Winning the lottery is such a phenomenon. Find me a man or woman who does not ever want to win the lottery and I will show you a big liar! At one point in time, we have all harbored thoughts of winning the lottery one day. You would think only the needy and damn poor dream so, but, truth be told, the seemingly well do also dream of this sudden acquisition of big sums of money.
Then the sweet thoughts of what we would do with the winnings fill our minds. Buy a house, beautiful clothes, buy a car, pay off the mortgage, take a vacation to that beautiful country and the list goes on and on. In rare cases, some would donate to worthy causes, but most of us wouldn’t consider giving our money away.
Nevertheless winning the lottery is not a secret, it will bring attention to you whether you like it or not. It is a given fact that your life cannot remain the same. I don’t know about you, but as for me, it would take me time to get used to being suddenly rich!
It is often wondered if money can buy you happiness. While we are pretty certain that buying a lot of cool stuff would make us very happy, that is not necessarily the case for a great majority of people who win the lottery, some end up more broke and troubled than they started. “Why?” you may ask.
A number of factors come into play with the acquisition of lots of money. There is a change in relationships with other members of the family and friends who will expect you to finance their one million demands. There are other challenges too as we shall see from this fascinating story of a struggling woman who won the Powerball lottery.
Marie Holmes from North Carolina is a mother of four beautiful children. To make ends meet, this struggling mother was working several different jobs. Life was really tough. Then just like many of us dreaming of making some not so hard earned money, she joined the Powerball lottery.
Well, it paid off. After living in poverty for so many years Marie luckily managed to win a lot of money on the North Carolina Powerball lottery back in early 2015. Marie couldn’t believe her luck when she won a cool $188 million. She was so thrilled and so was her family and friends. She opted to take out her winnings as a $127 million lump sum, per Inquisitor.
This unexpected money was such a welcome relief that lifted a huge financial weight off her shoulders and she thought her money problems would finally be over. But little did she know that doom was lurking somewhere in the dark from the least expected sources. Miss Holmes was about to learn a valuable lesson most lottery winners encounter. The more money you have, the more problems you face!
It didn’t take long for her neighborhood Pastor, called Kevin Mathews to betray her and sabotage her chances of escaping financial worries. This seemingly well-meaning and trustworthy pastor fought to take MILLIONS of dollars from Marie. A Pastor! Surely when it comes to money, you just cannot trust anyone.
It so happened that Marie in an act of kindness wanted to give back to the church that had supported her in her previous life of struggles. Pastor Mathews had patiently offered Marie counseling on various occasions and in so doing with time Marie developed trust for this man of God. So when the financial tides changed for the better, she decided to donate some money to her local Pastor 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. He claimed that she had originally agreed to cough up more than twice as much, and he decided to sue her. Can you imagine how disheartening this is!
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 fueled 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.”
Oh my God, see how family claims right on one’s fortune! I am not so sure Lamar would give Marie the same access to his money.
It is one thing to win the lottery and something very different successfully handling it. Without a plan, a lot is at stake.
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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