For some time now I had not been satisfied with the life I was living. I kept doing things at my job to get recognition and get promoted but no matter how hard I tried I never got the position I would apply for. My home life wasn't any better. I was ready to throw in the towel and call it quits on my marriage. At times I would think of just running away from it all and I'd contemplate how I could move to a small town get a job as a waitress or housekeeper for motel and not have to deal with the problems, the disappointments or self-loathing i felt throughout my day. I had been raised in one type of religion or other and had always gone to church so I did believe in God and that Jesus died on the cross for me, but the significance of that sacrifice was merely a faint whisper of what I use to feel. My hunger for the Lord was gone. The only light in my life was my 14 year old son who definitely had chosen to build his relationship with Christ on his own. I can't begin to explain the guilt i felt as he'd come into our room and ask if we were going to church and my response would be no. After a while the knocks stopped coming...

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I would only like to remain anonymous to protect my brother. When he's ready, he will share. On December 23, 2011 my brother came back into my life. He did not have any family contact for many years. He is the youngest of 7 and it felt like our little brother was lost forever. When you don’t know the whereabouts of a loved one, it is amazing how many times you look twice at a stranger. My husband and I were coming back from errands, errands that I did not want to do, I thought I saw someone that looked like my brother so I asked him to go back around so I could look again. He replied by saying that I thought every homeless person we pass I think is my brother. I responded with, if it was your brother, would you go around? He did not say another word and went around the block. Still not sure, we drove a little closer for a 3rd look. We decided to give the person in question some money and say Merry Christmas, just to get an even closer look. The man was my brother, homeless for about 18 months. He is a survivor. Anyway, his life is his story to tell. Here is my God story...

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This is the story of my trip to Chicago on 9/26/2010 May seem fictional but...sadly its NOT. On the week of 9/19 we got word that my Grandmother, who has been in bad health with cancer, was not doing well and was given 3-5 days to live by the doctors overseeing her care. My family, having just lost our father about a month ago, wanted to go see her one last time and if the circumstances would have it, stay for her funeral. So we decided to drive out from Phoenix to Chicago on 9/26 (Sunday) there would be my mother’s Astro van and a Nissan that I would borrow from my friend, to get us there. We took off with me driving the 2006 Nissan Sentra 4 dr. Having my mother in the passenger’s seat, my 5 year old daughter, 7 year old niece and 19 year old sister in the back seats. We left the valley with out a hitch, stopping about every 2 hours to stretch. We drove about 7 hours at which time we were about 60-65 mile from Albuquerque, NM It was about 3pm when I told my sister, “You take over driving so I can rest up for driving at night” Due to that the seating arrangement had changed, My older sister driving, mom still in passenger’s seat, me right behind driver, youngest sister in the middle and 11 y/o nephew on the other end. We decided to move the little girls the Van that was following us. This is where things get crazy---

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It is a blessing to me to see how happy God's gift of our granddaughter has made my wife, my daughter, son-in-law, and son. We marvel every day at how good God is in allowing Heather and Rich to become parents after seventeen years of marriage. I have never seen them happier. It is a new adventure each day. Thank you Lord. Be with them and protect them as they head out for their big adventure in England.

-tk