“He sent forth his Word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave.” – Psalm 107:20

Suffering from the after-effects of brainwashing and abuse from my kids’ dad, I moved back home with my mom and stepdad at the age of 30 and, soon after, joined the LIFE Skills program with Love INC. It was here that I found resources I would have never found on my own and was surrounded by people who were hurting just like me.

At Love INC, my mentor went over my finances and assured me, in contrast to what I’d been told for close to 10 years, that I was actually making very wise decisions. We read a book that helped me see that I had been abused my entire life. I realized that I knew about God, but I didn’t know I was keeping him at arms’ length. In desperate need of peace and wanting my children to have a different life than I had growing up, I prayed that God would take over my life.

There wasn’t one thing in my life that wasn’t broken, and I had no idea how to fix it. I wanted God to create beauty from the ashes that I found myself in.

Love INC’s 10 Homes Program is an answer to prayer. It’s a bit surreal that this could be a reality for my kids and me. I still struggle to understand and except that it’s possible.

But if God can make water where there is none, a way in the desert, and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:18-21), then he can also create beauty from my ashes. With the 10 Homes Program, for the first time ever, my children and I could call a home our own.

*For the sake of privacy, the writer of this story’s name has been changed.