I felt the need to share briefly about my experience with Penfield over the past 17 years..maybe, if you choose to, add it to the blog or testimonials so maybe someone can read and identify with me and my issues, recovery, calling and blessings..I read some good things on the website already
God has been and always is so very good to us…1 John1:9 , Matthew 7:7,8 , Philippians 4:6….Briefly…I was born in 1958 , an only child , to a middle class family in Atlanta Ga…a very Godly mother and a very busy father. Later on during elementary school I would learn and realize that my father was not only busy but gone a lot as well..and when he was around, it was not pleasant…You see, growing up as a young boy with an alcoholic father is very traumatic..the violence, the abandonment, the neglect, the dysfunction and the many other things that occurred during that time in my life all contributed ( I believe) to my selfish, Godless, self centered, destructive and dangerous addiction career for years to follow. My father died when I was 12 years old in 1970 of what I was told was a heart attack..I knew better…alcohol killed him …Drugs and alcohol would almost kill me several times years later in life..I used drugs and drank alcoholically thru the 70’s and into the 80’s…in and out of jails and rehabs…living a Godless and sinful life..my wonderful mother had lived with an alcoholic husband and now her only child was off and running in his footsteps, but worse..I spent my 16th birthday in juvenile detention and my 17th birthday in a 6 month drug rehab in Atlanta near the Atlanta Federal Penn…My disease would progress thru the years to follow as would my sinful behaviors…My mother was at a loss and I was out of control…prison and jails, motorcycle gang life, violent street life was all I knew…I would hit many “bottoms” thru the years..managing only short periods of clean time ..God was at work all the time..God never left me, I left him..I am given a choice each day..I am only granted a daily reprieve based on my spiritual condition..In 1993 I would reach a point in my life that I knew I had to make some serious changes …I had lost everything and was spiritually dead. I can remember the judge giving me a different option that time..an option to go to a place in Greene county called Penfield Christian Home..instead of another jail sentence. I was grateful for that and still am today..I was ready to surrender finally and did so…I entered Penfield , became teachable, humble and started to listen and learn..God had a plan for my life and this time I joined him in his will for me..I graduated Penfield, worked a good 12 step recovery program, joined a church, got involved in active recovery and aftercare…long story short, I remained sober for 15 years and 4 months until June of 2008…Penfield and all that goes on here offered me a new way of life..a good way of life for many years…Penfield offered me something special..a desire and the way to develop a relationship with God..There is something very special happening here at Penfield..everyday..God at work..inviting these men to join him…I did get very complacent in my 15 yrs of sobriety..I lost sight of what was working in my life..I got back into relapse mode..I stopped doing the things that kept me clean for so many wonderful years and I eventually relapsed..Again, Penfield was here for me in Aug of 2008 and I have been here ever since…first as a client, the Servant Leader..and now as full time volunteer/ministry training..I have been blessed to be a part of this wonderful ministry over the past 16 months…I have seen countless men come thru, graduate and continue on in their life in recovery and walks with God…What a joy to be able to give back what has so freely been given to me..a new life in recovery and a walk with God on this journey