Gifts of Grace and Second Chances

“Today I have hope and strength, knowing I CAN PERSEVERE.”

Addiction can hit at any time, and often it throws the first punch. David had faith in God, a great job and two beloved children. “I never did drugs, not even alcohol,” David says. But at age 34, David had a heart attack. “The hospital pumped me with morphine, then sent me home with 60 Percocets.”

What began as a prescription for pain relief spiraled into an addiction that consumed six years of his life. “Drugs were like a demon,” David confesses.

“I isolated. I didn’t spend time with my kids. I even turned my back on the Lord.”

Determined to get help, David put himself into detox and then came to the Mission. Through our program, David didn’t merely get sober. “The Mission rekindled my fire for the Lord,” he says.

Though David graduated and found a job, he sometimes found sobriety challenging, and unfortunately fell prey to his addiction again. Before long, he was living in a tent.

“One night I was thinking about how much I’d messed up my life. Right then, a friend I graduated the program with texted me and asked how I was doing,” David remembers.

When he told his friend the truth, David opened the door to grace and a second chance to get help. With that same grace, the Mission welcomed David back into the program.

David isn’t wasting his second chance. He’s working with his sponsor, active in his local church and serving at the Mission by helping newcomers. “I want to show them that if I can do it, so can they.”

This time around, even David’s kids see a difference. “They tell me, ‘keep going, Daddy. You can do it!’”

As Christmas approaches, David is grateful for the gifts he’s received, thanks to the work of the Mission and its generous donors. “Today I have hope and strength, knowing I can persevere through any circumstance.”

To read our Holiday 2018 issue of The Lifeline, click here.