“I got my Christmas back!”
4 Nov, 2025Imagine what whole-life transformation you could help bring to people like Wendy this Christmas.
Bubbly, bright and simply glowing with the renewing love of Jesus, Wendy is a woman who has found her joy for Christmas again. But eight years ago, this holiday season looked very different for her.
After coming out of a domestic violence situation with her two children, Wendy found herself facing a difficult and isolating Christmas.
“You leave, and you’re out in this world and you feel like you’re just on your own,” says Wendy.
“And you don’t want to reach out because there’s shame and guilt and you don’t want to be seen looking like you’ve got nothing. So, for me, the most difficult thing was feeling so alone.”
The fear of poverty was so prevalent to her at this time. She was a stay-at-home mum who homeschooled her children and now had to provide for her family on one income.
“The main thing is the fear that, if you walk out that door, there goes the money. There’s nothing. And that’s why a lot of women stay, I think.”
This made the first Christmas after leaving incredibly difficult for Wendy. She was away from her extended family and was deeply hurting.
“I remember that first Christmas after leaving – it was horrendous,” she recalls. “I did the best I could to make it a happy time, but inside I was feeling like I didn’t care whether I lived or died.”
Soon, Wendy moved closer to her extended family and began receiving the support she needed to transform her life.
Seeking help for depression, Wendy went to a GP who gave her a list of phone numbers, and CAP was one of them. She shares that calling CAP was pivotal. She was connected with a local church and Margie, a church staff member who had been trained by CAP. Wendy was invited into the church community, received help to work through her financial situation and was reminded of the love of Jesus.
“That connection to the church was pivotal. I went and there were so many women that just loved all over me. They just brought me in. I remember going out for a meal with them and they paid for my meal and it was just all good, positive conversation. It was lovely.”
The church’s practical support also meant that Wendy could become more empowered with her finances.
“To get everything down onto the piece of paper was a very practical thing,” she says. “Margie brought the love of Christ into it. But she wasn’t over the top with it. I knew about Jesus, but I was a long way away from the Lord at that stage. She just gently, lovingly, kindly showed me some practical steps to help me with my financial situation: ‘Write down what you’re doing, where your money is going’. It was very practical.”
It’s incredibly inspiring to see the transformation in Wendy’s life today. God has completely changed her situation. Where she once struggled with alcohol to deal with her pain, she is now sober and has started up AA groups of her own! And after coming out of a domestic violence situation herself, she is walking alongside other women who have escaped domestic violence and working to launch JHouse Refuge – short-term accommodation for women facing situations like she did. It’s a powerful testament to the healing and restoration that God can bring to people’s lives.
“If you’d have told me eight and a half years ago that I’d be sober, starting up AA groups, and now opening a women’s refuge, I would have told you that you were mad! But here I am. And it’s in God’s glory. With this refuge, He is opening all these doors. Well not just opening them, He is flinging them wide open!”
Wendy can see how God is using her pain and experience to help others. And she knows she doesn’t have to do it alone – God is with her, and she has the support of a local church.
“I’m just on God’s rollercoaster. But good thing I like rollercoasters! And I now fully understand. In addiction and domestic violence in the past, I was like ‘Why me?’ And now, it’s like ‘Bring it on!’ I’m just living my best days. I don’t know how long I’ve got – I don’t care. I’m just loving life. God is good! He’s so good.”
Today, Wendy’s own financial situation is different to what it was eight years ago. She feels released from the fear of not having enough money.
“I wake up every day and my first thought isn’t ‘Oh, what bill do I have to pay now? The rent is due.’ I wake up now going, ‘Right, who can I support?’”
While Wendy’s life has completely transformed, she continues to see a huge need to walk alongside women coming out of situations like she was in. And the need really is huge – in the 2021–22 Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey, 1 in 4 women had experienced violence by an intimate partner or family member since the age of 15 (ABS, 2023).
“One of the biggest things for a woman coming out of domestic violence is money. It’s a huge, huge weight. So if you can connect with somebody who will walk with you and help you work out your finances, it’s pivotal. A lot of women go back because of the money.”
Years later from that first Christmas after leaving, the festive season looks very different for Wendy.
“Last year was one of the best Christmases ever!” she says. “I thought to myself ‘I’m going to have my family over. I’m going to do Christmas.’ My sister’s always done it because she’s the cook. I’ve always been away in some other place and hardly ever home for Christmas. But I thought, ‘I’m going to have a seafood Christmas!’ and I was able to provide this lovely Christmas and my sister said, ‘This is our new Christmas tradition!’ I was pumped.
“I got my Christmas back!”
Imagine what your generosity could do for more people like Wendy this Christmas. Give today to help bring whole-life transformation to people experiencing financial distress across Australia.
If you’ve been impacted by any themes in this letter and would like to talk to someone, please contact:
Lifeline on 13 11 14
National Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Counselling Service on 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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