Hi my name is Mike. I am a former Meth addict. Let me start by telling you about my childhood. I was born in a small town of 2500 people in southeastern Minnesota. My parents raised us up the best that they could. My Father is a Vietnam veteran and my mother is just the average mother. My father and mother are and always have been very involved with the VFW. (Veterans of Foreign Wars) This and my Father being an over the road truck driver left very little time for us children. Do not get me wrong, my parents loved us and cared for us a lot. They just were not around as much as other parents were. I remember one night my when I was 12, my little brother and I were home alone and we had some friends over. This was the night that changed my life for ever. I was introduced to Marijuana. Weed made me feel so good. I thought that I hade found a life long friend but little did I know that Weed would take me down a long dark road. I chose to spend the next 16 years doing what I wanted and getting high everyday. I ran around with a lot of people that I should not had and by 15 I was involved with gangs, drug trafficking and gang/drug violence. At age 16 I had my first hit of Meth and it took me to a new level in my drug life. I began using everyday and doing whatever it took to get my next hit. I used daily for the next 2 years and by what was not seen as Gods grace I was able to quit. This is when I met a beautiful woman who would become my wife. Susan was from a Christian family and I truly believe she was an angel sent from the Lord. This woman became a huge part of my life but could not keep me from my Meth use. By age 19 I was using in what I thought was secret. At age 21 Susan and I were married. I thought that this would settle me down but it made things worse. You see I never knew how God wanted me to treat a wife and I never knew the responsibilities that would come with it. I chose to vent my stress by getting higher and higher. At age 23 we had our first baby girl, Bethany Rose. At age 24 we had our second baby girl, Abigail Marie. Now I thought that this would settle me down for sure but you guessed it, Worse. I abandoned my wife and 2 girls. I wanted to get high and that is all that mattered. I went on a long dark road with my best friend Meth. My Meth use had me stealing from those that I loved the most. I was involved in drug trafficking like never before. I became homeless and living wherever I could find a place to stay. I was on a one way street to hell. My wife and here family continued to pray for me day after day. I had been let loose by the local police department several times not realizing that it was truly the grace of God. My wife contacted me at a drug house and told me she had to talk to me. I met here and she told me that she wanted me to come with her to see her cousin graduate from a program called Minnesota Teen Challenge. I chose to go with her and see him graduate. After graduation my wife and her brother David asked me to go through the program. I left and went on one more binge. I now see that the devil was afraid of me going to Teen Challenge and wanted me dead while he still had my soul. After this binge I went to my in-laws house and stayed there for a few days. This is when I knew that enough was enough. Her father took me outside. I have ran with some of the roughest and toughest in the drug ring and have seen a lot of people hurt but I have never been so scared in all my life when he took me outside. He told me very firmly that enough was enough and that I owed it to everyone and to God to get my life back on track. I broke. I filled out the application to get into Teen Challenge and with in a month I was enrolled. Minnesota Teen Challenge is a 1 year Jesus based treatment center. I wanted to leave so many times. This program changed my life. It was very structured. We were only allowed 3 phone calls a week and 1, 4 hour visit every Saturday which my wife and children showed up faithfully for. I met Jesus for the first time and realized that God loved me and had big plans for me. Today I am Meth free and living at home with my wife and 2 little girls. We still have a long road ahead of us but I have never been happier. We now have Hope. God has truly worked a miracle in my life. The work in my life is a true, real life testament of the Power of God. I now attend a church with my wife, children and her family. I work fulltime and have never seen so much hope in our futures. I truly believe that if not for my wife's prayers, her families prayers, the intervening of her father (THANK YOU GLENN) and for Minnesota Teen challenge I would be either dead or sitting in prison and I would had never met my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you to everyone who had faith in me and never gave up on me. You are true servants of the Lord and will forever be blessed. Thank you for taking time to listen to my story and I hope that this gives you faith and hope

Redeemed,

Thank you for sharing such an intimate part of your life with us. I hope that others will read your testimony and see that our God is an awesome God.

Blessed be,

Lisa

Wow, Mike, you're testimony is a very powerful one. Reading that actually made me realize how blessed i was as a younger adult. You are a very lucky man to have your Wife with you while you battled this meth problem, and she definitely was put into your life for a purpose...and i believe she has completed that purpose. You are blessed that she stayed with you even when you made these wrong choices.

Mike, you're testimony has opened my eyes in a new way...and i just want to pray for you right now...and give thanks to our Lord for what he has done for your life.

God: I pray for Mike, and his family, God i pray that you bless them in their everyday lives, and their very bright future. God i pray for Mike, and sharing this testimony with us all here, and that hopefully it sheds light on others that have fell short of your love. God we know you are always therefore us, Holding our hand even when times seem like you have abandoned us. God i just want to thank you, and give thanks that you continued to show your forever lasting love to Mike, and that he had the courage and strength to open his heart to you. God, I pray for Mike and his Family, and that you continue to Bless them!!
Amen!!

Amen....thank you vash....I will find the verse but it says somwhere in the Bible that the power of our testimony is enough to set the captives free....I post it on everysite i go to weather i come back or not....in hopes it helps someone....Thank you again for your kind words and prayers.

Anytime Bro , we are honored to have you apart of this community . GodBless!!

Wow. Your testimony is something. I'm sure God con use you to reach many with the experiences you have. It's good to have you here.