The Hole Story: A Journey to Wholeness

By Jessica Jesse

HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE THERE IS SOMETHING MISSING?

There are so many of us that have that feeling of emptiness, nothingness, a void, a gaping hole in our lives. It is like we know something is missing within us, but we can never quite put our finger on it. We feel the overwhelming need to fill this unexplainable hole, but we are never su

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jun 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798893332087

Jessica Jesse

Jessica Jesse lives in North Carolina with her husband, Carl, and her two youngest kids along with their two dogs, four cats, and three lizards. She and Carl were married in 2009, blending their two families to make one with eight children: Ashley, Justin (Brittany), Heather, James (Raven), Angelina, Makinzie, Zachary, and Carlee. They also have their bonus children Jordyn (Jay) and Ben who came into their lives via friendships with kids and stayed to become family. Jessica and Carl now attend Freedom Church Raleigh. Jessica is committed to sharing her story to help others find God, no matter the circumstances.

Book preview

Acknowledgements

As I come to the end of the process of bringing this testimony to life, I need to thank so many people. Without them there would be no book. First off, I want to thank my God for His favor, His love, and His grace in my life. Without Him in my heart, this would have never been a story. Father in heaven, thank You for Your blessings on me and this book. May Your light shine through the pages and bring Your glory to all who read it. Thank You for the gift You gave me to be able to bring this story to life within these pages.

Secondly, I want to thank my husband Carl. He has been my biggest fan and supporter. Thank you, baby, for listening to me rant and rave; bounce ideas off of you, cry on your shoulder, and thank you that you gave me courage to write from my heart and not hold back. Thank you for reminding me of His Word when I got down. You are a blessing from God, and without you and Him, I don’t know where I would be. Thank you teaching me to laugh at myself and to see myself through God’s eyes. Thank you for having my back and standing beside me in EVERY part of our lives. I love you more than words.

Thanks to my parents who gave me life and loved me even when I was completely difficult to love. Thank you for supporting my dreams even when they made absolutely no sense to anyone. Thank you for being great parents and amazing grandparents to all of my kids! Thank you for not killing me in those teenage years. Thank you for giving me the freedom to find myself even when it was frightening to you. Thank you for the tears you shed for me and the laughs we shared. Thank you for being there when all others walked away. Thank you for teaching me the value of hard work. Thank you for teaching me that I can persevere through all of it. Thank you for everything. I am finally on a road I hope is making you proud. I am proud to call you my parents. I love you both more than I can express.

Thank you to Pastor Micah Caronna for your time working with me on this book. Thank you for the belief you had in this project when it was nothing but a big jumble of words on sixty- four pages. You saw potential in that big mess, and helped me develop it into something that can reach so many people. Thank you for having a heart to serve. Thank you for encouraging words and smiles. Thank you for your prayers and your support. You are a blessing not only to me but to everyone that crosses your path. Thank you for your love for me and my family.

To Pastor Connie Carronna. Where do I start? Thank you for everything! Your belief in me when I had none for myself. Your instruction and advice, your love and support, your words of encouragement. The support you gave me when I felt like curling up and hiding. The time you have taken out of your busy day to sit and talk to me because I had too many questions in my head to think straight. The time you have taken to walk with me and my family as we have grown in Christ. You are truly a blessing to me. I love you. I can’t say enough thank you’s for all you have done and your true honesty with me (even when it hurt lol). Thank you.

To Pastor Steve Caronna. Thank you for teaching me, leading me, and guiding me as I learned to walk with and grow in God. Thank you for your honesty and your support. Thank you for leading the most amazing church of believers that I have ever seen. Thank you for the time you put into every word you teach. Thank you for following the Holy Spirit and guiding not just me but every member of your church with His light and glory. Thank you. And thank you to all my friends and supporters out there that have believed in me, prayed for me, loved me, supported me, and walked beside me as I walked parts of this story to fruition. There are so many of you. I am afraid if I started naming, I would miss someone. You know who you are! Thank you. I love you.

And last, but most certainty not least, thank you to my kids (step and biological) Ashley, Justin, Heather, James, Angelina, Makinzie, Zachary, and Carlee. Thank you that you have taught me so much about love, honesty, sacrifice, and being a mother! Thank you for your unconditional love and your support. Thank you for understanding the time I had to take away from you to write this while working a full-time job. Thank you for all the hugs and kisses. Thank you for the strength you give me even if you don’t know you do. Thank you for being absolutely amazing. I am so very proud of each and every one of you.

Forward

It has been one of the great joys of my ministry to witness the deliverance of this beautiful young woman and her amazing family, to see her take hold of Christ and ascend from the pit into which Satan had condemned her.

It has been a gradual miracle. She wasn’t just beamed up like on Star Trek the moment she trusted Christ. It’s been more like rock climbing. Our Lord called her name and she responded by looking up from the bottom of that hole and crying out for help.

He became her anchor and pointed her to one or two holds at a time, and she was braveenough to take them and hold on expectantly for the next ones to be revealed. Her bravery became extreme courage as she ascended higher and higher from the depth of her despair.

There were times when she slipped, and lost her footing, but was not too proud to call out to her church family for help to recover her connection with Christ and to keep on going.

There were times when she fell completely and allowed Christ and His Body to comfort her and heal her and set her back on her feet to begin again.

There were times when she held on trembling to the only hold she could see, battling the fear that God had forgotten her and the taunting of the enemy that she wasn’t worthy of freedom.

But God’s Word strengthened her heart, and her faith grew, and she won each battle and kept on climbing, all the time growing stronger and stronger in Christ.

Now she is ready to tell her story in its entirety, not that she hasn’t been a testimony along the way. She let everyone know that she was trusting in Christ to help her out even when hanging on by her fingernails. As a result, her family has emerged by her side and many others have already been encouraged and inspired by her life. But that is only the beginning of the plan God has for her. Climbing out of the hole was just a warmup exercise for what God has in store for this family. The battles ahead will undoubtedly be fierce, but now that they KNOW their God, they are up to the challenge.

Their deliverance will change the world. I have no doubt.

...the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many...

Daniel 11:32–33

Connie Caronna—Pastor, Living Word Family Church

Introduction

To My