I was raised Catholic and was not a Bible reader or had a personal prayer life. Eventually I stopped going to church because I didn’t feel like it was doing anything for me. Over the years I went through a lot of depression. I was even in a hospital for a month. I wanted to die and even prayed that God would take me. A Christian friend I worked with invited me to a Good Friday service at her church. So I went. I’m so glad I did. After that, I started going to her church every Sunday. As I look back, I can see God’s hand on my life. I still have depression but it has gotten so much better. Thank you, Jesus, for that!
When I first met Carey and Andrea Northington with One Master Ministries in May 2023 I was a total mess. I was meeting with a Christian counselor at my church. I had a lot of financial issues and he asked if I would like to meet with them to get some help. At first I said I’d think about it but continued to have no money and no control over my finances so I told him I would meet with them.
At our first meeting I was very nervous. I didn’t know if they would judge me for the mess I was in or if there was any way they could help me. I was a habitual spender with several maxed out credit cards. I loved buying things for others and especially for my great granddaughter who was born in 2018. I was pretty much at the bottom with no room to go any lower. Carey and Andrea were a godsend. I feel God put my Christian counselor in my path which led me to them. They were so nice and understanding. They didn’t judge or critique me and helped me create a budget with the money I had. One of the things they suggested was to try and spend as little as possible while we got the budget set up. I remember not even buying a rotisserie chicken!
A few weeks after we began meeting weekly, I was trying to find ways that I could cut expenses. I called what I thought was Amazon to cancel my Prime subscription. The guy said they needed to verify my account and would call me back from a different number. I spent the next several hours following their directions. I knew something was not right, but unfortunately realized when it was too late, that they were scammers and not from Amazon. I ended up giving them $1,500 – just about all the money I had in the world. I was devastated and I really didn’t know what I would do.
I was so embarrassed to go to Carey and Andrea to tell them what happened. I thought they would think I’m was an idiot which I already said about myself. But that’s not what happened. They were so kind and prayed with me. They helped me get through it. After a few weeks they had things back under control. I even had enough money to buy that rotisserie chicken! They also have helped me refinance a car loan and consolidate some debts into one loan that is more manageable. One of the best parts about this challenging experience is one day I received a card from my sister for really no reason. In it was a check for $2,000. I cried. I hadn’t told her about losing $1,500. It was $500 more than I lost. I called her to thank her and then told her how much it meant to me.
Through the budget coaching with Carey and Andrea, along with the generosity of my sister, I now have an emergency fund. It is so nice to get an oil change and not have to worry where the money will come from. I also give to my church. They have done a lot for me. Through God using my church, Christian therapist, and the Northingtons, I do not know where I would be today.
I have been through a lot of trials in the last year but through them all I have grown so much in the Lord. Last year I read through the whole Bible for the first time. I am now reading my Bible through again. I started looking up what the verses mean and I am writing them in a journal. My phone gives me a report of where on the phone I have spent my time. It was usually a lot in games and coloring. This weekend, I looked at the report and I spent almost 35 hours for the week in my Bible and writing out the meanings.
I think Carey and Andrea are two of the most caring, gentle, non-judging people I have had the pleasure to meet. They are the real deal and they love the Lord. That is what I needed at the time and I am in a much better place financially than I have ever been.
