Sandra’s Journey to Hope

Some moments you never forget. And the night Sandra decided that she was done with life was, without a doubt, one of them. That night wasn’t her first suicide attempt.

Sandra had tried to end her life before.

“This time, I was really doing it,” Sandra had convinced herself. “I decided, ‘I’m done. I’ve hurt my children enough. It’s over.’ So that night, I took as much drugs as I could inside the bathroom of a fast-food restaurant.”

Right before Sandra stepped into that bathroom, she hurled one last angry prayer toward the heavens.

“You know what? This time you can’t stop me,” Sandra seethed to the God she didn’t even believe in.

Then, she paused for a brief second. “If you do stop me, I’m going to know it’s YOU. Because there’s no way I’ll live through this.”

The next thing Sandra remembers is waking up to a nurse standing over her at the hospital.

Sandra was alive. Sandra’s nurse reassured her that she was lucky. But Sandra knew there was no way this was luck. God had saved her. God had spared her. But why?

That’s when painful memories from Sandra’s youth spiraled into her mind. “I was dropped off on Pacific Highway, south of Seattle, when I was about 14. And my mom left. I raised myself. I’ve been on the streets my whole life, even when it was cold or hot. But hot was the worst,” she recalls.

“You go to air-conditioned stores. You go to the library if you can. You’re dehydrated, so you get water where you really don’t want to get water from.”

Sandra’s existence while homeless was worse than miserable. It was a nightmare.

FINDING HEALING AT THE MISSION

After recovering in the hospital from her attempt to take her life, Sandra found herself led miraculously by the Lord to Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. Stepping through the doors of the Women’s Recovery Program, Sandra remembers feeling relief at finding people who genuinely cared.

Sandra welcomed the classes, counseling, and caring relationships she found at the Mission, and she began to change. Soon, Sandra was learning about God’s love, forgiveness, and grace. “God did something in those classes. A heaviness lifted from me. And I never looked back.”

Sandra’s the first to recognize that in some ways, she shouldn’t be here today. Not after surviving the streets for 30 years, suffering through heat, summer after summer. Through it all, God preserved Sandra’s life. He saved her and summoned her to live for a greater purpose.

BUILDING ON A FOUNDATION

Today, Sandra can say with full conviction, “I’m at the best point in my life. I have six grandchildren. They love me. God is doing something in our family, uniting us more than ever. I have an apartment. Life is good. God started that foundation when I walked into the Mission.”

Your support helped save Sandra when she was ready to give up. Your prayers and your partnership led Sandra to learn there was so much to live for. Now, Sandra has hope! Thank you for providing care that lifted her heaviness and showed Sandra just how much she’s loved.