The state had already removed two older children from her home. Now her newborn twins, a boy and a girl, were likely to be taken.

“Most of my life – just about all of my life – I’d been a drug addict and an alcoholic,” says Lisa, who worked in clubs with less-than-wholesome reputations.

After the birth of the twins, state welfare workers notified her they would inspect her home and a court hearing would be held. She would be able to keep the babies if the home environment was stable and safe.

 Sitting on a bench outside Florida Hospital Waterman, Lisa sobbed. “I had no electricity. I had no food in my home. I was petrified,” she recalls. “How was I going to do this? I was outside, just crying and crying.”

Through blurry eyes, she saw a courtesy vehicle stop on its rounds from the parking lot to the medical center. The driver introduced himself as Jack and patted the seat beside him. “Come here,” he invited.

“He put his arms around me and said, ‘Everything’s going to be OK,” recalls Lisa. Jack listened while the details of Lisa’s plight flowed with her tears. Then he made a phone call, and a short time later Chaplain Rose introduced herself to Lisa.

“When I first walked into Lisa’s room, I saw a woman who was in complete chaos, devastation, anguish,” says Faye. “But I also saw a determination in her eyes that she could not lose these children. They were the most important thing to her in life. They were more important than her own life.”

After hearing Lisa’s story, Faye could think of only one suggestion. “I said to her, ‘Let’s pray. You’ve got so much going on your life I can’t untangle it, but God can untangle it.’ So we prayed. And after I left her room I thought about the Family Crisis Fund we have here at Florida Hospital Waterman. In two hours, I was back up in her room and I had a check written out to Florida Power.”

On the day the state agency was to visit the home, Cindy, a Christian friend who had only recently met Lisa, escorted the new mother to get her electricity restored and to get her house straightened up. She scrubbed and organized, and even brought some of her own items to give the house a homier appearance.

After helping Lisa put her house in order, Cindy believed the Holy Spirit was urging Lisa to put her entire life back together. She invited Lisa to make Jesus her Lord and Savior.

Lisa remembers the peace she felt in making her decision. “The day I turned my life over to God,” she says, “I called the chaplain at the hospital and said I wanted them to dedicate my kids because I wanted my kids to feel what I have. I wanted to give my children to God and to show God that I love Him.”

Determined to raise her children in a Christian home, Lisa sought and found a job in an environment removed from drugs and alcohol.

“I’ve worked with many people with addictions,” says Chaplain Rose, “I’ve never seen the transformation that I’ve seen in Lisa. She’s a miracle.”