A Surprise Blessing for a Marine and His Family
Marine Corporal Jacob was deployed so often, he and wife Charlsie spent less than a year together during their first three years of marriage. Charlsie will never forget the homecomings.
Charlsie recalls, “When they release them, it's like this mad, you know, looking through all the faces. They're all in cammies. You know, like, okay, which one's mine, where is he? And I had to check his name tape, make sure that one's mine before I just kissed him.”
When Jacob returned from his most recent deployment, they decided Charlsie wouldn’t work so they could start a family and have her stay at home. However, both were concerned about their growing credit card debt.
Charlsie explains, “The joy of being back together was dampened by the weight of, 'wow, okay, we we've got debt and it's growing.'"
Jacob continues, “We looked at it, we were like, 'wow, that hurts.' And that was kind of our wakeup call where we came together and we were like, 'we can't, do this. We need to learn the skills, apply them. Pulling ourselves out of this hole.'"
They cut out everything unnecessary including internet and cable. Jacob started looking for a second job, and Charlsie went to food banks to avoid buying groceries on the credit card.
Jacob explains, “It's something that we feel together that we need to do in order to honor the Lord the best way we can. So that we’re not slave to the lender.”
Their get-out-of-debt plan derailed when both of their older cars simultaneously needed major repairs, they considered scaling down to one car, but Charlsie was an active volunteer at church, so they needed two.
Charlsie says, “Right now, fixing the issues with either car can't be the top of our priority list. There are other bills and needs that come before doing that.”
When Pillar Church learned about their financial challenges, they contacted Helping the Home Front. We agreed to help. Pastor Mike Young invited the couple over to tell them CBN was paying off their credit card debt.
Charlsie exclaims, “Oh my goodness. I don't know what to say. Oh, wow. That is incredible.”
Pastor Mike had another surprise.
“As of today, the local Toyota dealership is waiting to take both of your cars in, and through the generous offering of CBN, they'd like to pay for all of the repairs to get that off of your plate.”
Jacob comments, “I can't handle this right now.”
Charlsie asks, “Both of the cars?
Pastor Mike answers, “Both of them!”
Jacob adds, “I have no idea what to say.”
Pastor Mike concludes, “It’s a new day every day. Joy comes in the morning. And we pray that this is the morning that you have been waiting for.”
Charlsie replies, “Oh, my goodness. This is just incredible. This is incredible!”
Pastor Mike took the couple to the Toyota dealership to get both vehicles fixed. With their cars in good working order and their debt paid, Jacob and Charlsie can focus on building their savings for their family’s future.
Jacob says, “CBN’s Helping the Home Front changed our life. I'm so grateful to CBN and all the partners.”
Charlsie says, “We are very thankful for what Helping the Home Front has just given us. It's going to be resonating with us a very long time, for the rest of our lives.”
