He came into the kitchen and said, "We need to talk."

He went on to say that he had been

having an affair with a woman who had previously

been a nanny.

He said, "If you try to leave or if you try to take the kids,

I'll kill you."

I remember standing in the kitchen

and feeling like I was looking at pure evil.

NARRATOR: Susan [INAUDIBLE] no longer recognized

the man she met in college, who she thought

was her Prince Charming.

I met my first husband, I'll call Joe.

And he was quick with compliments.

When I met him, I was just sort of swept away by his charisma.

NARRATOR: But shortly after the two married,

he became jealous and started watching her every move.

He really kept close reins on where I was, who I was with.

If the phone rang he wanted to answer it

so that he knew who was on the other end.

NARRATOR: Susan and Joe had two children.

Joe eventually began drinking heavily

and became verbally abusive.

He would regularly tell me that I was useless

or that I was an awful mother to regularly break me down

or to make me doubt myself or to feel as though no one

else would care about me.

NARRATOR: Susan and Joe fought constantly.

We had one argument one day where he punched his fist right

through the wall past my head.

As long as there was substance abuse in our house,

as long as there were temperamental outbursts,

I knew that my children and I weren't safe.

NARRATOR: Joe revealed his affair with the nanny

and threatened Susan's life.

That was the point at which I knew

I could not put the marriage back together myself.

Divorce was something that I didn't

go into marriage wanting.

NARRATOR: She later met with a lawyer

who specialized in abuse cases.

He said, "90% of the cases is hot air,

you're really not in any danger."

And he just said, "I'm so sorry.

You're in the 10%."

NARRATOR: Susan often used her drive

to work to ponder her situation.

One day one of her favorite stations changed formats.

It had been purchased by Christian Broadcasting.

And I remember thinking, who are these people?

They took my radio station.

How could they do that?

I began listening out of curiosity.

NARRATOR: Susan had been raised going to church,

and the music and teaching on the station

took her back to your childhood.

The stories that the people shared were nothing like mine.

They had been through illnesses, or maybe

they too had been through infidelity, all kinds of trauma

in their families.

But what I was taken back by is there

was a common thread through all of them, and it was hope.

And I decided I really wanted that hope.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile, the strife at home continued.

And I remember standing there saying, God, if you're real,

you need to show up.

And it wasn't long after praying that that I was on the way home

from a doctor's appointment with my son

and we were in a head-on car accident.

Remarkably, I was uninjured.

My son had not a single scratch.

And he says, Mommy, I saw an angel,

and then it was inside of the window of the van,

and it told me everything was going to be OK.

And that propelled me to go to church the next Sunday.

NARRATOR: Susan went by herself that week

and was moved by the message and music.

They begin singing "Amazing Grace."

And as they sang the words, I wept.

And it changed me.

And it was at that point that I understood my faith in a way

that I had never understood before.

And I understood that it was a relationship,

that I could talk to God, I could cry out to God,

and he heard me, and he answered.

It's the peace that passes all understanding.

NARRATOR: With her new-found faith to help guide her,

Susan prayed for wisdom about her next step.

It took me six months of planning,

six months of tucking money away, tucking some clothes

away, an emergency bag in case we needed to run quickly.

NARRATOR: She also met with a team of volunteers who

helped domestic abuse victims.

One morning when Joe went out of town,

they arrived and loaded her and her children in a moving van.

And she drove to a location 14 hours away.

The morning we fled, I kept thinking

we're going to get caught, this isn't going to work,

I'm not going to be safe.

And as much as fear tried to fill me,

I kept trying to just take in one step after the next.

NARRATOR: That morning a neighbor saw

her packing the van to leave.

The entire time she watched, she

was calling Joe on her phone.

And she wanted to tell him that we were leaving because she

assumed that he was the victim.

Interestingly enough, her phone calls didn't go through.

And I have no doubt that was one of the many ways

God provided for us.

NARRATOR: As she watched her children that morning,

Susan says God spoke to her.

And as I'm watching their anticipation and their hunger

for what lies ahead, I felt like God say

to me, what are you looking at.

Are you looking at your brokenness?

Are you looking at the infidelity?

Are you looking at all the things that could have been,

but won't be?

Are you looking at the possibility

that your future isn't safe or isn't possible?

Because I'm the God of the impossible.

And in that moment I realized that it's

so easy to look in the rear view of life

at all the things we've been through,

rather than look ahead to the possibilities

when we trust God.

NARRATOR: Susan waited several months,

but eventually returned for custody hearings.

Her husband was allowed supervised visits,

and Susan later found it in her heart to forgive him.

I realized that if I didn't forgive him,

that I was saying that what Jesus did on the cross

wasn't enough for Joe's sins.

And the remarkable thing is that as I forgave,

it was me who received the benefit.

NARRATOR: Susan later remarried, and today she

speaks to women on faith and domestic abuse.

My purpose really is to share my story and encourage others.

The number of times that I've reflected back

over the answered prayers that I've had

have really helped me to learn to trust God.

I realize that I can't limit Him by what I think is possible.

And I've learned to not be afraid to pray

the really big prayers, the prayers

that I have no idea how they could happen.

God gave me a lifetime supply of hope.