“I had to get right with God.”
Carson grew up in a dysfunctional family where alcohol was used liberally. He picked up the destructive habit and soon came to depend on it to feel comfortable around others. “I was real quiet, but drinking made me open up,” he says. Over the next few years, however, the practice escalated to addiction… and deeply impacted his life.
An experienced LPN, “I had good jobs, but I lost them all,” he says. And his relationship with his wife and son was severely strained. “I became a monster – this person who I didn’t even know.”
He was in and out of treatment, but couldn’t achieve lasting change. Finally, he says, “I had grown up in church, and I knew I had to get right with God to get myself together.”
“At the Mission, God deals with the whole person: the spirit, mind, body, and soul.”
In Bridgeport Rescue Mission’s New Life Program, he rededicated his life to the Lord. “I asked God to come in and help me with all my issues,” he says. Through Bible study, faith-based guidance, and life-skills classes, he felt his heart changing and his self-esteem improved. “Soon I was able to look in the mirror and say that I love myself.”
After Carson graduated, he returned to the Mission as House Manager, assisting other men in recovery and embracing every opportunity to share his own story of transformation. “I tell them I’ve been where they’re sitting now.”
Carson plans to continue this work he loves, “reaching out to other people – and their families – and helping change their lives.” He feels blessed God has restored his relationship with his own loved ones as well.
It’s going to be a Christmas filled with joy for Carson – and he’s grateful to you for this wonderful gift of a new beginning. “Since coming to the Mission, I am born again… I am changed… I am renewed. I am a child of God.”
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