Hopelessness is what I remember most about my old life. I struggled with alcohol and poor choices from the time I was a young man. I had known Jesus as my Savior since 2007, but I never truly allowed Him to be the Lord of my life. Instead, I chose the world. My life became a cycle of addiction, occasional incarceration, and homelessness.

Eventually, I got sober, got married, and became a father. I loved being a dad more than anything, and by God’s grace I stayed sober for most of my son’s first five years. At one point, I was living the life I had dreamed about for years. But even then, something inside me was still unsettled. I was restless, irritable, and discontent. I had no real purpose or direction.

Then 2025 changed everything. My father passed away. I relapsed into drinking. My marriage ended. We lost our home. And I faced the hardest and most painful decision of my life: leaving my son in someone else’s care because I knew I could not be the father he needed me to be. I felt like a failure as a son, a husband, and a father. I was completely broken and hopeless.

That is where God found me.

When I arrived at Inspiration Ministries in October, I had nowhere left to run and no place left to call home. Psalm 51 says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.” That was about all I had left to offer.

My life did not transform overnight when I turned back to God, but through daily prayer and devotion, I began to feel His Spirit guiding me. I developed a hunger to read and study His Word. And when life feels difficult or overwhelming, I remind myself of James 1, where we are told to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

Today, I am deeply grateful for Inspiration Ministries for giving me a place to call home, an opportunity to rebuild my relationship with God, and a body of believers to serve alongside. But most of all, I am grateful to Jesus Christ for His love, His mercy, and the sacrifice He made for me. He restored my life, gave me purpose and direction, and filled my heart with hope again.