Jessica and her husband, Gabe, found themselves without a hope in the world, and it very nearly cost them everything—until their lives were restored at Nashville Rescue Mission!

“My husband, Gabe, and I’ve been together for 21 years, married for 17,” Jessica shares. “Most of our marriage, we were in active addiction together . . . it started out with little things,” she admits, “and it just progressively got worse.”

Jessica remembers exactly when their own final downward spiral began—with the death of her mother. “Mama was always my rock, and we were super close,” she says, brushing back a tear.

“When she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer,
we cared for her—for two years.”

The pain of seeing her mom suffer and then pass away was devastating. “It was really hard, and really traumatic,” Jessica says. The immense grief and sadness took a toll on both Jessica and Gabe and drove them deeper into their substance abuse—costing them everything else . . .

“It was like everything happened at one time,” Jessica says, still bewildered at how it all went so wrong, so fast. “We lost our home! A nice house, two cars . . . we ended up having to pack all our stuff and leave, moving in with a family member.

“I just remember feeling like a failure. I had failed everybody I loved!

“Even though my mom was gone, I felt like I had failed her too, and it just kept getting worse: the addiction got completely out of control. We began moving around—I can’t even tell you how many times we moved.

“Eventually, we got a home, living there for months with no water, no food, no lights. It was . . .” Jessica’s voice trails off, the despair she felt then still fresh in her face.

At the same time, “I couldn’t keep a job and was so isolated as things finally spiraled down to the bottom: I was so ashamed and had such guilt. I didn’t even want to let anyone see me like that.”

“We had burned all our bridges. We had nowhere to go.”

But God saw their suffering and began the process that pointed them toward love, hope, and restoration at Nashville Rescue Mission.

“Gabe really wanted to come to Nashville Rescue Mission’s Life Recovery Program, but I was just so broken, lost, and in a deep, dark place—I was even thinking about suicide,” she whispers. “I thought everybody would just be better off without me.”

But her past finally caught up with her, and Jessica was taken to jail for an earlier offence. As they drove away, she listened in disbelief to the bail bondsman as he told her about the parable of the lost sheep!

“I didn’t want to hear it at the time, but I know now that was my divine intervention right there, and things would never be the same.”

“The day I got out of jail, I talked to Gabe on the phone, and he was already [at Nashville Rescue Mission]!”

Jessica was still unsure of her future . . . “There’s no hope left for me,” she told Gabe, and he replied, “Come to Nashville Rescue Mission. The name of the women’s center is ‘The Hope Center!’”

“Then he was telling me all they do, the classes, and just getting your life back. I decided to go. And when I walked through the doors, it was like the love of God in there: they welcomed me with open arms!”

Today, these two have found their lives restored, thanks to the support of loving hearts like yours and their hope in Christ.

“We have a car now; we have our own place; we have water; we have lights!” Jessica laughs. The joy of her true life transformation is easy for everyone who meets her to see—especially because she and Gabe serve alongside one another on staff at the Mission!

“I love working here. I love getting to work with the women in the program and leading by example, showing that it can be done,” Jessica says.

“It’s awesome! These last years have been amazing. God has opened so many doors for us. I’m happy now. I truly am happy.”

The restoration Jessica and Gabe have experienced is all thanks to the love and hope you make possible each and every day through your gifts and prayers. Thank you for being a part of restoring lives in the Lord at Nashville Rescue Mission!