Alcohol numbed the pain, but never took it away. I drank alone, too fearful to share my pain. Then with my marriage on the rocks and my kids living in fear, a random guy tells me he knows my story, because it was his story. And Jesus is the only answer.
I didn’t believe him at first. I’d heard the Jesus talk before—sermons, pamphlets, people with good intentions but no clue what it felt like to wake up ashamed every morning. But this guy wasn’t preaching. He was broken, like me. His eyes didn’t shine with judgment, but with something I hadn’t seen in a long time: hope.
He invited me to a small group at his church. I said no. Then I said maybe. Then, one Thursday night, I walked in, half-drunk and fully skeptical. They didn’t flinch. They welcomed me like I mattered. Like I wasn’t just the guy who ruined birthdays and forgot anniversaries.
Week after week, I kept showing up. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was the coffee. Maybe it was the way they listened. Maybe it was the way they talked about Jesus—not as a distant deity, but as someone who sat with them in their darkest nights.
One night, I broke. I told them everything. The fights. The lies. The bottle hidden in the garage. The way my daughter cried when I raised my voice. I expected silence. Instead, they prayed. Not for me to be better, but for me to be healed.
That night, I went home and poured every bottle down the sink. I dropped to my knees and whispered, “Jesus, if you’re real, I need you. I can’t do this alone.”
I didn’t wake up perfect. I woke up sober. And that was enough.
It’s been three years. My wife didn’t trust me at first, and she had every reason not to. But she saw the change. Not just in my habits, but in my heart. My kids laugh again. My house feels like a home.
I still go to that group. Now I sit beside guys who walk in half-drunk and fully skeptical. I tell them my story. I tell them about the night I met Jesus—not in a church pew, but in a circle of broken men who believed healing was possible.
Because it is.
Freedom didn’t come from willpower. It came from surrender. And in surrender, I found grace. I found peace. I found freedom. I found Jesus and now I have everything!
