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My Story: Chapter Twenty-Two
I Finally Moved Out of the Shelter
Coming home
I had been so close to moving out of the shelter before I totaled my suv and had to use my savings to buy a car. Would I ever make it out on my own?
After spending a week working at my main job and my side gig I sat down and decided I would take a good look at my financial situation to see when I could move into my own home.
It looked like it would take at least three months. I was so tired of waiting to get my life started again. I fought despair and began praying and calculating how much I could make at my side job. It still wasn’t enough.
I had Monday off so was able to say hi to the women who worked at the shelter before I left to do gig work all day. They asked how I was feeling and we caught up on the last week. I mentioned being disappointed that I had spent most of my savings on the new car but how happy I was with it.
They asked if I had been given any gas money or anything during my stay at the shelter. I realized they had not given me anything besides a free bed and access to the food pantry which was more than enough.
The shelter manager said that they had a certain allotment for each resident and they could pay the deposit on my apartment and for electrical service.
WHAT???? You better believe I had tears of gratitude and a huge smile with hugs all around.
I would be moving into my apartment sooner than I had planned before the accident. In less than a month actually! Once again, God showed me clearly that prayer works and He has a plan for my life.
That Sunday my daughter and I turned in our application paper at the apartment community and were accepted as new residents. I spent half a day during the week making the drive to drop off the rent deposit and get our power set up with the electric company.
I had less than two weeks to get everything packed up and moved to my new home. During my stay at the shelter, I had chosen furniture and home goods from donations that were brought in and my future home was almost fully furnished from the generosity of others. I didn’t ask for any household goods with the divorce and my ex-husband didn’t offer anything even for the kids who would live with me half the time.
The week before we moved in the rental manager at my new community called to see if I would like an oak table and chairs and a barely used couch. Those were two items I was missing and I gratefully accepted her gift. Things were coming together in an amazing way.
I even had clothes, toys, bedding, and mattresses for my children. The only thing I didn’t have were bed frames but we could start with mattresses on the floor. No big deal.
Friends from our town offered us things they didn't need and when we moved in we had everything we could ever need and then some. I even had artwork for the walls, cute shelves, lamps, and houseplants. It was incredible how quickly my new home was furnished at no cost to me. I thought we would be roughing it until I could buy what we needed and was amazed that everything was provided even candles and holiday decorations.
Every time I looked around my new home I wanted to cry in gratitude. We also realized that we were the first people to live in our apartment. It was a new build and we were the first occupants. How good is that?
Finally, I had everything moved in and the children got to spend the night with me for the first time in over 7 months. What a victory!
The children were excited about our new apartment and loved that I was only a short walk from their dad’s house. This worked out very well as we didn’t have to meet to exchange the children anymore. They could just walk from one home to the other. It was a very good start.
I thought we would all live in peace and harmony but of course, the abuser had other plans.
You can catch up on the rest of my story by clicking HERE
