Listener Stories & Comments

When I was 15, My father comitted suicide on July 17, 2000. Three years later  to the day, July 17, 2003, my mother died from cancer about a month after i  graduated from high school.  I wound up being evicted from the house my mom and dad had rented for 16  years, and found myself with nowhere to go.. I spent the rest of the summer with a friend, then in the fall, i stayed with someone from a church i had  attended for a long time... I burned these bridges, because i was mad at  myself, mad at the world, and mad at GOD himself....so rather than running to  him, i did like Jonah, and ran the other way... i lived life like this,  sleeping in The restored caboose adjacent to the train depot in the town of  Culpeper for a month from late October to the end of November, and other  places through the day to get enough sleep before going to work from  3:00pm-3:00am, Monday through thursday.... A lady who was a dispatcher for  the town police took me in and allowed me to sleep on her couch, and did everything she could to help me, however, this provided no results... She  asked if she could contact a friend who worked for a local paper to see if he  wanted to do a story on me.. The story was run in the paper, and the  community reached out to me, helping me greatly... Due to my wanting to be  accepted, I allowed myself to be influenced by the wrong crowd, who i thought  were "friends" but were only my friends when i had something. I had used  marijuanna before, but i allowed myself to use it more, getting my priorities mixed up and lost my job, and someone i loved dearly... we went around over a  two week time frame, setaling cd players out of vehicles, and breaking into  self storage units just to have something to do... it was fun at first, then i became addicted to the adrenaline rush, and the money we could get from selling the cd players was fast too.

Then it all came crashing down. the night we were arrested, we ran from the police, then i fnally stopped after traveling 23 miles in 9 minutes... I plead guilty to the charges, and had 4 years, plus detention and diversion to  do following that... I wound up getting kicked out of the detention center twice because of poor choices, which caused me to get another 5 year sentence  for my second probation violation...

During this time, the LORD blessed me with the opportunity to take courses from a seminary in florida in which i earned my bachelor of ministry(4.0 gpa), in less than two years. I later got into a graphic communications and  digital print reproduction class at another institution. I got certified as a desktop publisher and bindery worker. I also have nearly completed the manuscript for my autobiography, which i still have a small amount to type.

I was released april 9, 2012, and have obtained employment. The second chances program helped me with funding for a place to live, and a job as well, in which i was employed for just over 2 months...
the funding was to be done in september, however, i recently found out that they are out of money, and the check that i picked up this past friday was my  last. My rent is paid for the month of July also.

So now i am back to square one, starting over again. I am hoping that the  LORD will again provide....
One day i want to obtain a job as a counselor at a christian rehab program, because I once was a drug addict, homeless, incarcerated, and know what it's  like not be in touch with family for a long period of time. I once was lost  but by GOD's grace i am a new creature at 27 years old. I've scrubbed toilets 
and cleaned floors for 27 cents an hour, and picked up trash at a lanfill for 45 cents an hour, living off of 72 dollars a month...

I see so many guys focusing their lives on one thing... Money, drugs, women, etc... when they do that, they isolate themselves from everything else putting up walls, and before they realize it they've built a prison for  themselves... i was once like that, but i have been delivered, and now i see myself as a prisoner of hope, because my faith is all i have... Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it. i am placing my situation in God's hands that I will find a job, and a place to live before the end of the month that is in town, whether it be orange, culpeper, or warrenton, so i can utilize the transit system, to get to and from work, wherever it may take me... my hope is in christ...  if there is anyone out there that would be willing to give me a chance, or if this has given you helped you when you were struggling, please feel free to contact me.... kwoodward1985@hotmail.com, (540)-229-4580