Addiction takes everything. Family. Security, Safety. Nothing is off limits. The thing about faith-based recovery, is that in God’s hands, He gives it all back, plus some!
For nearly two decades, both Chris and Ashley walked through a life of addiction and loss. They would both lose friends, family members, relationships, jobs, homes, and more. When they met in 2018, they were both at the Union Mission and in the process of rising from the ashes.
In recovery circles people often say that God will restore everything that addiction has taken. For someone “at the bottom” this seems impossible. But for those in recovery and those who work in recovery at treatment centers, in drug courts, in jails and in prisons, the stories of people who are experiencing restoration fuels our passion for recovery. These stories of success give us all hope that there is absolutely nothing that God can’t do.
There is no mess too big and no person too far gone for God. There is always hope for those struggling. God never gives up!
Chris began his descent into addiction as a teen. Trauma marked his life and drugs gave him a way of escape. As a young man, Chris experienced life changing loss, and landed at the Union Mission’s Men’s Shelter. Over the next several years, Chris experienced times of recovery, and times of relapse. Those in recovery know that relapse is never far away, and recovery is a day-to-day battle. But Chris didn’t give up.
He returned to the Union Mission’s Addiction Recovery Program in 2021 with a determination for recovery and a desire to live the life God had in store for him. This time was a little different. This time around, Chris would have the support to dig into the trauma which had kept him down. He found a belief in himself that he hadn’t had in a long time. He poured himself into the process of addiction recovery, got a job at a sober living home, and started serving others who were seeking recovery. Chris worked the steps, stayed consistent, and followed the Lord, and he was seeing fruit.
Ashley’s story was a little different. Ashley had two children when a bad relationship and addiction entered her life. She had tried to hold on to the people she loved, but addiction cut her off from them. She had reached a point where she was starting to have legal trouble when she entered the Union Mission’s Addiction Recovery Program in 2018.
She worked hard every day on her recovery. She got a job as a Nursing Assistant at CAMC, and poured herself into her new career. She received multiple commendations for her work ethic and fought for her sobriety. She rented an apartment, got her daughter back, and began rebuilding relationships with the rest of her family. Her path was not without road blocks and difficulties, but her hard work and determination kept her moving forward.
Chris and Ashley had met at the Union Mission in 2018 when they were both in the recovery program. They reconnected in 2022, finding themselves on the same path of sobriety and recovery. Both were steady in their personal recovery. Both were standing on a solid foundation of faith. Having never given up, Chris and Ashley got married in October 2022, officiated by one of the men who had been instrumental in Chris’ recovery and was a long-time family friend of Ashley’s, former Union Mission Shelter Director Dave Sneed.
Both sober and with the recovery capital needed to maintain a relationship, today they are married and working at CAMC. And they have a beautiful baby boy, Carter.
“Chris and Ashley’s stories are a testament to what God can do with those who are willing to surrender all and trust God, do the work , build a solid support community, and get back up as many times as it takes,” said Recovery Director Denise Kennedy. “It is also a testimony of the way God can use a team, the Union Mission team, to give those suffering from substance use disorder hope, tools to succeed, and most of all, the love of Jesus Christ to help rebuild their lives on a firm foundation.”
Chris and Ashley have a story of destruction, loss, fear, death … all the hallmarks of addiction. But their story is also full of determination, hard work, recovery, and quiet pursuit for a life worth living.
“Recovery isn’t easy,” Ashley said. “It is something that you have to work at every day. People have good and bad days. Sometimes we fall, because we aren’t perfect, but you just have to get back up and keep fighting.”
For anyone currently struggling, she wants you to know that “your life is worth it, so don’t ever give up.”
While they have lost it all, several times over, they are currently walking the God’s promises. Sober, married, living a life restored by the Lord, with a beautiful little blessing to prove it!
“Recovery has provided me with the tools to put myself back together,” Chris said. “I use those same tools today to be a devoted husband and father. I am thankful for the life recovery has blessed me with.”
