From Addiction and Prison to Freedom in Jesus Christ

I was trapped in addiction and in and out of prison, believing my life would change. But in my darkest moment, I cried out to Jesus... and everything started changing. Today I bring hope and Freedom to people that are stuck in addiction, brokenness through a Christ-centered recovery program.

  There was a time in my life when I felt completely lost. I grew up in an alcoholic home filled with fear, violence, and instability. As a boy, I saw things no child should have to see. I watched my mother being abused. I knew hunger. For a time, we even lived in an old trolley car in Central Texas with no running water. By the age of thirteen, I had already turned to drugs and alcohol to escape the pain. What started as an escape became bondage. For years, my life became a revolving door of juvenile facilities, detention centers, halfway houses, county jails, and prison. I was in and out of trouble so often that freedom barely felt normal. I blamed everyone else for the life I was living. I blamed the system. I blamed other people. I blamed my circumstances. But the truth was, I was trapped in denial long before I was ever trapped behind prison bars. 

When Denial Became My Prison

 During my third prison sentence, the parole board asked me what I had done to change. My answer was simple: “Nothing, but I’ve stayed out of trouble.” Then they asked me about my drug and alcohol problem. I told them I didn’t have one. That denial cost me six more months in prison. Looking back now, I can see that God was already working on my heart. While I was incarcerated, He placed a Christian counselor in my path. One day, I admitted something I had never said out loud before: I was selling marijuana inside the prison. She told me something that changed my life. “You have to throw it away.” Not just the drugs — everything I had gained from it. The cigarettes. The food. The favors. All of it. That moment of surrender was one of the hardest things I had ever done. But it became the first crack in the chains that had bound my life for years.

My First Recovery After prison,

 I entered a halfway house in Cleveland, Ohio. That is where my life truly began to change. For the first time, I began to experience real sobriety. Through Alcoholics Anonymous, I stayed sober for years. I worked the twelve steps seriously, honestly, and humbly. But for me, recovery was never only about staying away from drugs and alcohol. It was about surrender. It was about truth. It was about healing. And it was about Jesus Christ. As I worked the steps, I drew closer to God. I learned what it meant to admit I was powerless, to make amends, to live honestly, and to help others. I sponsored men in recovery, led meetings, and shared my story in prisons and treatment centers. I discovered something life-changing: You give it away to keep it. The more I helped others, the stronger my recovery became. 

The Fall Back into Addiction

 But over time, I drifted away from the very things that had kept me grounded. I stopped going to meetings. I stopped praying. I stopped serving. I stopped helping others. At first, it seemed small. But slowly, one bad decision led to another, and before long I had fallen hard. This time it was opioids, cocaine, alcohol, gambling — anything to fill the emptiness inside me. On the outside, I looked successful. I owned a real estate company with 120 realtors and 35 employees. But inside, I was drowning. Addiction stripped away everything I had built. 

Rock Bottom 

Years later, after moving to Georgia, I reached the lowest point of my life. I was drinking every day. I was smoking marijuana. I was addicted to opioids. I lived with crushing depression, anxiety, hopelessness, shame, and fear. Every morning I woke up with cravings I could not fight. Every night I went to bed defeated. I had lost all sense of purpose. Then one night, everything changed. I fell to my knees in complete surrender and cried out: “Jesus, take over my life and my will.” And He did. In that moment, the Holy Spirit met me right where I was. The chains that had held me for decades — addiction, depression, anxiety, hopelessness — were broken. That night, I was not only sobered up. That night, I was saved. 

A New Life and a New Mission 

God did not just rescue me from addiction. He gave me a mission. Today, I walk back into prisons — not as an inmate, but as a messenger of hope in Jesus Christ. The same walls that once held me captive have now become part of my ministry. Only God can write a story like that. That is why I created 12 Steps to Freedom Ministry. This ministry was born out of real pain, real failure, real prison time, real addiction, real relapse, and real redemption. I know what it feels like to be bound. I know what it feels like to feel too far gone.  And I know this: No one is too broken for the grace of God.                                                                          

 No addiction is too strong for Jesus Christ. No past is too dark for redemption. If God did it for me, He can do it for anyone. 

Why I Created 12 Steps to Freedom 

 I created this program because I've seen firsthand how many men and women are trapped in addiction, brokenness. They need the truth. They need hope. They need healing. They need Jesus. The 12 Steps to Freedom program is built to help people break the chains of addiction, denial, shame, and hopelessness through Biblical truth and practical recovery. This is not just a workbook. It is a message of FREEDOM. 

You Are Not Too Far Gone 

Maybe that is why you are here today. Maybe you are struggling yourself. Maybe someone you love is trapped in addiction. Maybe you are looking for hope for an inmate, a family member, or even your own life. Please hear this clearly:   You do not have to be perfect. You just have to be willing. Jesus Christ is still changing lives. He is still breaking chains. He is still restoring the broken. And He can do it for you too.                                                                                                     

Take the Next Step 

Get the 12 Steps to Freedom workbook