Laura is mom to two wonderful kids and leads our Single Moms Group FCC that meets in Norwalk. Her son recently graduated from high school and will be going to basic training in August for the National Guard. Her daughter will start middle school in the fall. “I’m proud and petrified at the same time,” she says.

When talking about the greatest challenge she faces, Laura erupts into giggles and says, “Asking for help is a challenge.” Then she goes on to relate a story that happened that very morning, “I had a loveseat I needed to get out to the front curb. I was able to push it until it got stuck at the edge of the driveway. I paused for a moment and told myself, ‘Okay, I got this’, then I decided the best thing to do was to roll it over and over to the curb.”

A friendly neighbor saw her struggling and asked if she wanted help. In the past, her first instinct was to say, “No, I got this,” but she is learning to say, “Yes, thank you,” instead. Her neighbor helped lift the loveseat to the curb. She says, “There are two parts to it, asking for help and receiving it. Both are hard for me.”

Another challenge she faces is the stigma that often comes with being a Christian woman with multiple divorces. After her second divorce, she felt like she had let everyone down. But, instead of the judgement she expected, she watched the church love and embrace her children.

“That’s when I realized the spirit of judgement wasn’t on the church, it was on me. I was carrying around the heavy weight of judgement myself.” She says, “I learned to look at judgement differently. That’s when a lot of things in my life broke through and broke free.”

Laura says her greatest joys are watching her children’s growing faith. “When I catch them reading their Bible, or when I hear them pray, it gives me hope,” she says. “As I watch my son pass through this major milestone in his life and take the next steps into adulthood, I realize God is not done writing his story. I’m confident the best is yet to come.”

“The best advice I can give other single parents is that your divorce doesn’t define you. Or however you became a single parent doesn’t define you. Your single parenthood doesn’t define you. It’s a reality we face, but it is not who you are. God is using it to write your story,” Laura says.

When she thinks of Single Parent Provision, she thinks of restoration. Laura says, “The definition of ministry is to meet someone’s need in love. The Single Moms Group I lead offers me an opportunity to do that. To love and be loved by others who are going through the same thing I am. It feels like I’m finally back on track and doing what God has designed me to do.”

Thank you, Laura, for sharing a part of your story with us. We love and appreciate you!!

Published June 2018