A Facebook message sent to the wrong person changed one family’s life. The stranger who received the message decided to help the woman and gave her an unforgettable Christmas miracle.
Amy Rickel, a mother of three, had fallen on hard times. She moved her kids to Green Bay, Wisconsin, so her kids could be closer to their dad. But in the process, Rickel became homeless and jobless with three young kids to raise.
Rickel, desperate for some motivation after a series of bad happenings, sent a private message to her friend. But there’s one problem: She mistakenly sent her urgent plea for help to a stranger with a similar name.
But her mistake turned out to be the start of something truly wonderful and amazing – a series of Christmas miracles that happened in nine days just before the celebration of Jesus’ birthday.
Rickel’s message was received by a stranger named Brian Van Boxtel, who has a similar name as Rickel’s friend.
Van Boxtel could have ignored the mistakenly sent message, but he felt that the woman was truly in dire straits. He asked himself: “What would Jesus do?”
Homeless and jobless, Rickel and her children were temporarily staying in a hotel in Green Bay, Wisconsin to be closer to her father’s children. When she ran out of money to pay her hotel bills, she could not think of a place to stay for Christmas. Worse, her car conked out.
Rickel said she was “bawling and praying and that’s when Brian messaged me,” telling her he’s coming over to pay her hotel bill— that was just the beginning of his help.
After Van Boxtel covered the cost of her hotel stay, he then inspired Rickel to set up a GoFundMe page as well.
“We have been staying at a hotel we can no longer afford and all of the shelters that accept kids have long waiting lists,” wrote Rickel. “My only concern at this point is making sure my kids are safe and warm!”
After a series of unfortunate events, through the help of a total stranger ‘Van Boxtel’, everything changed, according to Opposing Views:
Her GoFundMe story soon caught the attention of many who were touched by her troubles and wanted to help.
“We just felt like this holiday season we couldn’t let the kids be out in the cold and we cleared out a room and brought them home,” said Kathy Schumann, who also loaned her minivan to Rickel.
Chad Morack also felt compelled to help. When he found out Rickel was a licensed practical nurse, he reached out to his network.
Alexandria Witkowski, the senior recruiter at TotalMed, took one look at Rickel’s credentials and was impressed.
“I couldn’t help but continue working really hard to get her references and resume over to our clients so we could get her a full-time position,” said Witkowski.
One thing led to another, and soon — because of the kindness of complete strangers — Rickel found herself with a job offer nine days after her Facebook typo.
“It’s totally restored my faith in more than just humanity, my faith in God,” said a grateful Rickel.
Watch the whole story here: LetMeKnow/Youtube
Sources: OpposingViews, WXPI