My story starts off in a good home, with amazing parents who are believers. I had a good childhood -- I was popular and athletic. My parents were well off and I wanted for nothing. My dad was even a pastor. But, with that comes pride, and with pride came rebellion. I dabbled with marijuana and alcohol in high school, but I was playing so much baseball that it really didn't take hold of me. The better I got a baseball, the more popular I became and the more I rebelled.
This all led me to pride, thinking I could do whatever I want. I was approached by some major league teams that wanted me to get bigger, so they told me to go to community college for two years for weight training program. I was 170 pounds and throwing, 92-94 mph, but they knew I was young and had the potential to throw harder.
All this went to my head, and my pride got the best of me. I started partying with the other guys on my team, drinking and drugging everyday. My dad warned me that I was taking the wrong path, that I was rebelling against God and I was going to destroy my life. I honestly laughed in his face. I thought I knew what I was doing. I ended up getting a DUI after my first year of college and dropped out. God warned my Dad that night I got it, but I wouldn't listen. I thought he was crazy when he told me God told him to not let me go, "yeah God told you". Well he was right, and I destroyed my car. I broke like a cheap dollar store toy, and I slipped into depression and alcohol.
After three, years I met a girl doing opiate pills, and that sent me on a path of opiate abuse and meth addiction, along with alcoholism. I lived in horrible addiction for 15 years, on and off. Getting clean and then burning it all down. My dad got sick with cancer and he told me I needed to get right with God before it was too late.
I ended up going into Adult & Teen Challenge in 2022, and I haven't left. I know it's the best place for me to be. God has helped me so much here, even through my dad's death. This place helped me get back my relationship with God. Now I am an intern, and when I graduate I will become the Education Coordinator -- something I believe I was meant to do. I was missing a purpose, and that's why I kept relapsing. Now I have one, and it has brought joy and peace back to my life! God is my purpose, and God's people are my calling.
