Kelsey was only a teenager when her family got the tragic news that would change their lives forever: Her father had terminal lung cancer. It had already spread to his brain, and he was given a prognosis of six months. He lived for another six months...
There’s an old painting most likely familiar to anyone who’s spent time in church. It was painted by artist Warner Sallman and depicts Jesus standing at a door and knocking. “The thing about that painting,” says Steve, a recent graduate of our life recovery program, “is...
It was a 150-year-old book—The New Life by Andrew Murray—that initially inspired David to change his life. And he found it, of all places, in a dumpster behind a thrift store. He’d been looking for clothing. First, he read the preface. Later, he read the whole...
There was a point in Cindy’s life where it seemed she had everything. A marriage, a new house, a convertible, a camper, even a motorcycle. From the outside, her life looked nearly perfect . . . Until a relapse into drug addiction stole everything. “Because of...
Tiffany had struggled for years. From abusive relationships to living in her car to eventually trying to survive in a tent in the woods—a situation that turned dangerous when her tent was vandalized. “I was lost. Running from my pain and trauma just led me to...
In the summer of 2021, Shay faced a life-changing crossroads. “Basically,” he remembers, “I was going to die, or I was going to get help.” No stranger to grief, he’d used drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of one heart-wrenching loss after another. As a...
This is a story of three Christmases . . . and the gift of a family restored. Prior to Christmas of 2020, Brooke went through a season of turmoil. Earlier that year, she faced a severe domestic violence incident, and because two of her three children...
Shannon had no idea what was in store for him earlier this year when he headed for Des Moines. “I just jumped on a bus. I never in a million years would’ve known what was going to happen.” What happened? Simply put: Shannon found hope, healing...
September 13, 2020—it’s a day burned into Kole’s memory. “I was slumped on a chair in a trap house and I just knew it was now or never,” he remembers. “I had no strength left, but God broke through my haze.” Kole had been drinking and using...
It was an image in Allison’s head that brought her to her breaking point: her two sons, Isaac and Noah, carrying their backpacks and holding their pillows. “We’d lived in several different places in two years,” she remembers. “I just couldn’t do it again.” Allison’s struggle with homelessness...