Right after a divorce, Craig learned that his 16-year-old daughter was struggling. After facing some bullying at her school, she had switched to cyber school and “just started sinking,” Craig explained. “She needed her dad, and I was coming back home to her.”
So, Craig did the thing any good father would do. He left everything behind so he could be there for her and started a new journey toward stability. And that brought him to Good Sam.
Here, he had the space he needed to start healing. The events that he had just walked through were “catastrophic and devastating” and left Craig grieving all that he had lost.
There were days when he didn’t stop crying, “People would come up and ask me if I was ok and I’d be like ‘I hurt, and I’m just going to let it hurt,’” he shared, looking back at that season. “Because here I am, and I do actually have a bit of time to let the hurt come out because I have a roof over my head, there’s food on the table.”
And slowly he started to understand something beautiful. God had a purpose among all the pain.
One day, a partner of Good Sam came to lead a financial workshop and opened and closed the session with prayer. To this day, Craig can’t remember the words of that closing prayer, but he’ll never forget the outcome of them.
With the final words of the prayer, he found himself overcome with emotions and walked out of the building, tears streaming down his face. Another participant asked him if he needed a hug, and right there in that alley, he started praying over Craig. At that moment, a UPS driver happened to walk down the small alleyway to deliver a package, saw the scene in front of him, and joined in both the embrace and the prayer.
Strangers enveloped in a God-ordained moment.
This experience was just one of many occurrences that were clearly orchestrated by God and gave Craig hope and helped relieve some of the intense hurt of loss he felt. Through the devotional books he was given by Good Sam staff, and moments that were clearly God working, Craig learned that “[God] had wheels in motion before I even knew that this was happening … and He stripped [everything] away for a better tomorrow for myself.”
Even though he lost his cars, his home, and all his belongings, “There was more in store for me, and one of it was saving my daughter’s life,” he reflected. Another was meeting Jesus and learning that you can’t trade materialistic things for knowing a God who loves you unconditionally.
God opened door after door for Craig in ways that were remarkable to him and those around him. He found a job and through that job, a coworker connected him with a landlord who had an apartment for rent in an old church. Craig was soon accepted to rent the apartment, and community partners and friends donated items to fill it with everything they needed. Today, the two lovingly call it home.
His daughter is once again thriving at school, a completely different girl than she was months ago and their relationship is stronger than ever. Despite all the dark moments, “I got my best friend back and I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Craig said.
The biggest feature of their new home is a beautiful stain glass window picturing Jesus as the Good Shepherd; a reminder of all that God brought him through and the hope that is found in a future held by the Creator of the World.
Because as Craig explained, “I couldn’t have done it without His help.”
And in the middle of it all, he met Jesus and found hope. Your donations help provide that same hope to the 300+ men, women, and children facing homelessness who are in our program every day.
Help us reach our $250,000 Double Your Good fundraising goal this month so we can continue the important work we do!