Robert started drinking with his neighborhood friends when he was 16 – the beginning of a 35- year habit that slowly eroded his self-esteem. “I held a job and paid my bills, but on the weekends I’d overdo it. I felt terrible having to make excuses why I couldn’t go to work the next day,” he says. He was also ashamed of what God must think of his drinking, and over time grew distant from the Lord. “As a kid I used to go to church, but I fell away,” he says.
Then one morning, after a night of drinking, Robert decided he’d had enough. “I found myself curled up on my floor, sick to my stomach, and I came to the realization that it needed to stop,” he says. “I needed to deepen my spirituality and build back my relationship with Christ.” It was then that Robert came to our Parker House Aftercare, and through outpatient treatment, life-skills classes, counseling, Bible studies, and chapel services, found sobriety and restoration of his faith. “After my mind cleared up, I started reading His Word a lot more and recognizing His promises,” he says. It’s been healing for him to discover that, even though he didn’t like himself when he drank, God loved him unconditionally. “I’ve always been under His grace,” he says.
Robert has already landed a new job, and after graduation, plans to move into our Transitional Housing, where he can save money for his own place. “I’m going to get financially stable and be a productive member of society again,” he says. YOU are the reason that men and women like Robert are no longer bound by their challenges – and have become overcomers through God’s love! “The Mission gave me shelter, fed me, and met all my needs. They gave me the time to clear my mind so I could put God first in my life again.”
