My story is long. I had a pretty normal childhood. No drugs there. My mom and dad worked hard to provide for me, but there was always something missing. I got pregnant at the age of 15, got married, and left home. Within two years, I had two babies and a very unfaithful husband. After eight years of marriage, we divorced. That is where my drug use began.
The next 20 years of my life were nothing but a mess. I had lost custody of my boys to my parents which made life miserable. They no longer considered me a part of their family. Seeing my boys just a couple of times a week was not only heartbreaking, but it was a fight every time. This only made my drug use worse. I used to numb the pain of missing my boys.
I had nobody. I went to work every day just like a normal person, but I was dying inside. There was always a hole I felt like I needed to fill and drugs helped me ease the pain. I was in jail numerous times, only to get out and start using again. I actually cleaned myself up for about five years and had my boys living with me at one point when they were teenagers, but once again I started using drugs.
This was the last straw. Within a year, I was helpless, hopeless, and homeless. I ended up back in jail on a seven-year sentence. I used that time to open a Bible and try a different approach to life. After all, I had nothing left. After three years of doing time, a Substance Abuse Program, and a one-year deferment, I finally made parole. I had nowhere to go and the thought of a halfway house in a big city scared the life out of me. That’s when a lady told me about the Hope Center for Women. By the grace of God they accepted me and I was on my way to Scottsville, Kentucky, which was only about a 45-minute drive from my hometown and my boys.
I cannot begin to tell you how much the Hope Center for Women changed my life. Through the love of Sue, April, and so many others, I learned the true meaning of God’s love and I learned how to apply Him to my everyday life.
Since then, my relationship with my boys has been reconciled. I have a new husband of two years and a new baby girl that will be two in April. God has blessed me so much over the past few years in so many ways. I would not be where I am today without the Hope Center for Women.
"Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me."
- Psalm 27:10 NIV -
"God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land."
- Psalm 68:6 NIV -
