Lanette is a good mother. She loves her two children. They do well in school.

For ten years she lived in a stable, happy home with the man she loved. She liked her job where she had worked for thirteen years and felt secure.

But then her man turned to drinking more and more and that relationship quickly ended.

She met someone else and liked him, but in a short time he became brutal and mean. She gave herself hoping to change the man, but she couldn’t. It took her two years to be free of him. He left deep scars in her that made trusting others hard.

On top of this, her job that was so stable came to end and she was laid off. Without money, she lost her home and everything in it. Her parents could take her and the children for a while, but not forever. Within a year, she was homeless.

Her life had turned upside down. All she relied on was gone. Now she feared for herself and her children.

She thanks God Joy House was there for her.

Joy House allowed her to soak in the care of loving people. Just by glancing at her, the staff knew what she was feeling. And they knew enough to come and sit with her and hold her hand and ask her what was wrong. Above all, they knew enough to take those problems to God in honest prayers that brought tears to Lanette’s eyes.

Today she is healing in this safe place. Her daughter stays with her, while her son is with her mother. She reads the Bible and meets with other ladies here who support each other. All have known deep loss and suffering. Together they open up to God and feel his goodness.

Meanwhile, Lanette perseveres at school, as much as an example for her children as for herself. In a few years, she hopes to earn qualifications for a new medical career.

Lanette is experiencing the freedom that comes from knowing she doesn’t have to fix everything all by herself. God is at work in her life. He is giving her rest, and that makes her feel truly secure.

”And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped.’ Exodus 4:31