I never thought I would be the person writing something like this. For a long time, I refused to. When my friend first suggested starting a GoFundMe, I shut it down immediately. I was embarrassed. I was terrified that people I know would find out. And a part of me was still having a hard time accepting the reality I was actually in. It is one thing to know things are hard. It is another thing entirely to say it out loud to the world. But he refused to let me stay in that place.

He kept pushing, kept showing up, kept believing in me even when I could not see past my own pride, until finally he asked me something I could not answer: "How do you know this is not God's way of providing for you?" And honestly, that stopped me in my tracks. Who am I to put God in a box? So here I am, humbling myself, stepping out in faith, and trusting that He will use this moment the way He has used every hard moment in my life, to bring me through.

My name is Askual. I am a single mother of two boys, ages 4 and 6, and a licensed realtor with 10 years of experience helping families navigate some of the hardest transitions of their lives. I never imagined I would one day be fighting for my own. Earlier this year, I was laid off, and despite doing everything right, I have been met with one of the most brutal job markets in recent memory. The competition is fierce, the openings are few, and even the most qualified candidates are waiting months to land something. I have applied for every program, sat in every waiting room, sold what I could, stretched every dollar past its limit, and even donated plasma just to put food on the table for my boys. I have exhausted everything.

Recently, I gently asked my 6-year-old how he would feel about us moving somewhere else. He looked at me and said, "No mommy, I love our life here together." I had to hold myself together in that moment. He has no idea what is at stake. He just knows he loves his home, his life, and his mama. And I am not ready to be the one who takes that from him.

What keeps me up at night is knowing that if I lose our home and my car at the same time, the road back becomes devastatingly long. An eviction follows you. A repossession follows you. They close doors before you even get a chance to knock on them. I am not just fighting for this month. I am fighting for the next several years of my boys' lives and the kind of future they deserve to grow up into.

But through all of it, God has been sustaining me. I can see His hand in every moment I should not have made it through but did. His resume is impeccable, and I stand on that even now, backed against the wall. I know this season is part of my testimony. There is a lesson in every season, and I am still learning mine. The biggest one so far is that there is no shame in asking for help. That is what community is for. And I am finally humble enough to receive it.

I am close to finishing courses that will open the door to a stable career. I just need a little more time. A few more months. If you feel led to give, know that you are not just helping me pay a bill. You are helping a mother keep a promise to her children. You are helping two little boys keep the only home and the only life they have ever known.

To everyone who reads this, shares this, or gives even a little, thank you from the deepest part of me. May God bless you abundantly for your kindness, and my prayer is that you never find yourself in this place. But if you ever do, I pray someone shows up for you the way you are showing up for me and my boys today.

With love and gratitude,

Askual