked.

After I managed to get to my parents and blacked out, I didn't know what happened next. All that I know is that I could feel absolutely nothing anymore.

But, there were flashes and explosions of light against a blanket of thick darkness, like the two masses were warring. This continued for a while.

Gradually, my spiritual vision focused and I saw. He was back. That dragon and his minions.

They were clawing at me, and spewing obscenities and blasphemies from their mouth.

There was a host. The heavenly host. They surrounded me, providing a barrier that those demons couldn't penetrate. Gloria stood by my right. She looked as glorious as ever, even more so.

Kathy paused writing to ask me who Gloria is. Being my bestie and also a spiritual girl, I told her about my guardian angel. She's still shocked, asking me to tell her all the details of what she looks like once we're done documenting this.

The demons weren't letting up. In fact, they kept pressing in more and more till I almost felt claustrophobic. I guess that fear vanished because of the Host of angels surrounding me. All of these angels didn't have wings; only Gloria had wings. They looked like ancient warriors.

"Radiance," Gloria called, "We need you to agree with us in this war and fight them off."

I looked down at myself. Although, I had been trained and I was wearing my armour, I didn't feel particularly keen to begin a fight against these foes that had almost killed me physically. I was still wondering why I got attacked.

And besides, my spiritual self was wounded. I saw then the arrow in my tummy.

Looking at Gloria, I protested. "But, can't you see I am wounded?"

"You allowed that attack, Radiance."

"What?" My brows furrowed. Did I?

"Oh yes you did. You see, you gave too much occasion for the flesh and the enemy found that loophole. Plus, why did you forget to pray before you slept?"

Uh-oh! I did forget. I had dozed off after chatting with my friends.

And I knew the loophole she was talking about. I had been fantasizing about John and I being a couple. I just kept replaying the ride and everything else, smiling to myself as I thought about it last night. I had allowed my thoughts to drift to unholy things. I'm sorry Lord.

"I'm sorry," I said in remorse. "What should I do?" Another serpent drew near, baring gleaming fangs at me. I shuddered at the grotesque and horrifying sight.

The forte was weakening. That had to be the reason why they could draw so close.

"We only work at the command of the Word of the Lord. Remember what I told you about your Sword." Gloria with one sweeping arc cut that serpent in half. Its remains dissipated in a puff of black.

I smiled as I unsheathed my Sword. Sure, I did. How could I forget?

I began to quote scriptures:

Let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the mark of the Living God.

He rebuked kings for my sake, saying touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm.

No weapon, formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that rises against me is condemned. This is my heritage as a child of the Lord.

Behold, I tread upon serpents and scorpions, the adder and the dragon I trample under foot.

In all these things, I am more than a conqueror through Christ who loves me.

As I spoke forth these scriptures, I lifted my sword above my head and it shone forth beams of glory in the dark. My blazing cross seals on my shoulders attested to the fact that I was holding my Sword right.

The host surrounding me seemed to be getting more strength with each scripture. They sliced clean through the demonic horde as fast as lightning. The forte was growing and expanding too.

Disembodied shrieks echoed through the spiritual air as these demons were sent back into the abyss.

Finally, it remained dragon monster who growled so fearfully when an angel hit his tail with a sword.

And poof, he disappeared, leaving only me and my angels.

That was when I realized I was weak. My arms ached and my stomach was still bleeding from the arrow wound.

"Easy there," Gloria said as I collapsed but was caught just in time by the sturdy arms of another angel. Gloria gently removed the arrow and covered the wound with her palm.

Out of my mouth, tumbled these words, which I know were the Holy Spirit's as I was to weak to even move my mouth:
By His stripes, you are healed.

I felt the wound close up beneath Gloria's cool touch and I drifted off into a sweet sleep.

When I opened my eyes, it was already morning and I was back in my bed. Kathy and Mrs Taylor were there with my parents.

Did I ever remember to tell you Mrs Taylor is a certified nurse. Well, she is. And by every chance of luck, she was off duty today. The moment I passed out, Mom called her while Dad was busy praying over my limp form.

I can already imagine their panic and fear... I mean, wasn't I the same girl they had talked to yester-night without any sign of illness?

As they said, my breathing was shallow. Dad and Mom continued speaking in tongues, binding and casting out demons and calling back my life by the Spirit of God. What better thing would there have been to having spiritual back up from your parents?

By the time Mrs Taylor and Kathy got here, I was already breathing normally, but all attempts to revive me were futile. Mrs Taylor checked my vitals and gave me infusion drip.

They prayed. Mrs Taylor went home but Kathy stayed.

So, now it's 10am and I'm feeling better. Although I'm still kinda weak, nothing is going to stop me from praying with the rest of my friends, although I wasn't able to fast because I took some medication.

And yes, because of my situation, Kathy sent a message through my phone to John and the rest of us that we should meet instead at my house.

So while we waited, Kathy ran over to her house, freshened up and brought some paint, some glitters, markers and stickers. She brought my fav colour, purple of all kinds of shades. Royal, magenta, violet, pink... You name it.

We're going to repaint my room. Kathy said the black soot scarring my walls was too gloomy and  unsuitable for any girl.

**********
Please guys, I want you today to pray for the pastor of your local assembly, your General Overseer, missionaries and their families.🙏
They are the forefront of the battle. The Bible says strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.😓

It's not a funny thing to be attacked.☹️
And let me tell you, though you're a true child of God, the devil😈 can still try to play tricks with you body because he cannot tamper with your spirit and soul. Remember the story of Job.

So, enough of the serious talk.🥴
Let's chill. Victory is certain, so long as we remain in Christ.😁

Don't forget to hit that vote button before you leave. Comments and sharing this story will be much appreciated too.🥰

See you in the next update. 👋