Sally enjoyed a good childhood. She was raised in a Christian home and attended Christian schools. However, all that was to change when she turned 15.

Sally (not her real name) said, "My innocence was taken away by a rape that ended up being an unwanted pregnancy. Being an adopted child, with counseling I put my daughter up for adoption to Christian parents. The pain was too great for me to handle."

Reaction from Christians to the incident hurt Sally. She also began to question how the Lord could allow one of His children to be harmed in such a manner. As a result, she started to run from her family and other loved ones, and for years she kept running. However, as she ran from the Lord she ended up in the arms of the enemy.

She said, "I ran to ... drugs and this led to men who were abusive mentally, physically and sexually. It seemed like I could not get away from this type of lifestyle."

Sally said she decided to finally settle down and get married and raise a family, thinking her life would change - but it didn't. There was always some kind of abuse from her husband.

Sally said, "I left my husband and three children, returning to my old lifestyle into the dark world of alcohol, drugs and bikers."

Sally ended up marrying a biker and once again entered into an abusive relationship. She became his "property." The second marriage soon ended in a violent divorce, and Sally was even homeless for a bit.

Sally's next relationship turned out to be more broken promises, and ultimately another broken relationship. It ended in 2004. Sally was again addicted to drugs, and as she put it, tired of being "broken."

She wanted to find out who she was really destined to be. She knew the answer in her heart, but felt she had strayed from that place. However, she wanted to return to whom she felt she was supposed to be. In an attempt to fix the damage, Sally found herself at the women's division of a Gospel Mission. She was addicted to pain pills, crack and marijuana. A staff member suggested she sign up for the mission's rehab program called "Family Hope Discipleship."

Sally said she didn't hesitate. "I wanted change. I needed to let go and let God do His work in me. About one month later at a huge church I accepted Christ BACK into my life, two weeks later with about 80 other people. I was re-baptized as an adult in one of the nearby lakes. WOW. What an amazing feeling came over me when I came up from the water. A warm, inner feeling. I knew the Spirit was in me."

Sally did well at the program with one exception. She fell in love with a man from the men's discipleship program, and after eight months the two of them were asked to leave.

Sally said she and her boyfriend did very well for a while. However, that was about to change. She said, "Soon he started to drink, and things started to go down real fast from there."

In 2006, Sally's boyfriend was diagnosed with third stage small cell lung cancer..

She said, "My faith soared during this time despite his illness. I quit my job to take care of him full time. He had become paralyzed and his speech slurred. God answered our prayers during this time. Our best friend finally told him, 'You should marry Sally. She has gone through so much for you.'"

The two of them got married on Sept. 22 2007. Their church raised enough money for his ex-wife and daughter to fly in from Grants, New Mexico. After ten years he would see his only daughter. "A miracle," Sally said.

She continued, "168 hours later, my husband died in his sleep on Oct. 20 2007. I never lost faith during this whole time, even though I was mad at God for taking him from me."

Sally said in the last three weeks of his life God brought them back to the Gospel Mission to be around the friends and teachers they had in rehab. She stayed there for eight months.

Sally and her teenage daughter then went to live with her oldest daughter. She said she stayed single, and never dated for 16 months.

On Jan. 1 2009, Sally said she texted an old friend the words, "Happy New Year." A friendship between her and that old friend (Albert-not his real name) started to bloom.

She said, "He dumbfounded me when he told me "'Sally, I stepped back from a relationship with you because I did not want to hurt you in 2004 when I found out your husband liked you.'"

Sally said she started seeing Albert. Soon, Albert needed to find a place for his younger brother. Where Albert was living and taking care of his "best" friend and his wife, they wanted Albert's brother gone due to an illness he suffered from. Albert called Sally and she got Albert and his brother.

Soon, Sally said, she was homeless again. She continued, "In the meantime, my oldest had lost her job and I could not save the house. Due to stress, I ended up in the hospital while the courts put a 24 hour quit notice on the house. I lost everything."

That resulted in Sally and Albert staying with friends for a few weeks.

Meanwhile, Albert decided to turn himself in for an old DUI in a nearby county. Sally returned to the mission once again, leaving every morning to go to work while her teenage daughter was going to her friend's house and running the streets.

Soon, Albert was released. They ended up visiting a friend, a mother with three daughters. She had just been recently diagnosed with HIV and needed help. Albert cleaned her house, a job which took a good two months.

More trouble was on the way. Sally said, "Albert was attacked by the women's 17-year-old daughter. It could have caused serious damage had I not wrestled the knife away from her. All three daughters were removed ... "

Sally and Albert's troubles increased. They stayed in a run-down hotel in Kalamazoo for about a month. As a result of some friendships, they received death threats.

Sally said, "(They) kept coming, and I started having nightmares of Albert being shot in front of me and dying in my arms."

Despite the threats, Sally said, their faith kept them strong and they grew closer. Albert's uncle lived in Tijeras, and he told them to "come on out." They loaded up their car with all their belongings, and headed west. With what they called a leap of faith, they arrived in New Mexico on Oct. 25. Things went well for a while.

Sally said, "Albert's uncle has some problems of his own and has lived in the mountains too long. He wanted help from us, and then he didn't."

While there, Albert spent his mornings chopping wood and talking to God. Sally spent her mornings reading psalms and proverbs, and then they would both write to God.

She said, "I really felt closer to God being in the mountains."

However, Sally and Albert ended up at Joy Junction just before Thanksgiving last year.

She said, "Since being here, we have told people our story and shared with them what God has done with us. We have tried every day to serve God in all we have done here. Though we have our ups and downs, we do not lose our focus on God."

I wondered where Sally and Albert would have gone without Joy Junction. Sally said, "We would have had nowhere to go - home was not an option. To me this is a safe haven for myself and for people who are broken in any area of their lives - here they can find healing. That no matter why I'm here, God has been with me. He has never left me, and He never will."

Sally added, "I feel more comfortable and my walk is getting stronger everyday. My heart is turning into a servant's heart with no questions of '"Why'"?

Our Take

A staff member told me that Sally and Albert have always stepped up to help other members of the Joy Junction community in need with nonjudgmental, humble assistance.

I am so appreciative that we are able to help Sally and Albert on the road back to recovery. What a blessing it is for us to be involved with them and in the lives of all the guests whom the Lord brings to Joy Junction. Thank you for your continued prayerful and financial support of Joy Junction. We need it more than ever.