*Name changed to protect client confidentiality. Photos used are of actual clients but not necessarily the client(s) in the story.
Jade’s Story
Jade had experienced several miscarriages before this pregnancy. So when the test came back positive, her first feeling wasn’t dread. It was awe.
“It was a mixture of excitement and uncertainty,” she says.
The father of her child was a friend who was busy caring for his other children. He was emotionally supportive, but not really present. The weight of what was ahead fell mostly on Jade, and the situation at home with her mother was already strained and toxic.
“I feared I would lose my baby at every point,” she says. “But at the same time, I was scared to bring her into the world because everything was so uncertain. I worried about her quality of life.”
Jade walked into the pregnancy center for an ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy. At nine weeks, she saw the heartbeat. “It was clear she was a baby. It was so emotional.”
“My support system at the time was trash — so Life Network became my support system.”
Jade started attending parenting classes and Bible study to earn Baby Bucks and get free food. She wasn’t looking for a faith community. She wasn’t expecting much. But something opened.
“I didn’t have a relationship with God before that,” she says. “But when I started going, it opened my eyes and I began my personal relationship with the Lord. I had no idea about anything to do with God until Life Network.”
One staff member drove Jade to church every week. “Church was my escape,” she says. Her parenting coach poured into her week after week. “I held onto her words until my next session.”
Jade was babysitting to get by — barely enough. All of her major baby items came from Life Network.
After her daughter, Noelle, was born, Jade stayed connected. She kept taking parenting classes and stayed close to her coach.
Today, Jade and Noelle live in Arkansas, and they’ve watched God keep providing in ways Jade didn’t plan. Noelle is eight years old. “She’s quirky and marches to the beat of her own drum,” Jade says. Noelle plays flag football through a scholarship program, and the opportunity came through a chance conversation Jade had while working for another family she met through the program. One honest moment opened a door to stable income and a safe place to live.
“Have faith,” Jade says. “Find something positive and hold on to it. Have confidence, even if it’s just a sliver. Hold onto that, because it’s the Lord telling you it’s the way to go.”
Because of your generosity, Jade heard the Gospel and met Jesus for the first time. Because of you, she is raising Noelle to know Him too. Eternity is forever different, and it started with your support.
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