Laura's Story: Praise Report from Hope Gospel Mission

   “I was living in some horrible fantasy world that I did not know how to break free from.”
   That’s how Laura describes her life before arriving at Hope Gospel Mission’s Ruth House.
   It was July of 1999 in St. Louis, Missouri. Laura, her father, and her younger brother found out that Laura’s mother had stage four cancer. Eight weeks later, her mother passed away. Laura was 21 and her brother 15.
   Her family was devastated. Laura began using pills to cope with her loss. Although her father was taking care of her financially, she would use every opportunity to steal from him.
   Taking these drugs became a daily habit for Laura. She couldn’t stay employed, had hardly any friends, and would stay up at night and sleep all day long.
   Then, through a friend of a friend, she met Bob. Bob enjoyed listening to her. He cared about what she was going through. He even loved Laura’s father and talked with Laura’s family about Laura’s mother, even though he had never met her. They began dating.
   In 2002, Laura and Bob moved in together. It was a time of ups and downs, but things eventually started to look up again. Laura stopped stealing from her father and even quit using pills. Laura and Bob even got married in October 2003.
   But in July 2004, Laura’s father had a massive heart attack a ...