God Brought Her Home: A Story of Prayer, Hope, & Healing

“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 2:21

Ellie’s story

I always believed in God, but I didn’t know the Bible.

I had two children during my first marriage which lasted 23 years. Being naïve, I just assumed my marriage would last forever and my kids would grow up to be responsible, compassionate, and respectable people. However, my daughter Jenna chose a different path. Initially, I thought her behavior was just typical teen rebellion, but it slowly and deviously evolved into a much worse situation. I prayed all the time, especially for Jenna, but my prayers seemed to go unanswered. That didn’t stop me! I was tenacious and continued praying.

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Romans 5:3-4

As Jenna’s behavior continued to spiral out of control, so did my marriage. We divorced in 2001. I met my second husband, Don, later in 2001 and we were married in 2004. This man didn’t know the joyful, adorable Jenna I knew as a child, just the “addict” Jenna. The addition of two children Jenna had out of wedlock added another level of worry and concern. However, Don supported me well through the agony of the next 19 years.

The Day I Fell Apart

In 2019, I was talking to a family member on the phone and I mentioned Jenna. She said she didn’t call to talk about Jenna. I politely faked my way through the rest of the conversation, but when I hung up, I fell apart. I was consumed with worry about her, to the point that it was starting to damage my life and affect my relationships with other people. I talked to my husband and decided to seek Christian counseling.

During counseling, prayer helped. We prayed Ezekiel 36:26 for Jenna, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

The Prayers That Carried Me Through the Dark

After several months of counseling, it was suggested that I find an Al-Anon group, a mutual-help group for people with alcoholic or drug-addicted loved ones. One of the ladies in the group, Missy, was especially inspiring to me. She was deeply faith-filled and generously shared her knowledge of the Bible with us. One day she called me and said, “God has written it on my heart to ask if you would like to pray with me for your daughter Jenna and your grandsons.”

As so many other people were fighting for their earthly lives during that dreadful COVID year, we began to fight spiritually for my daughter Jenna’s life. This began my introduction to Moms in Prayer. Every week on Wednesdays for an hour, Missy called me with a prepared Moms in Prayer sheet and we prayed fervently for Jenna and my grandsons.

As so many other people were fighting for their earthly lives during that dreadful COVID year, we began to fight spiritually for my daughter Jenna’s life.

This went on for 14 weeks and I cried almost every time. The praising and praying was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. The scriptural prayer for Jenna that we ended with every week was particularly powerful, “God, open Jenna’s eyes and turn her from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that she may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus” (from Acts 26:18).

Our Family’s Miracle, One Prayer at a Time

At the end of August, the attribute of God we praised Him for was His wisdom. We prayed, “Lord God, may You instruct Jenna in the way of wisdom and lead her along straight paths. May Jenna fear You, for that is the beginning of wisdom; and knowledge of You, the HOLY ONE, results in understanding.” Before we hung up that day, Missy said to me, “Ellie, I want you to be prepared for whatever God may ask you to do.”

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20

The following Monday afternoon, I received a call from County Social Services. They asked, “Can you come and get your grandsons? They have been taken from their mother and she said you might take them.” God had answered our prayers and my grandsons were safe! Then I asked if Jenna was ok. They said she had been arrested and was homeless.

I had absolutely no confidence that I could take care of two boys ages 7 and 4, but one week later, they were getting on the school bus at our house and our lives were forever changed. A neighbor suggested we register them for Bible lessons at their church, which we did (five years later they still attend)! One of the church members gave me a Moms in Prayer Booklet to use with the boys and we followed the same format every night with them for the next two years! We started learning the Bible together. We also prayed for their mom every night.

I was extremely worried about her because I was pretty sure those boys were all that had been keeping her from drowning. I wasn’t wrong; she was sad and said she had no reason to live. I kept praying, only this time I understood that God was in charge and He was going to take care of her.

I kept praying, only this time I understood that God was in charge and He was going to take care of her.

On December 27^th, my husband and I traveled to my son’s house because I had surgery scheduled and he was going to take care of the boys. After the appointment, my son called and told me that Jenna was with her dad. This was shocking because they hadn’t had much of a relationship since she started high school, and she was now 36. Her dad had been called by his sister when Jenna showed up at her house high on drugs. He took her to a nearby hotel and stayed with her three days, working diligently to find a rehab facility for her.

Hope for Every Mama with a Broken Heart

God moved in ways we never could’ve imagined and she ended up at Adult & Teen Challenge, a Christian, faith-based rehab facility. They LOVE the bible there and read it every day. Now, all four of us were learning the Bible at the same time! She was there for 13 months and every phone call and visit showed more awareness and growth.

Jenna ended up coming to my town in February 2022. She was accepted into The Joseph Project, a faith-based initiative connecting people with jobs. Jenna did really well in the program and while she was there, she met Missy, the woman who prayed with me for her and the boys! I will forever be indebted to Missy for acting on the message that God “wrote on her heart,” and how she taught me about Moms in Prayer.

By the time school started in the fall, Jenna had her boys back with her! My daughter, whom I’d always prayed for to be safe, happy, and healthy, was given back to me, blessed with SO MUCH MORE. She came back knowing Jesus and understanding the Bible way better than I do, and she lives it. She has very little earthly means, but always finds ways to help others. Now, when I have troubles, I call her for biblical wisdom and advice. She was married in 2024 and they also gave us another grandson.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

Jenna’s story

I’m Ellie’s daughter, a mother of four, and I have been married almost two years. This is a story of sin, a lot of prayer, and God’s abounding grace.

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

I grew up in a happy, stable home. We were well cared for, went to church, and life was good. I was, however, unaware of the evil influence the world could have on me. I never thought I could end up broken, abused, and addicted, but I did.

I started making poor decisions in middle school by smoking cigarettes and sneaking out of the house. By high school, I was smoking weed, drinking, skipping school, and was sexually active. These choices led me to have an illegal abortion at age 16, unbeknownst to my family. I believe this opened a door that allowed sin to flood into my life.

The Addiction Grows

By age 22, I was a daily cocaine user and was drinking regularly. At 26, I was shooting heroine and taking Xanax and Fentanyl. I stopped using drugs, except for marijuana, when I got pregnant with my first son at age 30 and stayed that way until after I had my second son at age 33.

A few years later, my oldest son’s father came home from prison with a meth addiction. I don’t really know why I tried it, except to say that the devil told me to and I always just did what I “felt” like doing. Within a year and a half, I had lost everything: my vehicle, my job, our home. my mind… and then, my kids.

Within a year and a half, I had lost everything: my vehicle, my job, our home, my mind… and then, my kids.

The Power of Prayer: Hope Beginning to Stir

When my mom and Missy started praying, it turned my whole world upside down. I didn’t know it at the time, but their prayers were aligning with the will of God and shifting things on behalf of me and my children.

However, it did NOT feel that way.

I couldn’t function. I went to 3 different jails in 3 counties in 3 months. I accumulated 15 charges, 8 of them felonies. When I got out of jail the last time, I was still hell-bound.

On Christmas eve of 2020, I was without my entire family for the first time in my life. I was experiencing meth induced psychosis and a kind of hell I cannot describe with words. At that time, I did not believe in God, but knew the only thing keeping the demons away was saying The Lord’s Prayer. I just kept saying it over and over for hours until I ended up at my aunt’s house where my dad came to get me.

My dad called close to 30 facilities, but in the midst of COVID, the only place that would take me is Adult & Teen Challenge. Praise. The. Lord. The program was intense and I really wanted to leave, when a girl from Arkansas told me to, “Just say Jesus,” so I said it…. A LOT!

The Moment Grace Broke Through

On my fifth day, we went to church. During worship something happened. I couldn’t stop crying. My journal entry from that afternoon read, “Thank you. This church was eye-opening. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced. Thank you for my boys, Oh Lord, thank you, they are perfect.”

The Lord had given me a new heart and I gave my life to Him.

That night as I was laying down, it struck me…. the baby, the abortion… I could hardly breathe, but it wasn’t the shame that took my breath, it was the grace. I had two happy, healthy boys at home waiting for me. How could God be so gracious, so merciful, to give me two more perfect babies after what I had done? But HE is, HE just is.

How could God be so gracious, so merciful, to give me two more perfect babies after what I had done? But HE is, HE just is.

“Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” Luke 7:47

God has continued to pour into our lives abundantly. After countless court hearings throughout the state, I was granted deferred conviction agreements in all three counties. This meant that if I plead guilty and stayed clean from drugs and out of trouble for two years, all of my felonies would be pardoned. As of today, I have no felonies on my record.

Redeemed, Restored, & Sharing Hope

When I came to live in my mom’s town, I had nothing. Within six months, I found a home, my kids were back living with me, and my case with the state regarding my children was closed early. Three years later and God has given me a faith-filled husband, another precious little boy, and a step daughter to care for, as well as many opportunities to share my story of the power of prayer and the message of hope through Jesus Christ.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
1 Peter 2:9

How has God acted on your children’s behalf as a result of prayer? Comment below.

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The authors of this incredible testimony have chosen to remain anonymous.