Last month Lawrence and his wife, Julie, spent three nights sleeping on the couch in the living room of their Virginia Beach home. The cold front was moving through but they were unable to walk up the 14 steps to their bed on the second story of their home.

Julie, 70 years old, is fighting Parkinson’s disease and healing from 11 fractured bones while Lawrence, 72, is recovering from a fractured heel.

“If you think about your traditional wedding vows, it says ‘in sickness or health.’ I use it as a rule to live,” Lawrence said. The couple has been married for 40 years.

Morning and night, Lawrence walks in front of Julie as she walks down the stairs and behind her as she climbs, to be sure if she falls he will be able to catch her. Julie’s 11 fractured bones were due to a fall she had on the front steps of their home when her trembling hand lost grip.

Lawrence is a Vietnam veteran. He joined the Army at the young age of 18. In his 6 years of service was wounded twice and is a Purple Heart recipient.

“Looking back at that time and my age – I couldn’t vote, I couldn’t buy beer, but I could fight in a war,” Lawrence said. “I went into the military when I couldn’t even vote for what I was fighting for.”

Lawrence and Julie reached out to Manna Ministry for food assistance in July and again over the holidays.

“Everything is getting so expensive – I didn’t expect to be in the position I’m in right now,” he said.

Recently our Manna team was able to reconnect with this couple and hear about the difficult season they are in. Our hearts and prayers have been with Lawrence and Julie and felt they were in desperate need of a stair lift for their home.

Thanks to our incredibly generous donors, we were able to raise $5,500, the cost of purchasing and installing a new stair lift! Praise God!