Evicted?! Now What?
Jessie was so stressed out, she couldn’t sleep. But it wasn’t her job as a police officer that kept her up – it was her worries about money.
“At that time, I had loans at three different companies. A car payment was behind, and now on the rent, so it was a lot. So it was just...it was bad.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t make enough to live on; because she did. She just had never been taught good money management.
“I came from working in retail, I used to work at Sak’s 5th Avenue where I was like making like $9.50, and a little waitressing job, stuff like that. So when I got that first check, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I gotta go buy a new car.’ So I went and bought a brand-new car. So now I have high new car payment. Letting people borrow money, eating out all the time, shopping frivolously. If I would run out of money, I would just go and get a loan. Payday loan or something like that.”
Jessie is also a single mother, trying to raise her son by herself. But no matter how many hours she worked, her financial situation never improved.
“Like no matter how much came in, nothing was sticking. It was like I had holes in my pockets. And then I came home one day and there was an eviction notice on my door. Seeing that on an officer's door, I just, first thing that came to mind was like embarrassment, disappointment in myself. It was kind of like that slap in the face moment, like wake up, do something different.”
To keep from being evicted, Jessie asked if she could move in with her aunt, who was a strong Christian.
“And there she would go, just, ‘You don't pay your tithes. You need to pay your tithes in church. That's why you're not seeing nothing.’ And I'm like, ‘Man, I don't want to hear that. How can I give away money when I can't - I'm telling you I can't save money?’ I'm like, what are they going to do with it? I'm not giving it to that church. Like, you know, they're just going to spend my money. Here I am barely above water, now you want me to give away 10%? I don't think so.”
Reluctantly, Jessie went to church and tithed. Soon after, she saw results.
“An email pops up. And I read the email and it's this apartment complex looking for a courtesy officer. And basically what a courtesy officer is, they have you stay on the property for either discounted rent or free rent and you do X, Y and Z, whatever, whatever they asked you to do. So I called, spoke to her, I was like, ‘Okay, how much is the rent?’ And she was like, ‘It's free.’ And she was like, ‘You can move in this week.’ So I was literally at my aunt's house for like two weeks, paying tithes, doing everything normal, whatever. And this great opportunity of a free apartment comes up, comes available. And that's when I started to say, ‘You know what? Maybe she's - maybe she's onto something.’”
Because of that blessing, Jessie began attending church and giving on a regular basis.
“I went and bought a Bible. And it was like the words were just jumping out at me, you know. I was reading about tithing in Malachi and stuff like that, and giving your offerings and stuff. And I was like, ‘This stuff really works.’”
Eventually, Jessie got a raise at work. And one day she decided to fully commit her life to God.
“I called my aunt and I was like, ‘I want to get saved. I want to do it all over again. Do I have to wait until Sunday to go to church?’ She was like, ‘No, we can do it right now.’ And I literally felt like a new person. I felt like – I felt like this big weight had been lifted off of me. I felt like a new person. I felt like I could fly or whatever.”
Jessie’s life changed so dramatically that she even began to give more than a tithe. She also became a CBN partner.
“One of the reasons why I did give is because I just love what the network stands for. I love the stories that they provide every day, And I love Pat's Q&A questions and stuff. They're not just talking, they're actually doing - walking the walk. You know, they're going out providing people with clean water and they're going out when people get hit by natural disasters. And I love that they're actually feet on the ground doing that thing. You know, they're not just behind the screen taking your money. They're putting that money to use. And you can see that.”
Jessie’s finances are back on track and she now lives in peace now, knowing that God is her source.
“I paid off all my debt. Only debt I have now are my student loans and my car payment and that's it. I'm telling you, tithing, it's like the secret ingredient. It's this – it's the secret key that I just wish more people knew and took seriously.”