In just one year, Melissa’s life has been restored and her future is filled with something supernatural.
Meet Melissa, who just one year ago walked through the doors of Shepherd’s Door. We asked her to take a look at her badges and think for a moment about then versus now. How has she changed? What’s different about her spirit and her outlook on life? Here’s what she said …
(She looks at the first picture, on the left, that was taken on the day she moved in on January 14th).
“I was a huge mess,” she says. ”I was at a point in my life where I had to talk myself out of suicide every day.”
As Melissa gazed at her badge a little longer, she continued to explain what that photo represents to her.
“Sad. Dark. It was a dark time in my life. [I was] very lonely. Very broken.”
And yet, as Melissa continued to compare the two photos of herself, her joy became evident when she moved to the second photo on the right.
“That was only a month later! I met the Lord four days after I got here!”
Now, she looks at herself positively in the mirror. She walks with an unmistakable jubilation and happiness along with an amazing awareness of the presence of Jesus. And now, she wants nothing more than to serve those around her. (Melissa will be staying on for an additional year of Service at Shepherd’s Door where she’ll take on additional leadership responsibilities and dedicate her time and effort to helping with maintenance around the facilities at Portland Rescue Mission).
The gate at Shepherd’s Door
“Thank you for being my new family. Thank you for showing me how to love. Thank you for reminding me I’m worth it. Thank you for being there when I needed you and thank you for loving me.”
And her concluding thoughts on the second photo? “That’s hope. I’m 48 and I have never felt so free … I’m free.”
Thanks to people like you, Melissa’s outlook on herself, her life and her purpose have completely changed. Instead of dread and despair, she’s filled with optimism and a confident expectancy about what’s still to come in her life ahead. (To help more women like Melissa, look no further. Join our Circle of Friends).