Jimmy was a victim of abuse and abandonment at an early age. He was 14 when his mom took off, leaving him to endure violent beatings from his father.
“He’d do anything to try and hurt me,” Jimmy recalls. “He said if I ever left him, he’d kill me. I felt depressed; emotional. I felt like nobody wanted me. I was alone.”
Everything went downhill from there. He started smoking weed and then moved on to harder drugs. The addiction became stronger and stronger, and eventually, he was arrested for drug possession.
His fiancee was understandably upset when she found out he was in jail. She bailed him out but refused to take him with her and threatened to end the relationship. That’s when Jimmy called on God for help. He wanted to marry this woman, and he could not imagine being separated from their daughter.
“And that’s when my brother called. He contacted 7 Springs and they said they had one or two extra beds open, and they’d love to have me.”
Jimmy admits he was not enthusiastic about the rehab program at first. He stuck around for four months, got a job and left. By God’s grace and thanks to the encouragement of his brother and the 7 Springs staff, he returned. Several months later, he finally surrendered his life to Jesus.
“I said, ‘I give up, I surrender. God, just help me get through this.’ And he ended up helping me get through it.”
By the end of the program, Jimmy’s family began to be restored. He was able to see his mom, his fiancee and his daughter.
“The thing that I learned here is, follow the Lord and he shall direct thy path. That just stuck with me. If it’s in God’s will, it shall be done. Just keep looking forward, don’t look backwards.”
