Michele Purnell's living room felt empty. So did she.

Drugs and alcohol couldn't fill her enough; substance abuse and men had become her escape from reality. She had bills to pay, two young children to raise alone, and an incarcerated husband who wouldn't be home anytime soon. The other man she'd been dating had just moved out. He had left some shabby lawn chairs, an old projector, and not much else in her Florida home.

Nothing about the family's situation was easy to discuss. But one day Michele's son George opened up to his teacher, revealing that his dad was in jail. The teacher paid the family a visit to see how they were coping, along with friends from Calvary Church.

"When they showed up at the door, I was nervous," Michele remembers. "But somehow, I just couldn't tell them no. And a miracle happened."

A NIGHT FOR AN ANGEL TREE MIRACLE

Michele let their guests into the empty living room. They were a humbled family—one overwhelmed mom with two low-paying jobs and little hope; one son struggling with homework and fending off bullies at school; the other son, Jamie, aching from the void his father left. But the group of strangers who sat in Purnell family lawn chairs showed no judgment, and no reserve—just love.

It was the beginning of a mighty miracle in Michele, George, and little Jamie's life.

PAYING IT FORWARD

Michele pointed to her son Jamie, now 22, who hung on to that basketball from first grade until he tried football in sixth grade. He played his way through high school and competed for a year in college. All along, he was part of the family at Calvary Church and helped his mom run the Angel Tree program every Christmas.

"I guarantee you I would not have made it past ninth grade in school if my dad hadn't signed us up for Angel Tree that year," Jamie claims. "We would have lost our house. I probably would have been doing drugs just to feel better, and I could have been a terrible kid. But God came into the picture and made me feel special, feel loved, which is what we needed at that time."

And when Jamie heard the Angel Tree Sports Clinic was coming to his city to teach prisoners' kids some football, he showed up to coach. In some ways, it felt like he'd been preparing for this day for a long time:

I've seen [my dad's] struggles with drugs, and it's shown me that I can't let that happen to me. I talk to him at least once a week and have good conversation. … I just trust God and I'm thankful to have a relationship with my dad. I owe it all to Angel Tree, all the way. I'm an A/C mechanic now. I just bought a new truck, and I'm saving up to buy a house. I know for a fact I wouldn't be who I am, at all, if it weren't for Angel Tree.