I grew up in church with great parents and 2 brothers. At age 14, my parents divorced and I moved out of the house I called “home.” I began hanging out with girls older than me and started drinking, smoking cigarettes, and going to bars. At 16, I was busy going to school, then work. I graduated high school, worked full time, and met a man that I soon fell in love with. He was the plant manager where I was working, and also considered to be a Drug Lord. I started using cocaine at this point. I decided to go to college for business and home interior; so I did that for about 2 years. That came to an end when driving to school one day, my car was hit by a log truck and my life was turned around. It put me in a wheelchair for a year and on pain pills and valium.
My life was very depressing, and the drug use seemed to increase every day. In May 1990, I had my son, becoming a single parent. My son’s father wanted nothing else to do with me after I stopped using cocaine. My son and I soon moved onto a ranch where I worked. I had stopped all the drugs, just spent my time horseback riding and working 3 jobs to support my son and I. I then remarried, moved, and was introduced to pain pills again, leading to much harder drugs like cocaine and acid. That is when the drinking started again. Arguing and fighting became an everyday thing between my husband and I.
When my son was 12, I had a daughter. Things were starting to go great, then, once again, the pain pills quickly became a problem. My husband and I started drinking again, and when my daughter was just over a year old, I left my husband for good after a huge fight. I thank God for a supportive family. My father allowed my children and I to live with him. I was working at a finance company but again I started hanging around the wrong friends and using crack. Life spiraled downhill from there. I got in two more car wrecks. The last wreck landed me in the hospital for a few months. When I got out I started going to church with my family. Then I got my own place and started back on drugs. I was drinking very heavily and using crack and pain pills every day. I had wasted away and was very thin and frail.
I finally got tired of the lifestyle and called my dad and brother and they helped me find help at Teen Challenge of the Upper Cumberland. I have completely turned my life over to God and received the Holy Spirit. I cannot imagine living life without God now. If I had not been allowed to come into Teen Challenge, I do not know where I would be. Now I can enjoy life with my family and my children. When I graduate Teen Challenge, I plan to work on restoring my relationships with my son and daughter, find a great church and spread God’s Word. I would like to sing in a gospel group and minister to the world. I used to put fire to the crack pipe and now I’m on fire for God!