Jamie - May 2018

In Romans 4, Paul retells the story of Abraham’s faith after receiving the promise his wife, Sarah, would bear a son in her old age. In verse 19, we read that Abraham contemplated, considered, some versions say “faced the fact” that his body was nearly dead and his wife Sarah was barren. “Yet he did not waver in unbelief…but was strengthened in his faith.” Blind faith is easy. It’s when we “face the facts” and take a hard look at reality that our faith is challenged. At Watered Gardens, we can’t ignore the painful realities of poverty and homelessness, but we never waver in faith. We believe God is the only hope for real restoration. Jamie believes, too.

“My husband and I both struggled with drug habits in the past. I started (using) in high schoo­­l after my dad died. I just wanted to get away from the pain. My husband had a rough childhood, so we both had something we were running from.

We sought shelter at Watered Gardens when our drug use had gotten us kicked out of our family’s home. We got clean and with the help of Don and his Care Coordination team, we are making a budget and sticking to it so we can move into our own place again, get our kids back, and avoid the mistakes we made the last time. We’ve gotten a lot of helpful advice for our marriage, too, and that’s brought us closer together.”

Thank you for believing that God can work miracles in the lives of people like Jamie and her husband. Continue to face with us the hard realities of poverty and then… let your faith be strengthened.