Name: Sarah W.
City: Mesa
State: AZ

2007 was a hard year for our family. It started with my husband being wrongfully accused of some horrible things at work, and fired from his job in January. Because he was in the health care field, his certification was being reviewed by the state board. So, we hired lawyers and fought... and unfortunately, his name was not cleared fully. We felt that we sort of lost our battle with a very biased board. You are guilty until proven innocent. It is certainly not set up like our legal system.

After that ending in May, and no luck finding steady employment, he left health care and worked several jobs in construction. We were having a very hard time paying bills with unsteady work schedules. Our families and church helped quite a bit, but feeling the opposite of self sufficient is a
HORRIBLE feeling.

In July, we had our 3rd son. A true blessing in a dark time in our life. I began a hard battle with postpartum depression and anxiety disorders.

By October, my husband had a steady job, but it still did not pay enough to cover our needs. We sort of felt like getting back on our feet was not an option for us. We were grateful for the job that he had and kept plugging along.

Christmas came and my family came in from out of town. It was the first time since 1989 that all of us had had Christmas together. It was wonderful time. At church the Sunday before Christmas, we were handed $200! We could pay our power bill before it got turned off! A great Christmas present. That afternoon, I was stepping out of my house and a young girl, who looked very familiar, but I couldn't place, handed me a Christmas Jar packed full of coins and dollar bills, along with the book of course. I was shocked and didn't know what to say or do except to say "thank you!". I showed my husband and we were very humbled. Blessings from Heaven were handed to us that day. We were able to buy a few Christmas presents with the money from our Christmas Jar for our family. It was so nice to give back, when we thought we didn't have the money to do so.

After reading the book, I was humbled to be such a part of an enormous legacy of love being shared through a simple story and the thought and love of others.