It has been one of those days. I left home at 7:30am and went non-stop until arriving home at 4:30. Not only was it busy but it was stressful; one of those days when you feel people pulling at you in all different directions. After our ladies bible study, I was approached by a young mother going through a divorce after twelve years of abuse. The heaviness she was burdened with had led her to cry through the study and then proceed to tell me a large part of her story that I did not already know. She has been new to the single mom’s bible study I have just finished teaching on Sunday mornings so I knew some of her story. It is one that there is no way to help: one can only support and pray. While she was sharing, there were three others waiting, and I could feel my stress building as the first lady was too engrossed in herself, to notice the others in line. She alone left me exhausted. The last lady waiting was one that I had noticed enter the sanctuary half way through the study. She sat at the back nursing her baby. Now she had three other children with her, all less than six years old. She had left her abusive husband and had been in and out of shelters. Under the impression that there was a place for her at a shelter near the church, she arrived in our town, only to find there was a waiting list. She and her children had spent the last two nights in her car. As heart-breaking as this story is, at least I could do something to help her. I walked her over to my husband’s office. He is the Pastor of Global Outreach at our church and I left her with him to talk, knowing that he would begin by putting her in a hotel for a few days. We fed the children, gave them coloring books, and I eventually left them on the floor, happily coloring and chatting away to another volunteer. This young mother is a school teacher but left teaching to bear children. She had an education and means to make a living, but life was cruel. I rushed over to the home of one of my young women who had invited some of our group over. By the time I got there, I was exhausted. Of these girls in their twenties, I am the ‘mother’ figure but they were the ones today that brought joy and encouragement to my soul. By the time I left the home, I was ready to give again. Faced with many who have problems that I cannot begin to conceive of, I am forced to look at my own life and realize how blessed I am. I have a loving husband who is kind, generous and loves the Lord. He has provided emotional, spiritual and financial stability in my life. I could very easily have ended up like so many of the women I see if it were not for him. So, today, I am thankful for my husband. And I am so proud of his heart of compassion, to choose to live a life of serving and bringing help to those in dire need.