Delivered from Addiction | A Share Your Story Blog

Be Advised: The following contains details of true events regarding addiction and abuse. 

In December 1988, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior at a renovated funeral home in Detroit. How I ended up there is my testimony to the love and redemptive power of Jesus Christ. 

My dad was in the Air Force, and I was the third of four children. My earliest recollection was waking up because my mom and dad were arguing. I remember walking in the kitchen and cutting my feet because Dad had broken every dish in the house. Alcohol flowed freely in our home. I knew how to make a martini when I was eight years old. I liked blackberry wine, so every Christmas, I got a bottle in my stocking. That was the beginning. 

I was in tenth grade when I smoked my first joint. I used to drink every day on the way to school — it didn’t matter as long as it kept me from the realities of life. A few times, I was taken down to the office in a wheelchair because I was so wasted. I dropped out at the beginning of my senior year and didn’t want to get a job — so what does an addicted person do? Sell drugs.  

I wasn’t very good at it, but I got the job because I had a license. I lived in a house with the dealer, my girlfriend, and a few others, but we started noticing that we were being watched. Things started getting crazy, and my girlfriend had enough. I chose to leave the house with her, which was the best thing I could have done because the state police raided that house three weeks later. I believe to this day that God saved me from prison because He had a plan for me, even though, at the time, I didn’t know God or that He cared about me.  

Soon after, I hitchhiked to Florida. A few months later, my girlfriend moved there, and we got married. We moved into a little studio apartment, and I got my first real job. My wife had put her foot down. There would be no drugs. In the years that followed, we were blessed with two children. My in-laws bought us a house in Cape Coral—we had the perfect American dream. Later, we moved back home, and I went to work for my father-in-law doing heating and cooling. 

It went well for a while, but I started getting back into drinking daily, even though I had everything that should have made me happy. The drinking helped me not to feel all the things that were buried deep inside — I had carried depression and self-loathing with me all through my life. 

Everything started to go downhill from there when I found $1,800 on a duct job and invested it in drugs. The same issues I’d had earlier come roaring back. I used more drugs than I ever sold. I stopped going home at night. I would spend everything I had and, when it was gone, figure out what I could sell or steal for another hit. 

After seven years of marriage, my wife kicked me out, and I moved in with my sister. I continued with my addictions and drowned myself in drugs and alcohol. I quit my job because working for my father-in-law was making things worse, and then I started working for a company that did heating and cooling for McDonald’s locations across North America. When I was out of town, I had no access to drugs, but when I got back, all my money would be gone by the weekend.  

I was driving to work one day when the rear end fell off my truck. That was the moment I lost everything I had. I got fired, and I had no truck, no money, no home, and nowhere to go. I really thought about ending it all. I had burnt every bridge, so I called my dad, who was the only one who would speak to me. That’s when I heard about a place for people with addiction problems called Teen Challenge. It was a one-year in-house program, and I had nowhere else to turn. 

Teen Challenge was a one-year study of the Bible. I remember that first day in the chapel: the guy next to me raised his hands while we were singing, and I thought to myself, ‘Oh no, the praise the Lord club.’ But they fed me the Word. We had to memorize scripture daily, and it changed me from within.  

I went up to the altar one Sunday and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. A couple of weeks later, I remember sitting in the chapel of an old funeral home.  

Romans 10:9 says, “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

I had already confessed with my mouth, but it was at that moment that I believed in my heart that Jesus had been crucified, buried, and resurrected. All the pain, shame, self-hurt, depression, addictions, anger, hate, and violence in my life was washed away in the shed blood of Jesus. I had always been afraid of dying, but like 1 Corinthians 15:55 says: “Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting?” 

God has blessed my life ever since then. I’ve been married to a Christian woman for over 30 years, and I have five awesome kids and five grandkids. God has given me a desire to share His Gospel with prisoners and anyone who will listen. So, if you ever think that there is nothing good in your life or that there’s no future for you, get into God’s Word, accept Jesus, find a Christian mentor, and surround yourself with fellow believers. Don’t ever give up, no matter what you’ve gone through. God is sitting there, waiting for you. He designed you, and you are precious in His sight. He has a special purpose for you. Is it going to be easy? Of course not. But you will feel His joy and peace, which can’t be found in anything in this world.  

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” – Matthew 6:33-34 

Editor’s Note: If you’re struggling with the hurts and habits of addiction, we have ministries and programs available to help you find freedom. Click here to get in touch with us.