Jason’s Story-Transformation Is Possible, I’m living Proof!

For most of my life, addiction was all I knew or really cared about. I start­ed using drugs when I was sixteen and before long addiction became the center of everything for me. I felt like I was chasing freedom except that my addiction slowly took away every good thing in my life like my relationships, opportunities, trust, and my better self. I spent years trying to fill an emptiness that seemed to grow with the choices I was making.

When I found Western Carolina Rescue Ministries (WCRM), I was living alone in the woods and isolated from everyone. Every day felt like the last, and I thought there wasn’t any way out. Through detox and people who genuinely cared about me, I was introduced to the Iron & Oil Men’s Recovery Program at WCRM. I came in carrying a lot of doubt because I had tried to change before.

Even after I entered the program, there were plenty of days when I wanted to leave. Recovery is uncomfortable because it forced me to face things I had spent years trying to avoid. There were a lot of moments when walking away just seemed easier. More than once, I thought about going back to being on my own because that was familiar, even if it brought me back to the life I was trying to escape.

The fellowship and support of living in a group setting gave me the strength to stay when every part of me wanted to run. The staff always cared enough to tell me the truth and to hold me accountable and reminded me that my past didn’t have to define my future. They could tell when I was struggling and pulled me aside right on time and helped me keep from making the mistake of running.

For years I believed I had to clean up my life before God would accept me, but I’ve learned that God’s love isn’t something to earn. When I began to studying God’s Word, I started to understand that His grace isn’t a reward for getting everything right, but it’s a gift given to people who know they can’t save themselves. This truth has changed everything for me. The day I realized that God’s forgiveness touches every part of my life was the day that revolutionized my entire life. It’s unexplainable the freedom and affirmation that truth unlocked for me.

Recovery hasn’t been easy though. God has used hard conversations and difficult days along with honest reflection to shape my heart. Today my life looks completely different than I ever imagined it could. I’m working at the mission and have the privilege of walking alongside men who are beginning the same journey I once started. It’s amazing to see how God can use the broken parts of our stories to give someone else hope and courage to keep going. Helping others at the mission has become part of my own healing.

In Iron & Oil, we’re surrounded by people who refuse to give up on us when we want to give up on ourselves. We’ve been given the opportunity to grow in Christ, build relationships, and support each other along the way. It is sometimes hard to believe that rebuilding our lives is really possible, but I can testify it is possible because it happened to me. For the first time in years, I have set goals for myself and I’m preparing to move into my own place and keep working.

If there’s anyone reading this that feels trapped like I did, I want them to know there is hope and that they are not too far gone. God