When I was a kid, I always felt like something was missing in my life. I grew up in a Christian household, believed in God, and knew about Jesus, but I was unsure about my future. Things were tough—I was homeschooled and didn’t have any friends growing up. At just 9 years old, I fell into depression. At 13, I attended a youth group for the first time, thinking it would end my loneliness. I was happy to go, but I was more focused on making friends than the service. Sadly, I ended up being bullied and even had someone try… Read More
Overcoming Obstacles
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I was at the store when I got an urgent phone call from my wife, Blessie. It was July 12, 2024, and she was seven months pregnant, but there was a problem. She was bleeding. I rushed home and took her straight to the hospital. They took her right to labor and delivery. The doctors and nurses took over six hours checking her and trying to decide if they should do a C-section. When my daughter was born, she was incredibly pale and had no heartbeat. “We’re sorry for your loss,” they told us. My wife responded, “Keep trying.” With every… Read More
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Not long ago, I had the family I longed for when I married my husband. When I found out I was not able to have children, I felt my world was shattered. I was wrong. I adopted a child who was five months old, and then another at three years old. I had my family and did everything families would do. Then, the unexpected happened and my world started to shatter. My husband got sick. With two children eight and under, I had to pull it together and find strength. I told my girls, “Daddy is sick and needs to have a kidney… Read More
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For as long as I can remember, the ocean has been my refuge; I found solace watching the waves; they were my only escape from a tumultuous childhood. I was the eighth of nine children born into poverty in a beachside town in Costa Rica. My neighborhood was nicknamed “little hell.” My mother walked out on my family when I was four, dramatically changing the course of my life. I still vividly remember the moment she loaded her suitcase into a taxi and rode off, leaving me confused and crying in the dusty street. My father turned to alcohol to deal with… Read More
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Growing up in a physically and mentally abusive home, I often asked myself, "What's wrong with me? Why was I born? How can I be better?" These questions lingered into adulthood. From a young age, I recognized that my mama was hurting from the abuse she endured. At nine, I learned that the man I thought was my father was actually my adoptive dad. I craved acceptance and sought love in all the wrong places, but I didn’t know how to love myself. At 21, I married the man I thought I would be with forever, hoping for a "normal" life… Read More
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George Dennehy was born without arms in a Romanian orphanage. The workers there neglected him and he was severely malnourished. At 16 months old, he weighed just nine pounds. A Romanian doctor hung a death certificate on his crib, telling the nurses to fill in the date when the time came. But his life changed dramatically when he was adopted at 18 months by a family in Connecticut who believed in giving orphans a chance at a good life. And that family didn’t stop with George. He now has 12 siblings, and nine have been adopted from six different countries. His parents… Read More