How God Enlarged My Territory

10-12 years ago, a mother of 4 died at the hands of her second husband. Two small little girls about 2 or 3 years’ old were asleep in the next room when all this took place. Two children from the first marriage, a daughter who was 15, and a son who was 13, were not at home at the time of the incident. A few years later, I met the 2 older kids and when I realized who they were my heart melted and a love for them began to sprout. I had wondered who was loving on them since they were motherless and their father was in prison. I grew up without my mother due to cancer. I could relate to being a motherless teenager.

The son was now 17 and slept on our couch for a while one summer. During that summer, I had little chats with each of them, which inspired me to visit their mother’s grave. Tears trickled down my cheeks when I saw the graduation announcement for her daughter on her grave under a small rock. I was concerned about the young fella because I could see where he had been cutting himself. I asked him about the marks, and he told me, "The worst thing that could ever happen has already happened. "When I cut myself it takes away the pain in my heart for just a little while."

This fella had a suitcase that was ready for retirement, so I decided to replace it with one of ours. While transferring his clothes over, I found a faded, crinkled photo of his mother and father on their wedding day. I found the perfect frame and slipped it back into his suitcase. The clothes in the suitcase did not look his size, so I replaced them with some clothes I had put up for my son. That summer, my husband was 1 of 80 people who were called to be a possible candidate for this murder trial. During the phase of those to be interviewed, the case turned into a Plead of Insanity case. On the day my husband was scheduled to be there, the judge had him, along with some others escorted into the courtroom. My husband witnessed each family member stand up and tell this man how his insanity impacted their lives and how unbearable life was without their loved one.


There was a lot of hate and anger in that courtroom. When the kids that we had come to know got up and said what they had to say, my sensitive husband could not hold back the tears any longer. He was proud of the way they used appropriate language and held themselves together. The kids did not know he was in the courtroom. He waited outside to see them before he left. He explained why he was there and gave them hugs, and said,” You know where we are if you ever need anything.” Those kids beat my husband to the house that day and told me all about it.

Well, life went on. We saw less and less and heard about the trouble the fella was getting into. Before we knew it, he had a son, then a daughter and we eventually lost touch. The next time I heard anything was when the mother of the children was moving back to town and needed help. By then there was another little girl in the mix. My son helped her move into an apartment. This fella ended up in prison, and the kids were taken into custody. Their mother did everything she had to do to get her children back. (I did not know any of this until she moved back to NC).


Several months later, she was pregnant with her 4th child thanks to our son. She lost the apartment, and this little family has been living with us for almost 2 years. Our granddaughter is 16 months now.

The mother of these children turned 24 this year. God bless her soul. She grew up without her mother and learned to fight for and defend for herself. I couldn’t imagine being so young and having so much responsibility on my shoulders. It seems that she goes through the motions of day to day life with little if any sparkle in her eyes. When looking at this situation, most people see nothing but hopelessness, but one thing is for sure, GOD does not make mistakes!

The kids love to go to church, and our church family has become the village, accepted these children, loved them, and many have caught one that got away from us…...three is a lot to handle.

Eventually, this fella was released and still struggles to get through life. There is a lot of turmoil between the kid's parents. They are only kids themselves. I pray that seeds are being planted during this time they are spending with us and this precious family will live in a mighty harvest. We all have managed to survive somehow. Never underestimate what God has planned for your life. We are here to help others, not to indulge ourselves.



My conclusion: God prepared our hearts years ago to love these rowdy, messy, noisy, cuddly little rascals. I still have a special place in my heart for this fellow and his sister. I can only pray for God to get the attention of these young parents and awaken their spirits. God can and will take all of this chaos and make a beautiful, unbelievable, incredible life story worth living and sharing. May this testimony/story give other’s hope when life seems to be broken in so many pieces.