Overcoming Obstacles

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  Labor Overcoming Obstacles

  BROKEN AND ABUSED TO REDEEMED PASTOR

  Desiree was born into a broken family, and endured mental and physical abuse throughout her childhood. At the young age of six, her parents divorced, and she was shuffled from one family member to the next. Her Mom was sent to prison, and she moved from California to Washington with her Dad. Her Dad wasn’t ready to raise her and she could not wait to get out of the house. She moved out at the age of 17 and fully intended to join the military, but her plans changed when she met Jeremy, her future husband. Jeremy was from a devout, Christian… Read More

  February 4, 2026
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  Children Overcoming Obstacles

  AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

  I came to the United States in 2018, already in my third trimester of pregnancy. The plan was only to visit for a short time and buy a few things for our baby. But the situation in Venezuela worsened quickly, and soon the embassies closed. Suddenly, we couldn’t return home. We had to ask for asylum, and it became one of the most vulnerable times of my life. Although I had visited this country before as a tourist, being forced to stay was completely different. I couldn’t even say goodbye to my family, and that pain was deep. But I could… Read More

  December 31, 2025
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  Overcoming Obstacles Prayer Prison Ministry

  GOD FREED ME

  I spent 10 years in prison because of the choices I made during the darkest season of my life. I was deep into drugs, anger, and pride, and one terrible night, it all caught up with me. I got into a violent fight that left a man seriously injured, and I was charged with aggravated assault. For a long time, I blamed everyone else. But the truth was simple—I had become a person I didn’t even recognize. I hurt people, I lied, and I lived like nothing and no one mattered. By the time I was sentenced, I had burned every… Read More

  December 10, 2025
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  Overcoming Obstacles

  THE BEST OF TIMES

  Charles Dickens’ enduring line, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times,” perfectly describes my life in 1976. Parties were plentiful, responsibilities were shallow, and worries felt far away. Yet, this way that seemed “right” left me with a deep sense of longing. The faith I had inherited from my parents, once a steady anchor, now felt irrelevant. Looking back, I was like a punctured balloon, drifting erratically and aimlessly until all the air spilled out. Christmas Eve 1976 was just another day of party hopping. In fact, I didn’t even realize it was Christmas Eve. As I made… Read More

  December 3, 2025
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  Loss Of Loved One Overcoming Obstacles Recovery

  FINDING GRACE IN GRIEF

  The week of Thanksgiving is meant to be joyous. It’s a celebratory, anticipatory week that culminates in a big family gathering, filled with gratitude and nostalgia. On November 22, 2022, that’s exactly what I was anticipating. Then, I got a phone call that changed my life forever. It was my parents. They called to tell me that my older brother, Jason, had been in a helicopter crash off I-77 in Charlotte, NC. As a television meteorologist, Jason was in the air that morning learning the station’s new camera system. It was supposed to be a routine trip, but it turned into… Read More

  November 26, 2025
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  Overcoming Obstacles Recovery

  “FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU”

  “If there is a god, he will have to beg my forgiveness.” Whether or not these words were found carved into the wall of a Nazi death camp, it is certainly how I felt trudging through the jungles of Vietnam in 1966. “Why would God permit such mayhem and horror?” I was told that God was good and loving, but I found no love or goodness in the rot of war. While I remained culturally tied to Christianity after returning to the United States, I was, for all intents and purposes, an atheist. My job as a police officer only reassured me of… Read More

  November 12, 2025
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