RALEIGH, N.C. — A Lincoln County man won $100,000 when he made a "spur-of-the-moment" decision to buy Powerball tickets for Saturday's drawing, North Carolina lottery officials say. 

“$6 changed my life,” 39-year-old James Miller said. “I’ve got two babies at home and they sure are going to have an amazing Christmas now.”

Miller, who works as a construction worker, said he was about to leave Jerry's One Stop on N.C. 27 in Iron Station when he made a sudden decision to go back in and buy two $3 Quick Pick Power Play tickets.

“Something just hit me and told me to buy some Powerball tickets so I walked back in,” Miller said. “I don’t think it’s really hit me yet that I won.”

Miller said he recently found out that his mother won her battle against cancer, making the win extra special. He says his mother was the first person he told the winning news to. 

“She was half asleep, but she jumped out of the bed when I told her,” Miller said.

Miller says he plans to use the money for Christmas presents for his family and possibly for a down payment on a house. 

He collected his prize Monday, taking home $70,751 after state tax withholdings. 

The last winning Powerball jackpot was on Oct. 4. The current jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing is an estimated $333 million, or $241.5 million in cash. 

The odds of winning a jackpot are 1 in 292 million, N.C. lottery officials say. 

Ticket sales from draw games like Powerball help make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million a year for education.