Thank you for all of the well wishes and hello back to you.
Prior to the chat room last night, I prayed and gave thanks and asked for God to watch over me. This was after 11 p.m. in the evening the 24th. I drove on main streets, not side routes or shortcuts wondering when or if I would make it. Even still I send a text to a trusted friend asking if I could come over. All this while I was driving. He kept asking me questions in a way that was not familiar which made me suspicious so I put the phone down until I was parked and safe. As I neared my destination there were emergency vehicles that passed me going the opposite direction but I did not yield. I couldn't find parking and I was going to stop at the gas station to possibly ask the attendant who is familiar to me and who also of Middle Eastern descent it appeared. But when I pulled up and parked, there was already an SUV there with three people in it and another pulled in and I thought he would not have time me to answer my questions. As I walked to the gas station door one of the ladies in the SUV had mentioned she wouldn't mind trading vehicles and we all had a laugh so I decided I better then to ask them my questions. They said they did not go to church but knew of the bible. I told them what I told the chat room. They understood exactly what I was saying and rightfully we rejoiced, in my tears I exchanged hugs and kisses and thanked them for their honesty. All three were women and all three were black. The second group of three I approached outside of my destination. One I had known for quite some time and two I did not. I asked for their knowledge of the Bible and it was clear they had very little knowledge but again I told them what I told the chat room not an exact words but in enough detail. At the end it was over their heads. One would not stop going on about how come we still have to pay taxes. I found this amusing and they started talking amongst themselves again leaving me standing there in the cold so I went inside. I meant to get something to eat but I was too distracted so I sat down at a table and started to put the words together on what I would say if I made a post in the chat room instead of a video chat. I was almost completed when a woman unknown to me called-out and asked me if I was ok. She was with two other people, also unknown. Again I asked them if they knew of the Bible and they indicated they had some knowledge. I tried to tell them my story and I did get most of it out after she asked me if I had any explosives on me. We laughed together and she told me to stop shaking. I told her I was shaking out of joy, not fear and it was joy. I was still reeling after the first group confirmed my suspicions. I had no reason to be afraid. She then took my hand from across the table, put it in hers as if in fellowship and we talked briefly about how we of different colors (black and white) all bleed the same blood and how the racial divide is so sad in our country. I could tell they were tired though and excused myself and thanked them for their time. This was two women and one male. After that point I figured I might as well go home. I went upstairs and drank maybe three sips of beer before leaving and on the way out, I pulled all of the money for my pockets and handed it to the doorman and told him how much I appreciated him. I didn't count it but it was at least 5 possibly $10. I make it home and I contemplated for about an hour and a half while reading posts on this chat network. While I was doing that I noticed a new member that had signed up only a day before. I hovered my mouse over icon which normally says online or not but this one said his name followed by "is on the right path". I'd never seen that before so he made me curious and I started looking at the post that he had made all of which talked about having faith and riding the wave that could tumble at any moment and being strong and having strength and being a good leader. My fear was not of God at that point, my fear was in the Beast. I knew if I made a post at that point, it would visible two both seen and unseen and it seemed like my fellow warrior in Christ messages, the one that "was on the right path" were pressing me to make a decision. So I set my computer down paced back and forth for a few minutes picked it back up and the next thing that loaded was a big prompt that said do you want to video chat Thomas? I've never used it before and didn't know any of the controls or how to pass the microphone and it kept timing out on me which was very frustrating. Once the words were out, I knew the snake was there because he kept telling me don't pay it any mind, etc etc. Then suddenly no one would talk and I could no longer speak on the microphone. I closed out of the room and immediately went back in and the entire room was empty. That is my account.