Everyone at one point in their lives has thought about winning the lottery. That kind of money could change the lives of so many people. That would truly be a dream come true.

We all dream of the things we’d do with our winnings. Go on a vacation, buy a house, buy a car, pay off debts. That sort of thing.

Most of us wouldn’t consider giving our money away.

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But after winning the lottery, this struggling mom decided to donate some money to her local pastor.

After years of living in poverty, Marie Holmes from North Carolina, luckily won the lottery.

Marie, who is a mom of four, managed to win a lot of money on the Powerball lottery. It lifted a huge weight of her shoulders financially.

This struggling mom was working several different jobs just to make ends meat, so when she won the lottery, she thought her money troubles would be finally over.

Little did she know that a Pastor named Kevin Matthews decided to sabotage her chances of escaping her financial worries.

Marie couldn’t believe her luck when she won $188 million on the North Carolina Powerball lottery back in early 2015.

She opted to take out her winnings as a $127 million lump sum, per Inquisitr.

However Miss Holmes was about to learn a valuable lesson; the more money you have, the more problems you also have. It wasn’t long before she was betrayed by her neighborhood pastor.

This seemingly well-meaning and trustworthy pastor fought to take MILLIONS of dollars from Marie.

Marie had gone to Kevin Matthews in the past for counselling sessions, which made Marie believe she could trust her pastor.

After her life changing win, it wasn’t long before the two came up with a plan to help him purchase a plot of land.

The land would be used in order to build a new retreat center. But, even after Miss Holmes forked out $700,000 to purchase land, Pastor Kevin was hungry for more money from.

He claimed that she had originally agreed to cough up more than twice as much, and he decided to sue her. 

In an interview, Pastor Kevin claimed:

“The bottom line… I just want her to do what she said she was going to do.

“I want peace and to do what God told me to do. I want her to do what she said she was going to do. I really feel like a warrior for Christ and people need to be accountable.”

Kevin successfully sued Holmes for $10 million after she failed to pay him the $1.5 million he wanted, which was the deal they had originally ‘agreed’ to.

Pastor Kevin claimed that the stress of the whole trail caused him to undergo an increase in his anti-depression medication. 

“Because of the emotional distress and mental stress, they put me through, I had to start taking more medicine for anxiety and depression due to this situation.”

It would be an understatement to say that he received a lot of  negative backlash following the court case.

To further add to Miss Holmes’ worries, she recently had to fork out $21 million to bail her partner, Lamar McDow, out of jail.

Lamar was arrested on suspicion of being a drug dealer. This is a claim they both strongly deny and claim it’s something which is fuelled by “racism” from the neighbors on their new estate.

Lamar said:

“We are a couple, and I am the father of her youngest child. This is what people do for each other. She has the money and she can do what she wants with it. If I had that money then I would do the same for her. People are just jealous because of how much she won and people want to see me locked in jail.”

Thankfully, Marie found herself a helping hand.

Iyanla Vanzant, the host of the show, Fix My Life, heard about Marie’s struggles and decided to help her out.

“It is my intention to show Marie that hers is not a problem of wealth. It is a problem of maturity, of self-respect and of dignity.”

Thankfully the mom of four is getting the help she desperately needed!

After all her struggles, I hope that Marie and her family can start to enjoy her newfound wealth. She certainly deserves it!

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sources: http://www.noteabley.com// https://abc11.com/