“What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him. The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’ ‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road” -Mark 10:51-52 (NIV)

I felt like Bartimaeus this entire summer—living in a state of constant need. It wasn’t just the need for physical space, but an overwhelming yearning for emotional and mental space that no one around me seemed to have for me. I turned to family, seeking solace and support, but what I needed was beyond what they could provide. God took me on a journey of revelation, showing me that the deep void inside could never be filled by man alone. I tried to survive, fought to hold on, and after what felt like my millionth failure, I found myself on the brink of homelessness.

Homelessness became my reality: taking showers at the gym, spending endless days at the library, and feeling the weight of uncertainty pressing down on me. But just when I felt like I was losing the last remnants of hope, Jesus called out to me. It was as if He whispered, “Come, follow me.” Despite my situation, He led me on a spiritual journey through church. It was there, in those moments, that I understood I was like Bartimaeus, the blind beggar in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 10:46-52), who called out to Jesus and was healed.

All summer, I clung to the feeling that God left the 99—the ones who seemed perfect, secure, and whole—to come find me, the one who was lost and broken. It was as if He said, “Come with me, Tiara, and I will make you a fisher of men.” And He did not lie. Through the darkness of my struggles, He showed me that the purpose He placed in me was greater than my circumstances.