Update on Chrystal

See the post from March 11 for the beginning of this story.

Chrystal was a turnaround from last December, one of the most amazing stories we have ever seen. She's about 8 months pregnant now, and unfortunately drama is still happening, she just isn't able to settle down and have her pregnancy in peace. Her husband, not surprisingly, is still a jerk to her and is verbally abusive. One of the last things a mom wants during a pregnancy is stress because it can result in miscarriage, so Chrystal reached out to Clare again. They have been in constant contact throughout the pregnancy, and Clare has been able to get her into various homes. This past week, Chrystal was having a difficult time with one of the homes she was at, she was unable to work out details to stay, so she asked Clare if she could come stay with her at the intern Lifehouse in the Bronx again. Clare asked Chris's permission if she could stay again, (founder and president of EMC) and he thought it was fine.

Chrystal stayed with Clare all this week. She needed help moving her stuff from the Missionaries of charity to the Lifehouse so that she could move it to a program she will be beginning next week in Connecticut, so I drove her and Clare down to the the Missionaries of Charity in Brooklyn, loaded up her stuff, and brought it all back.
On the ride back she opened up to me about her past relationship with her husband, and it almost brought me to tears. Anything that could go wrong with a marriage has happened to her, and from her word she has been faithful and is just trying to be able to raise her daughters. If anything has given her hope, it's this pregnancy.
She thinks they'll be able to get work and be able to raise the kids peacefully.

Another way I see great hope in Chrystal is her desire to give back to others. She said that a homeless man asked her for money on the bus the other day, and she said that she didn't have money but could get him food stamps. She walked with him to the place where she picks them up and gave him some. He was blown away by her kindness, being 8 months pregnant and all, and asked how he could repay her. She just asked him to do something nice for someone else.

We'll keep you updated on further developments. Pray for Chrystal to work out the court dispute for custody of her 2 daughters, for her and her husband to get work, for her to give a healthy birth, and for them to have a healthy marriage!