Taking his family to a homeless shelter was one of the most difficult moments in Dave Thomas' life.

He was out of options. He had no choice. He had lost his job, and any work he could get did not pay enough to cover their mounting stack of bills.

Not only was his pride wounded, but he felt like a complete failure.

But his wife, Kristina, doesn't see it that way. She said, looking lovingly at Dave, "I saw that he was trying. That's not failure."

"He did everything within his power. Most people would think, 'You let him drag you to a homeless shelter?' No, I'm grateful that he brought me here. I'm grateful that he found us a place."

What brought them to Paragould's Mission Outreach was a year-long process of "robbing Peter to pay Paul," Dave said. "And we were running out of Peters and Pauls."

In July 2007, the Thomas' were a typical working-class family, living paycheck to paycheck. But they managed to pay their bills.

Dave worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield in St. Louis, in the warehouse. When the entire department operation was outsourced, he was left jobless. The company offered him a job in Cincinnati, Ohio, but they could not afford the move.

The couple and their young daughter, Brianna, stayed in St. Louis for several months trying to keep their financial lives afloat.

They moved back home to the boot heel of Missouri. Dave was able to find a job. But he had children from a previous marriage and child support payments took more than half of his income.

Each month, his paycheck just didn't stretch far enough, and they kept getting farther and farther behind.

Kristina said, "We would have to decide, don't pay one bill to pay another bill."

With the loss of Dave's job came the loss of health insurance.

Years earlier, Kristina had undergone gastric bypass surgery. When she was pregnant with Brianna, now 2 1/2, she got very ill because her body could not absorb nutrients. The condition continues to take its toll.

With Kristina unable to work, a growing toddler and mounting debt, a friend told them about Mission Outreach.

Their electricity had been turned off and they were a month behind on rent. They had no choice. Soon they would be out on the streets.

Arriving at the mission, weary, hungry and hopeless "they were welcomed with open arms of compassion and immediately served a warm meal."

"I told them from day one, it didn't matter what they could do for me or what they couldn't, if I had to sleep under a tree ...," Dave paused as he choked up.

Kristina finished his sentence. "He wanted to make sure there was a place for me and the baby."

Dave cried as he said, "It broke my heart ... I worked every day I could ... and I had done that faithfully."

But the paycheck just wouldn’t stretch far enough.

They arrived at Mission Outreach on a Sunday in July. Monday morning, Dave said, "I went on a spot job," a temporary job.

Kristina said any odd job that Dave heard about, "He was there."

The first of September, Dave went to work at Emerson Electric through a temporary agency. He was recently hired on a permanent basis, a job that will begin to put the family back on their feet.

It's still awhile before they will be ready to leave the mission. Dave wants to resolve some back child support issues. After that, he said, "We will go from there."

Kristina works in kitchen at the mission, providing many of the meals served.

Mission Outreach is "life" to the young family, Kristina said.

In unison, they said, "It's home."

She said, "They go out their way to make sure you have what you need."

They are paying off old debts, and saving for the future, determined not to end up homeless ever again.

Sharing openly, Kristina said, "We just struggled and struggled. Just the mental part of worrying about what we were going to do tomorrow for money ... that will break you down."

Nodding in agreement, Dave said, "It makes you sick to your stomach .. It leaves an emptiness."

"If feels like something just took your heart and soul ..."

The night they arrived at Mission Outreach, Kristina said, the burden and sadness "started to lift off of us. There are some here who have a heart."

The mission has come to mean so much to the couple, they now are the ones who welcome the homeless who come in and make sure they have a warm meal immediately.

"It has really instilled a lot of values in us and we try to carry that on," Dave said.

One day, he hopes to be "the man who writes the big check" to Mission Outreach, he said.

He's been able to go to work every day and know that his wife and daughter are in a safe place.

Looking at Brianna playing across the room, Dave said, with tears in his eyes, "No matter what the circumstances, she makes it all worthwhile ... she is very much a shining light in a world of darkness."