Unfortunately, her story is not unique. She was running from an ex-husband who had brutally beat her, almost to the point of death. Women like her tend to be make-up artists. Trying their best to camouflage bruises on their eyes, noses, and cheeks from the last altercation that was deemed ‘their fault.’

This widowed mom thought she had met the greatest guy at a church function.  Trusting that this man was a man of faith, she allowed herself to trust him completely.  After just a few months, he proposed.  It seemed her dreams were coming true. 

Then, one day, her worst fears came to fruition….

Three days before Christmas in 2018, without warning, I was let go from my job. My wife had lost her job just two weeks earlier. This was Christmas!  The most expensive time of the year!  Who lets people go at Christmas?! We were going along just fine, then BAM! BAM!!  Presents were bought. The fridge was full. But bills would come due in just a week. We were already struggling with the thought of one income… I mean, who hires in December?

I have known the great folks at Encompass Ministries for many years. Sometimes as a client, sometimes as a donor, all the time as a friend. It was early in 2007 when I felt I was at the bottom.  I needed help and I needed food. My husband was in the military and was deployed most of the time. Essentially, I was a single mother, raising two small boys…

My wife, daughter, and I had been living in the west for quite some time. We knew that it was not a good fit for us professionally, mentally, or spiritually. So, we made the snap decision to move back to Georgia to be around a supportive team of friends and family.

Meet Caroline. A middle-aged woman who is wife and mother to three kids, one with autism. For the last many years she has been the full-time caregiver for her mother who also lived with her family. Not an uncommon story.