“By the time I was thirteen years old, I had gotten comfortable with the ‘party life’. I would drink just to find any self-worth – or what I thought at the time was love – from any man that could provide the smallest amount of attention to me.
It didn’t take long before I knew I was an alcoholic. I was an addict. I would do whatever was needed to get my next drink, moving from one guy to the next hoping for some sort of acceptance.
At age 22, I was just so sick of myself. It was around this time that someone asked me if I knew who Jesus was. I had been in church when I was a small child, and I knew I had a Bible somewhere. Their question prompted me to find the Bible and start reading it. I don’t know why I started reading. At the time, I felt I had lost any kind of hope for a decent life. I wasn’t sure God even wanted me. I remember coming across Romans 10:9-10, which said, ‘If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’ All I knew to do was to cry out for help, so that’s what I did. I cried out to God.
The next morning when I woke up, I was sober. I felt healthy instead of sick, and the urge to drink was completely gone. Since that morning, I have not felt the urge to drink again. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of my problems, and plenty more things in my life needed addressing. I found myself pregnant out of wedlock. After the birth of the daughter, I thought the right thing to do was just to get married to the father. Four months later, the father and I had a fight. I found myself homeless with assault charges. Through the nasty divorce, custody battle, and restraining order that followed, I lost all contact with my daughter. I was once again losing hope and doubting what God had already delivered me from.
Around this time, a friend invited me to a service at Engrafted Word Church in Cookeville. This is where I first heard about the Hope for Life program and was introduced to Ms. Chris Dilts. Through Jesus Christ, my life has taken a 180º turn, and I know I have been truly blessed. I now know what real love is, and it is not found in relationships but in Jesus Christ. 
He is the only one who loves me unconditionally and will never leave or forsake me according to His Word. I now have a job and my own place to stay. I have gotten visitation rights again with my daughter, including most weekends and one day during the week. I know the relationship between my daughter and I will be fully restored in time. Hope for Life gives me the support – but more importantly the accountability – I need as I learn to trust God and grow in Him more and more.
I thank God every day for the good church He has provided for me. I thank God for Hope for Life and the people who care enough about me to hold me accountable for my actions, not just telling me what to do, but walking it out with me and living it in front of me. Sometimes, I still fear messing up again, but I know God is faithful. His Word assures me in Philippians 1:6 that I can be confident in this: He who began a good work in me will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Ms. Rebecca White graduates the Hope for Life program in April of 2021.
New Hope for Life groups start April 7th at New Beginning Assembly of God in Cookeville.
For more information about Hope for Life, click here.