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My name is Mackenzie, I am 30 years old. I came here to A Ray of Hope after completing treatment. Since the age of 16, I have been to inpatient treatment 5 or 6 times. Since my early teens, I have struggled with addiction. I’ve been homeless, in and out of jail, hospitalized, gone to multiple institutions and so much more. My family did everything they could to help me and support me in a life of recovery, but no matter what support I had or which treatment center I went to, I still couldn’t “get it.” I would always end up going back to the horrors of the life an addict lives while actively using. I would go more into the details of that but not only are they scary and embarrassing, they’re not something I am very fond to talk about. I promise though, if you ask me I will tell you because my story shows the power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let me say this though, the evils that are involved in that lifestyle are no joke and I realize now that maybe I had to go through all of that to appreciate my life today. In January of 2022 I was in jail and there wasn’t much to do in there. Even though I wasn’t at all religious or spiritual, I would end up going to the church services they would hold sometimes and someone would come in to share the gospel. I had been to a few of them, but one in particular caught my attention. A lady came in and she was reading a part out of the Bible that went into a detailed list of all the different sins we commit as humans; lust, greed, anger, malice, etc. I remember during the prayer we were repeating after her and I ended up in tears. Now, this didn’t mean anything necessarily changed, but the seed was definitely planted. I went back to my pod and wondered if maybe Jesus was what I had been missing all along. I always knew about God. I grew up going to Sunday school and memorizing books of the Bible, but I had never truly given my life to the Lord or opened my heart to let Him in. That actually did not end up happening until I came to A Ray of Hope where I met Dave. I had started attending his Bible studies twice a week and he would meet with me one-on-one for spiritual counseling each week. The more I learned about HOW to have a personal relationship with Jesus, the more I wanted to know Him. It wasn’t but a few weeks later that I was saved and I asked Jesus to please come into my heart. I admitted that I was a sinner and I knew that I couldn’t do this without Him. I haven’t looked back, other than to appreciate who Jesus is and how truly powerful His love for us is. He can take a broken, lost and sinful woman and heal her. I constantly seek Him each day. I am truly so thankful for this life I have been given, even though I don’t deserve His grace and mercy. I do not do enough each day to show the world how much this new life of mine means to me or how blessed I am to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But I do know, I won’t ever take my Salvation for granted. Because of this, I now get to experience the joys of bonding with my loving family who never once gave up on me. I’m able to show up and support them as they have always done for me; cheering my sister on in her sports, going to visit my sweet niece and show her all the love she has from her auntie, and spending quality time with my loving parents. I was clean and sober for my brother’s wedding day (a goal of mine in addiction) and I have true and meaningful connection with my sister who sent me a beautiful poem she wrote about us. I truly am so incredibly grateful for being able to stay here at A Ray of Hope and for my life today. I have over a year free from drugs and alcohol, I am finding a community of other Christians and my words cannot describe the joy of knowing Jesus. Thank you for reading my testimony and God Bless.
Mackenzie Johnson