When nine-year-old Rosalind went to live with her grandmother, she thought she’d escaped from the turmoil of her mother’s home--the drugs, alcohol and abusive boyfriends. “Every time she got mad at my grandmother,” Rosalind remembers sadly, “my mother would take me back.”

 

Soon, Rosalind felt out of control and afraid to put down roots anywhere, for fear of being snatched away suddenly. Over the years she saw her mother’s life dominated by violent men, and her two brothers following their abusive example. She knew she didn’t want that for her life, especially after she had her first child... but could she find a better way on her own?

 

Rosalind tried. But because she was still afraid to let anyone into her life and deal with the scars of her childhood, she and her three girls ended up moving around a lot. They were living day to day when Rosalind decided there might be something worth learning at Joy House.

 

As soon as she felt she could earn a good enough living to support her family, she left. But, “I wasn’t really ready to do the work on my life that I needed to.”

 

Everything seemed fine until Rosalind came face-to-face with one of the hardest situations for a single mother. One of her daughters got sick, and Rosalind had to miss so much work to care for her that she lost her job...and their home.

 

Once again the family began bouncing from place to place, staying with friends and relatives. Finally Rosalind decided it was time to get serious about change. “I realized I had to get up and do something for myself and my daughters,” she says. “I had a 16-year-old that had been through a lot, seen a lot and really needed stability. I sat down with my girls to talk about the situation we were in and my plans to try to go back to MRM and begin the process of learning how to live an independent life through the programs at Joy House.”

 

Finally Free
 

Thanks to your ongoing support we were able to make a place for Rosalind and her girls at Joy House. “I was different this time. I was more mature. I was open to what God had for me. I knew I needed to learn how to weigh my options and allow God to lead me wherever I needed to be.”

 

Rosalind will graduate from our Fresh Start program this month, and she’s worked hard at renewing her CNA license. But the biggest change in her life is that she’s finally put down roots--right into God’s Word! “I can’t get enough of personal devotions and Bible studies. By looking at God’s Word, I now feel that I have guidelines to follow. He is a wonderful God to me, He is an awesome God to me and I am glad I got to know Him!”

 

In addition to God and the workers at Joy House, Rosalind knows she has two other people to thank for her new-found freedom from the chaos and turmoil of her old life--her “praying granny,” and you! “Thank you for giving the workers at Joy House the resources to help us,” she says sincerely. “You do make a difference.”

 

 

“In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free.” -Psalm 118:5, NIV