Serving God, Country and Family

Platoon Sergeant Neil has spent a total of 3 years of his decorated army career overseas in combat zones.  The life he came home to after each deployment changed dramatically a few years ago when he married Jennifer and stepped into the roll of dad to her daughters Christiana and Marissa. 

Neil admits, “I do love them very very much.  They are pretty amazing young ladies which is a testimony to their mom.”

Bringing the families together wasn’t easy, or affordable.  The couple had to take out a loan to move Jennifer and the girls from TX to Neil’s duty station at fort Bragg, NC.  Plus, they couldn’t afford a kitchenette set and didn’t wanting to buy one on credit.  Jennifer had hoped to land a job after the moving to North Carolina to help with the household income.  But months went by with no prospects.

Jennifer says, “There was a lot of roadblocks, just one thing after another. Things weren’t working out. So, it became a big stress for us because that’s not what we had hoped would happen and how we thought things would work out.”

The couple prayed together often, but Neil admits sometimes it was hard to trust God.

Neil says, “It was to the point of frustration and not knowing.  Just asking the lord if we were going to make it.”

Just outside Fort Bragg, River House Church contacted helping the home front and asked for help. Their pastor Stacy Long stopped by to tell the couple CBN was ready to ease their financial stress.

Pastor Stacy says, “They actually want to reimburse you for the moving expenses to get Jennifer and the girls out here.  So, that is one of the blessings they want to give to you guys.  They want to ease that burden for you guys.”

Pastor Stacy also told them CBN was buying them kitchen furniture.  And there was one more surprise. The family hadn’t visited Jennifer’s parents in Texas in over two years because they couldn’t afford the trip. That was about to change.

“CBN wants to fly your family to go see your family in El Paso.

Jennifer and Neil replied, “That is so awesome.  That is way above and beyond.  Especially for the girls.”

Neil and Jenifer picked out their new dinette set. And then a few months later, they all flew to El Paso for a visit.

Neil says, “I feel a massive amount of just love and gratitude towards CBN for helping us out and being so generous. What an amazing thing to do.”

Jennifer says, “It’s a huge gift. We’re so thankful for that.”