Newspaper Page Text
Page 2 - Wednesday, December 13, 2023
The Millen News
themillennews.com
Mary Shingleton
Mary Shingleton
DEBORAH BENNETT
Millen News Editor
Mary Shingleton is a Jenkins
County native, a 2004 gradu
ate of Jenkins County High
School, and is well known
in the community through
her interactions with custom
ers at the Fred’s store where
she worked for nine years.
Currently, she works at the
Wal-Mart Distribution Center
in Statesboro as a Human
Resource clerk. She is known
by all as a “motivator” and a
“good neighbor.”
“I like helping people, moti
vating and encouraging them,”
Mary said.
However, few who know
Mary would ever suspect that
the road to her present up
lifting attitude has been a long
and rough one that includes
a few months spent in foster
care as a child and a battle with
suicidal thoughts.
“I was very young when I
was in foster care, and I just
didn’t understand why my
mother couldn’t care for me,”
she said.
After a few months, Mary’s
sister, Tabetha, gave her the
home for which she longed.
“She did a great job. I had
the best of everything,” Mary
recalls.
Still, something was gnaw
ing at Mary, something that she
just couldn’t shake.
“I became very depressed
and suicidal at the age of 15.1
just had a longing inside me, a
need to know why my mother
couldn’t raise me,” she said.
The depression grew as
Mary aged, and when she was
in her early 20s she devised a
plan to commit suicide. At this
point, she was drinking heavily,
and living with her dad, Willie
Shingleton.
“I picked out a tree that I was
going to drive my vehicle into,”
she confessed.
The time arrived to follow
through on her plan one night
when she had been out with
friends drinking and was driv
ing home intoxicated.
“I just closed my eyes while
driving, expecting to hit that
tree,” Mary said. “That’s the
last thing I remember.”
But, Mary woke up the next
morning in her bed, and when
she looked outside, she discov
ered that her car was parked in
its usual spot, undamaged. She
still has no memory of how she
got home.
“I like to tell everyone that
God drove me home that
night,” Mary said.
Although still depressed, the
experience led her, along with
some of her friends, to attend
a tent revival being held in
Millen. For the first time, Mary
said she understood the words
of the preacher and could relate
to the message.
“It made me feel loved, and
gave me a sense of hope,” she
said.
The week-long revival turned
into two weeks, and eventually
led to the establishment of the
House of Fire Church in Millen
which she now attends.
Mary said her background
and what she has been through
are the reasons she has devoted
her life to God and encouraging
everyone she meets.
“I don’t want anyone to go
through what I went through,”
she said.
Mary says she now depends
on God for everything. “I
rarely ask anyone for anything.
If I have a need, I just ask God,
and He provides what I need
when I need it,” she said.
Mary said she now under
stands why her mother couldn’t
care for her as a child.
“I appreciate and love my
mother for knowing that she
didn’t have the capacity to raise
me. So, she didn’t. And, I wish
I could tell her that she did a
phenomenal job in showing up
for me later in life,” she said.
Her mother is now deceased.
She also expressed apprecia
tion to her dad who she said is,
“wonderful to his children.”
Mary said that she will con
tinue to be a good neighbor
to all she knows and meets,
someone who encourages and
motivates others. She lives
in Millen with her daughter,
Chasity, 17, and son, Tyler, 8.
And, their life is good. Mary
has finally come to terms with
her past and looks forward to
the future.
“Doing whatever God has
for me to do,” she said.
Mary often posts her uplift
ing messages and videos on
Facebook and invites others
to check the public posts and
videos out.
I am always thinking how blessed we are to have
PruittHealth-Bethany nursing home here.
When you walk in, you'll be greeted with beautiful smiles.
The staff works so hard around the clock. They show love to
their patients. I could go on and on praising them.
I thank the Lord for all of them.
Sincerely,
Ethelene Young
Millen, GA
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