The Saving Power of Love
When Renee was 22 and 20 weeks pregnant, she was involved in a bad car accident. “I remember waking up from the coma, seeing this giant stomach, not understanding what was going on,” she said. From that moment, she devoted herself and her love entirely to her newborn daughter.
For nine years, she loved her daughter dearly, but after a messy divorce, she lost custody of her daughter, which caused her to turn to alcohol. “It was like I couldn’t breathe. I can’t even see my child, and I just kept thinking, I will do whatever it takes to get her back. I just needed my daughter.”
Her broken heart needed to be healed. “I started drinking because I didn’t know how else to cope, to love. Everything felt like it was falling apart, and alcohol was the only thing that made the pain stop, even if it was just for a little while. It got to the point where I was drinking every day, just to survive, just to make the feelings stop. I didn’t want anyone to see me like that, but I didn’t know any other way.”
Soon the drinking resulted in Renee having a heart attack during a binge. “After three days, I called my father, Ron, who is a graduate of Helping Up Mission’s (HUM) men’s program, and he connected me with Nikki Jones (Outreach Manager, Center for Women & Children). She checked on me every day until I walked into HUM on February 7 of last year.”
“The next thing I know, Nikki, who guided me on this journey, is giving me a hug. I handed her my car keys with total faith that this was where I needed to be. After a week, I phased into the program on Valentine’s Day. Talk about a love story!”
As she continued in the Women’s Spiritual Recovery Program, Renee developed a new definition of love. “Today, I define love as living with gratitude and embracing the beauty found in everyday life. Your love for God does not have to be kept quietly to yourself. It can be expressed through your actions, your kindness and your daily choices. You learn to love yourself, and then you help others learn to love themselves. I have such a renewed perspective. HUM taught me, ‘We are going to love you until you love yourself.’”
“To the donors: thanks to you, I have more here than I’ve ever had in my life before, and it is not just material things... It is the stability, the resources that HUM provides, the way that this program is networked so beautifully through mind, body, soul, legal and healthcare. Thank you!"
