- M
My name is Jessica Hankinson and I've been incredibly blessed by the Lord with a faithful, sweet, hard-working husband, and 6 incredible children (so far ).
My story could read like "My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding": I was 30 and alone, and thought I was on my way to becoming an old maid who would never get married. Then God miraculously sent Dennis into my life out of the blue, my knight in shining armor, to rescue me from my isolation. We have always wanted a big family, and so far God has blessed us with 6 children in 13 years of marriage, and going strong.
We've met our share of difficulties along the way. I've suffered the loss of 3 pregnancies; I was diagnosed with Lupus (an autoimmune disease that zaps your strength and destroys every joint in your body, causing unimaginable pain and fatigue, physical weakness) 5 years ago; Recently, two of my six children were diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorders requiring medical intervention and ongoing therapy. We have homeschooled all 6 kids through our highs and lows. This has been so wonderful for the closeness of our family and for being able to raise our children in a safe, God-fearing environment. At the same time, it is the most difficult endeavor we have ever embarked on, since it presents particular challenges with my Lupus and my two special needs kiddos.
Through it all, we have trusted in God, our Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit to sustain us, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. In every aspect of life, in fact, God the Trinity has been the NINTH person in our family. They have never left us, nor forsaken us, and our help cometh from the LORD.
In the last couple months, our entire world changed. My sweet husband is not allowed to work by order of the government, because his 2 businesses (piano tuning and language lessons) are considered "non-essential." We want to honor the authorities that God set up over us (to honor God, not man), so we sit and wait, with no income. It is difficult to watch how the very authorities who have taken away our ability to provide for ourselves, are (respectfully) not organized enough to help the very ones they are crippling. We have hit dead ends to every Avenue of promised help: Stimulus Check, tax refund, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Paycheck Protection Program Loan, Economic Impact Disaster Loan, Economic Impact Disaster Advance. You name it, we have thought of it, tried for it, and seen nothing; not one penny. Our tiny family business seems to have gotten lost and forgotten in the "National Emergency shuffle."
Nevertheless, our help still remains in the Lord. We have seen miracles in the last month: God has provided needed supplies and healings from illness in truly miraculous ways, with God as the only explanation. He has been testing our faith, and increasing our reliance on Him as the tests are getting gradually harder. This last one requires the most faith yet: our bills have come due: mortgage, credit card, utilities, as well as expenses for replacing a broken water heater, and now in God's perfect timing, He allowed me to be in a fender-bender yesterday that will cost over $1200 in payment to the other person to repair their damages, not including repairs to our own vehicle.
Our total expenses for these 2 months of quarantine (April and May) are $8,390 so far, with a ballpark income of about $1200, thanks to some online piano and language lessons Dennis was able to set up.
We continue to trust in the Lord, and we know God can use anyone from anywhere for His purposes. It may be that God will use this platform and many of the viewers of my family's story, to provide another miracle for us. If He does, we will of course praise His name to the hilltops! When we hit our lowest point, that's when God has the opportunity to lift us the highest. And if He doesn't provide for us through this platform, I am still sure that God will provide for all our needs from Somewhere. Maybe He'll surprise us! God's help can come from anywhere, from anyone, from any direction. We are not giving up hope by any means.
If the Lord touches your heart to help our "Hankinson Family of 8 in Need", I will be forever and tearfully grateful, to each of you and to the Lord. I am humbled and awed by the generosity and love I've seen already displayed among God's people to take care of His own. And if you don't feel from the Lord to donate at this time, please be in peace about it. In that case I'm confident the Lord will provide in a different way. (We've never tried a GoFundMe campaign before, but our need has never been this great before either.)
May the Lord bless and provide for every one that needs help in this time, and recompense those that are putting others' needs before their own in this time of global crisis. May God give you all peace, in Jesus' name.
My story could read like "My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding": I was 30 and alone, and thought I was on my way to becoming an old maid who would never get married. Then God miraculously sent Dennis into my life out of the blue, my knight in shining armor, to rescue me from my isolation. We have always wanted a big family, and so far God has blessed us with 6 children in 13 years of marriage, and going strong.
We've met our share of difficulties along the way. I've suffered the loss of 3 pregnancies; I was diagnosed with Lupus (an autoimmune disease that zaps your strength and destroys every joint in your body, causing unimaginable pain and fatigue, physical weakness) 5 years ago; Recently, two of my six children were diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorders requiring medical intervention and ongoing therapy. We have homeschooled all 6 kids through our highs and lows. This has been so wonderful for the closeness of our family and for being able to raise our children in a safe, God-fearing environment. At the same time, it is the most difficult endeavor we have ever embarked on, since it presents particular challenges with my Lupus and my two special needs kiddos.
Through it all, we have trusted in God, our Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit to sustain us, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. In every aspect of life, in fact, God the Trinity has been the NINTH person in our family. They have never left us, nor forsaken us, and our help cometh from the LORD.
In the last couple months, our entire world changed. My sweet husband is not allowed to work by order of the government, because his 2 businesses (piano tuning and language lessons) are considered "non-essential." We want to honor the authorities that God set up over us (to honor God, not man), so we sit and wait, with no income. It is difficult to watch how the very authorities who have taken away our ability to provide for ourselves, are (respectfully) not organized enough to help the very ones they are crippling. We have hit dead ends to every Avenue of promised help: Stimulus Check, tax refund, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Paycheck Protection Program Loan, Economic Impact Disaster Loan, Economic Impact Disaster Advance. You name it, we have thought of it, tried for it, and seen nothing; not one penny. Our tiny family business seems to have gotten lost and forgotten in the "National Emergency shuffle."
Nevertheless, our help still remains in the Lord. We have seen miracles in the last month: God has provided needed supplies and healings from illness in truly miraculous ways, with God as the only explanation. He has been testing our faith, and increasing our reliance on Him as the tests are getting gradually harder. This last one requires the most faith yet: our bills have come due: mortgage, credit card, utilities, as well as expenses for replacing a broken water heater, and now in God's perfect timing, He allowed me to be in a fender-bender yesterday that will cost over $1200 in payment to the other person to repair their damages, not including repairs to our own vehicle.
Our total expenses for these 2 months of quarantine (April and May) are $8,390 so far, with a ballpark income of about $1200, thanks to some online piano and language lessons Dennis was able to set up.
We continue to trust in the Lord, and we know God can use anyone from anywhere for His purposes. It may be that God will use this platform and many of the viewers of my family's story, to provide another miracle for us. If He does, we will of course praise His name to the hilltops! When we hit our lowest point, that's when God has the opportunity to lift us the highest. And if He doesn't provide for us through this platform, I am still sure that God will provide for all our needs from Somewhere. Maybe He'll surprise us! God's help can come from anywhere, from anyone, from any direction. We are not giving up hope by any means.
If the Lord touches your heart to help our "Hankinson Family of 8 in Need", I will be forever and tearfully grateful, to each of you and to the Lord. I am humbled and awed by the generosity and love I've seen already displayed among God's people to take care of His own. And if you don't feel from the Lord to donate at this time, please be in peace about it. In that case I'm confident the Lord will provide in a different way. (We've never tried a GoFundMe campaign before, but our need has never been this great before either.)
May the Lord bless and provide for every one that needs help in this time, and recompense those that are putting others' needs before their own in this time of global crisis. May God give you all peace, in Jesus' name.