Hollie’s Story

Christian Post: Finding My Way Out of PTSD and Abuse with a Newborn Baby

Unplanned trials and challenges test a person — they can either chip away at her until she caves to the pressure, or they can forge strength inside of her that she never knew she had.

I was on the path to caving until my life-changing discovery of the Hope Center, a pregnancy resource center in Greeneville, Tennessee, that I can truthfully credit with saving me and my son.

I had survived the Aurora Colorado theater shooting in 2012, but the trauma of that incident clung to me every day. Meanwhile, my husband had returned from the Army struggling with PTSD. While I was ecstatic to learn I was pregnant, he did not share in my excitement. My hope was that once my husband saw the beauty of the face we had created, he would want to stay and fight for our marriage, despite both of us already fighting our own battles.

Our beautiful son, Owen, was born on New Year’s Day, and I thought this signified the start of a successful and happy 2021. But the day after he was born, my husband received a letter in the mail from the VA explaining that his disability benefits would be decreasing, leaving us unable to afford our house.