A homeless couple stood on a street corner in Southern California with a sign that read “Family Needs Help God Bless.”  Robert Wessely and his wife were begging for money to pay for a room for themselves and their four children.

They had no idea that God was about to bring a stranger into their lives that was the first step in life transformation.

The family was in Eureka, California asking for help when a woman drove up and gave them ten dollars.  Robert immediately went to a gas station and bought food for his children, all under the age of seven.  The woman then came back to the corner and gave the family her husband’s cell phone number.

He was going to offer Robert a job at his construction company.

The man, Carl Hawkins, then went further than offering a job as a day laborer.  On Christmas Eve, he welcomed the entire family into his home.

“He started working for me the day before Christmas Eve. I felt the Lord saying ‘Christmas is all about me and my love. Show [them] my love,'” Hawkins explained. “It started out that they were just going to live with us over the holidays. It was after that that the Lord impressed upon me to really open the doors and offer him a place to live with his family, if they were willing to live by God’s design.”

The family was required to attend church, have family worship time during the week and managing their finances appropriately to plan for the future.

Now, Robert and his family live in their own home near Lake Elsinore and give back with their own ministry to help homeless families.

“Instead of looking at a trickling of water on a curb, now on our front porch, I get to look at a lake. The beauty behind God is a true blessing,” Robert said. “We literally went from curb to castle.”