Paige Thomas DeHart

Tragedy is a Time for Gratitude

Around 4:30 am on Monday, August 3rd, 2015, my daughter Hope DeHart was shot in the right temporal lobe with a 357 Magnum hollow point bullet.

Her assailants believed her to be dead, so they cleaned the room, carried her to the hotel parking lot, put her in the trunk of an old Cadillac, and dumped her on a dead-end road next to the Ouick Trip in Keller Texas.

💕#1: I am grateful that they left her where she would be found; instead of burning her body in the woods. This happens more than you want to know.

Within 90 minutes of being dumped, Hope was discovered by a truck driver who was running late. He noticed something glowing at the end of the road. To this day, he will not take credit for what happened. He gives all glory to God; as do I.

💕#2: I am grateful for Joey the truck driver, who took the time to investigate even though he was already running late!

Next, Joey’s partner ran to QT to seek help while Joey called 911 to report a dead body. Two EMTs happened to be pulling out of QT when confronted by Joey’s partner. When they realized she was still alive, they summoned a $45,000 helicopter ride to the JPS trauma center.

💕#3: I am grateful there were EMT’s in the parking lot next door at the precise time they were needed. I am grateful that she was dumped in an area where a helicopter could land.

My daughter arrived at JPS as a Jane Dow. She had emergency brain surgery and was placed in ICU with little chance of survival without our knowledge.

💕#4: I am grateful for Charlie the ICU nurse who assured a dying girl that she had family who loved her and would find her.

Back at the crime scene, detectives were able to track down the shooters and make an arrest for us to be notified by Tuesday the 4th.

💕#5: I am grateful the the Northside department of the Fort Woth police for looking out for Hope when she lived on the streets; and to the homocide detectives who solved the case.

I have met the nurses who told me that the entire emergency department was called in for my daughter. They told me that they were responsible for holding her head together while the detectives rolled her fingerprints in preparation for capital murder charges.

💕#6: I am grateful for the emergency and ICU staff of JPS and for their program that allows us to pay $30 a month for seizure meds that would otherwise cost $3000.

The first couple of days were touch and go. I became overwhelmed on Wednesday night when they did a CT Scan on my daughter’s limp and lifeless body. My husband came to get me at 4:00 on Thursday morning.

The next day, I awoke to the articles about the arrest of my daughter’s shooters. I was overwhelmed with anger and resentment towards them. I threw myself on my sanctuary floor and begged God for the life of my daughter.

In response to my prayer, the Spirit told me that I need only believe and forgive; and she would be saved. I was outraged by the idea of forgiving the people who had blown my daughter’s head off.

Then suddenly, the Spirit showed me that if the shooters were my patients and the victim was not my daughter, I would be weeping for THEM being involved in such a tragic and horrific thing.

💕#7: I am grateful to a God who gives and takes away my perceptions in traumatic times.

I returned to the hospital that Thursday morning in total confidence that Hope was going to be okay. Instead, I was met by a nurse named Paige I had never seen before.

She told us that they had done all they can do; that her body was shutting down and she wouldn’t make it through another day. She stated that all that was left to do was to pray for a miracle; and pray we did.

But we also discussed Hope’s funeral arrangements after watching them do anything to get a response from her: scrape her foot, poke her in the eye, hit her knee. Her reflexes were completely gone.

I remember cleaning blood from beneath her nails: to give her a manicure so she would look pretty.

We had a prayer vigil at JPS where we prayed for the shooters and God’s highest will in Hope’s life.

And the rest is history.

Not only did Hope survive, but she was walking, talking, and home in her own bed by August 30, 2015.

💕#7: I am grateful that when the physician says there is no hope, the Metaphysician says RISE!!!

And for ETERNITY, Lord, I am grateful for every moment of my daughter’s life since that dreadful day in 2015.

Rejoice and give thanks! Live one moment at a time; and make it something beautiful. 💕

✝️🙏🕉

If we do not have direct experience with both the sacred and profane, we know nothing of which we speak. Every unexamined thought in our heads was put there by someone else. It’s not fake news, it’s fake intelligence. Talk about the AI takeover!

Alcoholics are not the only ones who can’t differentiate the true from the false. This is why we need a REAL higher power; not one that was created in the image of white male supremacy. ✝️🙏🕉

www.youtube.com/watch

Trump’s current rhetoric considers the white founding fathers that built America without considering the Native Americans, Africans, neglected wives and abused children in their wake. Mother Karma says no more! Any “founding father” who sees him or herself as superior to anyone does not understand the mystery of servant leadership.

To serve or not to serve: that is the question.

I recently read an article discussing the sacrifices that “servers” make. It brought back memories because I was a server for 17 years.
When I began in that industry at age 17, my attitude towards the customers was “eat your food and get out of my section.” My objective was to turn my tables as quickly as possible.

Needless to say, with an attitude like that, I began as a terrible server and employee. I will never forget when I had the realization that my job was to be as hospitable as possible and to cheerfully meet the needs of my customers: not the best job for an angst-filled adolescent that hates everyone; including herself.

However, surrendering to what my inner self had revealed as my job description took me on a long and beautiful journey towards becoming a people person. Being a server taught me to act my way into right thinking; because as time went by, I began to truly care for the people I served. I still do, but my service is different these days. I am now a substance abuse counselor in the criminal justice system and a Yogi both on an off the mat.

I have had customers, and employers, berate me, humiliate me, and make me cry, but I have also seen how meeting rudeness with kindness and respect can change a person’s demeanor. The bottom line is that we either treat people the way we want to be treated ourselves; or we don’t. We are either committed to being of service to the whole; or we’re not. THIS is the true choice of what we do with our “free” will.

Those of us who choose self-service are not evil or even self-centered, but confused and broken. A Course In Miracles says that everything is either an act of love or a cry for help. My many years as a public servant has proved that to be true.

My spiritual, academic, and professional journeys have taught me many things about human nature. The problem with arrogant people is that they look upon others with the same disdain with which they secretly condemn themselves. Those that treat others as if they are invisible do so to hide their own deep feelings of inadequacy.

This whole deal with covid and the protests has reminded me of many things. It has brought recollections of the “servants” who raised me. I was a rich, white, preppy in the 70’s who was raised by my housekeeper. My childhood trauma issues kept me from developing full-blown affluenza, but I clearly remember that the woman who seemed to care for me the most was the housekeeper who combed my hair, gave me rides, and even chased me around the pool when she caught me with weed. I know today as a mother myself that she was serving in the role as mother; and she did it well.

I have learned that the world in which I live is a reflection of what I am. If I am arrogant and prideful, I see others as beneath me or inferior. I betray myself with that attitude. However, when I look deeply at others, I see them as the teachers that they are. It is the homeless and the addicts, the criminals and the mentally “ill” who have taught me who and what I am. The mean-spirited have taught me who and what I am not.

Jesus did not exalt himself with flowing robes and motorcades. He washed his disciples’ feet to show the meaning of servant leadership and humility. So, the next time we are tempted to look down our noses at someone else, let us remember that things are not what they seem; and your “servant” may be your Master.

Om Shanti Shanti
PTD ✝️🌷🕉

To: Pastor Robert Morris, Senior Pastor, Gateway Church

From: Rev. Paige Thomas DeHart, BS, LCDC, Gateway member from 2008-2015

Dear Sir,
I am appalled that you hosted Donald Trump at your church. In my opinion, this is a blatant breach of separation of Church and State. Additionally, I am baffled by your support of him.

In my opinion, Donald Trump has no experience with the Holy Spirit, which reveals the NATURE of Jesus. I perceive him to be loveless, corrupt, and spiritually bankrupt.

Yesterday, I read in the Star-Telegram that you are one of his religious advisors. Jesus said that if you are not with him, you are against him. To be “for” Donald Trump is to be against Jesus and everything he stands for.

You may ask, “who is this woman to write to me?” You do not “know” me but allow me to jog your memory a bit. I am the mother of the girl who was shot in the head and dumped on a dead-end road but had a sudden and miraculous healing. It was featured in your Gateway Life February 2016 magazine and I remember you being at the Habitation where we were invited to appear, because Pastor Dulin was highlighting her story. It was a couple of months later that I was interviewed for the article in the magazine.

I have never spoken of this before, out of respect for you and the work that you do. However, I now feel it necessary to correct the record of this article because it is a deception.

This article says that when your Pastor, Dustin Sample, arrived at my sister Kelly’s request, “he was met with about 20 family members who didn’t seem optimistic and bristled at the idea of group prayer.” It goes on to say that I said that Pastor Sample’s visit made a “big impact;” and that Pastor Sample said that “the moment I prayed with that family, I saw them put their faith in God.”

I am sorry, sir, but none of that is true and I said no such thing about his visit. But that is what happens when someone like him judges according to appearances and does not even bother to introduce himself to the mother of the critically injured girl he came to pray for.

The truth, sir, is that I am an ordained minister who has served in the criminal justice system for 18 years. I have been the spiritual director of two Epiphany Prison Ministry teams and a spiritual director on another Epiphany and a Kairos prison ministry team. Additionally, my former ministry, More Than Conquerors Through Christ Jesus, served in the Tarrant County jail from 2003-2006. Since then, I have been a counselor for parolees and probationers. I am also the author of Unmasked: One Soul’s Journey from Anonymity to Identity; which is dedicated to “you who have ever felt unworthy of love and forgiveness; and to the One who loves and forgives you.”

When Daniel Hopkins called to interview me, I told him the truth, but he chose to rewrite history to make it seem that Pastor Sample was responsible for “the hour we first believed.”

The article describes me as the “sister of Gateway member, Kelly Purselley.” I was a member of your church for eight years and my daughter has even attended your summer camps; until Pastor Sample barged into the darkest day of our lives; and I learned that Gateway would not help me financially without a pledge of future tithing.

Pastor Morris, I was at a Habitation on Southlake Blvd. where a woman asked for help and you took a spontaneous offering and gave it to her. I know your heart and your generosity. Your Church has changed.

Sir, I was the one who “bristled” at the idea of group prayer because I did not invite him there. I am a long-term member of Alcoholics Anonymous and an active member in my many communities. That day, I was feeling adequately supported and did not appreciate a stranger at my daughter’s near-death bed. That is why I was not present for the “group prayer.”

That day, I was more than optimistic about her healing because the Lord had already told me that I need only to believe and forgive for her to be healed, which was immediately followed by a change in perception. Jesus showed me that: if my daughter was not the victim and the shooters were my clients, I would be weeping for them. At that moment, I had total faith of her healing, but also left it in God’s hands with a prayer of surrender.

What is confusing to me is that if Daniel Hopkins had done even minimal investigation on me, or listened to me when I told him what happened, he would have known that the whole story was a lie; except for me appreciating a hug from one of the members of your pastoral care team. I was a guest on TBN in New York in 2014. It is not difficult to discover details about me.

So, I will conclude with advice you can pass on to your protégée Trump from our Lord concerning the Churches in Revelation.

You have left your first love.

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works.

Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works to be perfect before God.

Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent.

I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and REPENT!

Sincerely,
Paige Thomas DeHart

WE the people, the inhabitants of planet earth, have a right to be treated with dignity and respect; free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

This is the universal code of ethics that is written on the hearts of all. Without it, we are nothing. We are also required to treat others according to this code.

When we dishonor this code, we dishonor ourselves; causing double-mindedness. This means that we have contradictory thoughts.

NOW is and always has been the time to break free from our learned helplessness; that we may know reality as opposed to our opinions.

NOW is and always has been the time to leave our repressed lives and take our “walk on part in the war;” that grace and truth may have their day.

NOW is and always has been the time to pick up our mats and walk!

Namaste
PTD ✝️🌷🕉

They we should be realistic.
But who is they?
And what is reality?

Perceptions of physicality create the norm that we “should” follow.

But who’s to say what’s right and wrong save love?

They say we should believe in God?
But what is a God without love?

They say we should and shouldn’t until we believe in anything except ourselves.

When will love open the mind of society?

Paige Thomas
1981

The choice is ours whether we choose to follow the universal code of ethics; written on all of our hearts: Love One Another.

We either serve Love or our own selfish desires.

We have selfish desires because we have been traumatized.

We have believed that we are an abomination to God without “good” works.

Jesus wants to change our hearts in a way that good works naturally occur; because they are the consequence of what we become when we meet ourselves face to face.

It’s all about what we believe about ourselves.

Self-forgiveness is the gateway to the glorious path where where we learn to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

But first we must learn that we have been doing unto others as we do unto ourselves.

I could never love myself until Jesus showed me the meaning of love.

PTD ✝️🌷🕉

Time is but a measure through which I relate events of my physical life.

Words are but a mode through which I relate ideas to another.

Life is but a dream through which I understand what I already know.

Love is but the essence through which all things are good.

I am but a soul through which all whom I know may see beauty within themselves.

Paige Thomas
1981

You are loved! You are beautiful! You are meant to be here! You matter!

Paige Thomas DeHart
2020

Namaste ✝️🌷🕉