Hi, my name is Meresa. After my daddy died, I sank into deep and very dark depression. The pain was almost unbearable. I started smoking pot, drinking any chance I could get and taking my daddy’s leftover Seroquel. I jumped into a serious relationship with someone that was clearly not the best choice for me. I resented everyone. One day, the cops rolled up and searched our house
and found an active meth lab on the back porch. Even though the lab was outside, the drug was used inside our home so it was boarded up and condemned. We lost EVERYTHING!
Fast forward a few months and I was smoking crank for the first time. I had initially done it to hurt my mother and see if it was worth losing our home over. I never thought I would actually love it, but all I could think about was getting high. I hated myself for that. I used meth for about six months. It wasn’t until I found myself along with my son, mom, sister and brother on a picnic table in Marmet in the freezing cold, huddled underneath a thin blanket that I knew I’d hit rock bottom.
At that point, I broke my vow of silence and pleaded with God, “If you’re there and you care, please don’t let us freeze to death out here.” A few minutes later, the Marmet police picked us up and brought us to Brookside at about 1:30 in the morning. I’ll never forget that cold day in February 2015.
When I first got here, I was really sad and didn’t want to be here. However, the longer I was here and the more I heard God’s Word, the more my heart softened toward God. At the end of that week, I joined the Cornerstone Recovery program. It was the best thing I could have done for me and my son. Special thanks to Union Mission, Cornerstone, the staff and teachers for helping
me learn to live a sober and clean life. Best of all, I turned my life over to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now my heart, my mind and my life are totally changed. He’s opened doors for me now that I thought would never open. My relationship with my mom is great and she’s been clean for ten months. I’m going to school to get my TASC Diploma, and after that I have plans to become an LPN. I’m also interning at Brookside and while it can be challenging, I absolutely love it.
Life for me has never been better. Thank you God for Union Mission and the opportunity that He’s given me to be here and serve Him. To God be the glory! Amen!
