Paul's Story
After 30 years as an alcoholic, I’m getting my first chance at life!
My name is Paul. I was raised in a party scene as a child, and I learned very early on that getting drunk was just what adults do. When I was five years old, my mother found me behind a car, high from sniffing the fumes from a gas can. She rushed me to a hospital where she was told, “Watch him carefully. He likes this feeling way too much.” Little did they know how true those words were! From there it developed into sniffing rubber cement glue in grade school, to full-blown alcoholism in my adulthood.
I spent thirty years of my life as an alcoholic. I tried different things from time to time to sober up, but nothing worked for very long. I was desperately sick each time I tried to quit drinking. Finally I checked into a detoxification center and got cleaned up physically, but I knew my thinking was still that of an addict. I knew I was on borrowed time until I would start drinking again, and this time I knew that I would die if I didn’t stop.
A pastor friend of mine, Dee, was a huge influence on me during this time. I knew she disapproved of my drinking, but she never came across as a condemning person. She would always encourage me with comments like “Paul, I know there is so much good in you. Your life could be so much better.” I turned to her for help during this brief interval of sobriety, and she suggested Kalamazoo Gospel Mission to me. We were driving around in her car as we were discussing this, and she offered to take me home so I could ponder this overnight. I knew I was truly at a crisis point and asked to just drive me straight to the Mission. She did, and I have been here ever since.
I became a member of the Family Hope discipleship program. What a huge blessing it has been to be surrounded by people who understand where I am coming from! I have met compassionate people who are helping to ease me through all the worries life throws at me. Best of all, I met Jesus Christ and turned my life over to Him. I am graduating from the program very soon, and my wife Kim and I are moving into Mission housing. I will continue to work at the Mission in the maintenance department.
I recently reconnected with my pastor friend Dee, who had been out of the area during the time I’ve been in the program. My first words to her were, “I have been waiting a whole year to tell you ‘thanks’”. She cried as I expressed to her how totally overwhelmed I am by all that God is doing for me.
Not only do I thank her for letting God use her in this way, but I also thank the donors whose support make it possible for the program to continue. Many of my fellow program members are grateful for a second chance at life, but I feel as though because of all the wasted years, I am getting my first chance at life! And this time I have God backing me up. God bless you for all you do for people like me.
