It took a personal visit from Jesus to pull country singer Jo Dee Messina out of a dark place in her life.
Opening up to PopCulture, the 48-year-old star revealed how she had hit "an all-time low" and was sitting on her porch one day, wallowing in misery, when the holy figure paid her a visit.
"About five years ago, Jesus Christ walked onto my front porch and argued with me all day long," Messina said. "As real as I'm sitting in this seat, Jesus came to my front porch and he's like, 'She's mine.'"
At the time, the single mother of two admitted she was battling to find balance in her life and was feeling overwhelmed when the profoundly spiritual experience occurred.
"I was at an all-time low. I was trying to sustain a career. I had a lifestyle and a family and everything, all on my own, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't," she recalled.
"I was pulled way too thin and so, I was just standing on my porch one day, and Jesus Christ walked out and said, 'She's mine.' I just knew it, in the middle of that, in the middle of my spirit and my soul, I'm like, 'That's Jesus.'"
Until that point, Messina was not overly religious. She had a vague understanding of the Bible and knew the basic teachings, but she had never given it much thought. After the experience, she said she immediately set out to find out more about Jesus.
"I know the stories," she said. "I know the Christmas and Easter. He was born on Christmas, died on Easter. You know what I mean? But I didn't know him."
Since then, Messina has built a strong faith and close relationship with God. In 2017 she was diagnosed with cancer and, while she admitted to feeling "forgotten" at times, she found strength in her faith, PopCulture noted. The country star was even inspired to write a deeply personal gospel song, "Reckless Love," which she has been including in her live shows.
"I spent my entire career, my entire life glorifying myself. It's time for him. He gets the glory from this point on," she said. "When you are going through a hard time in your family situation and you are diagnosed with cancer, and you don't know what's going to lie around that corner, and you have the arms of Jesus there, holding you. You never want to walk away from it."
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