What a compelling invention it is; the whole concept of the lottery. Have you ever tried your luck in lottery tickets? We all know the probability of winning a lottery, its almost zero. Still, these lottery tickets attract us every now and then. Some of us never buy these tempting tickets but everyone has wondered at least once about winning them. How incredibly it can change one’s life within a blink of eyes. But everything comes with a cost that most of us won’t understand what it might take unless we’ve experienced it.

A story of luck, fate, good, bad, consequences, threats and more. The story of Marie Holmes has all in it. Like most of us, her life too was filled with ups and downs. Sadly for her, life was mostly about hard times and very rarely she had good days in her life. But the way her life changed has always been a dream for millions of people.

Trying Hard

Marie Holmes, a 27-year-old single mother was on her daily job routine. Working hard to fulfill her four kids’ daily needs. She was trying to save as much as she can for their future. No matter how hard she tried to bring things in the right place, Marie was never able to cop up with the rapid speed life actually demanded out of her. At this time she was completely unaware of the fact that her life was about to change forever. Only time would tell how long Marie’s life is actually going to be on track.

One In A Million

In 2015, Marie’s life changed in no time when she won the North Carolina’s Powerball lottery. She didn’t win any ordinary amount rather a huge amount of $188 million. It wasn’t just a simple win and settled life from there on as this lottery took Marie to an episode of “Iyanla: Fix My Life.” What happened to her that after winning such a huge amount also she ended up on a show that is all about guiding people about their choices and mistakes?

The Win-Winpraying-58f129f13df78cd3fc418722-1024x683

Marie was working at different jobs to earn. Although we all know the easier way to earn money is to give a lottery ticket a try. That day when she went to buy a ticket, she knew the chances were zero for her to win the lottery yet she went on to give it a try. Isn’t that the case with most of the people who spend money on the lottery tickets? Well, this one ticket that Marie bought one day was her biggest gift and nightmare to herself.

The Pastorkevin-matthews1

Marie is a strong believer in Christianity. She followed the words of pastor Kevin Matthews who worked as a leader of his community at Shallotte, North Carolina. Marie has been attending his meetings since childhood. Kevin has been giving Marie advice at every other stage of her life. He has always been a savior to Marie and the fact that whenever she was in trouble or a doubtful situation she ran to Kevin for help. But Marie’s winning of the lottery was the start of bitterness in their relationship.

Winning The Jackpot img

The day she bought this state lottery ticket from a nearby convenience store, she prayed before entering the shop. When the time to announce the winner was here, she patiently waited for the announcement of the winning numbers and try her luck on the state lottery. When the lucky numbers were announced, Marie couldn’t believe the ticket she was holding in her hands read exact numbers as the anchor said. It was February of 2015 when she felt as if she’s at the top of the world. Who knew that the real challenges and criticization were still on the way.

Claiming The Moneypowerball

Marie couldn’t really believe that she won the lottery and she stood there in shock, not saying one single word. All she knew that she had around 6 months for claiming the big amount of money. She had two different methods of claiming this money. The first one was to get the $188 million in yearly installments for the next 30 years, ie, $530,000 each year, the second option was to get all at once but in that case, she’ll be getting $127 million all in all after deducting the taxes. Marie made the obvious choice.