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Randy's Story
God got a hold of me and flipped me inside out!
Imagine a young boy having to assume the role of "man of the house" in taking care of his mother who had a life-threatening disease which caused her to be an invalid. This little boy took care of the house, did laundry, fixed meals and even helped bathe and care for his mother. "I counted it a privilege to take care of my mother," Randy remembers. What he didn't know was that as an 8 year old, he needed someone to care for him. But there was no one.
When the neighborhood kids were out playing ball, Randy was in the house caring for his mother or finding odd jobs to make a little money for household expenses. As a teenager, his friends begged him to "leave her alone, come with us, have some fun!" But he couldn't.
At age 15, Randy's mother was hospitalized and on life support. His grandmother came from out of state at the request of the doctor, signed papers for removal of the life support and left. His mother died. That's when all the resentment, hurt and disappointment began to surface.
The hurt would not go away so he began numbing his feelings by smoking pot and drinking wine. He married a girl shortly after his mother died. "I realize today that I was not looking for a wife but for a substitute mother to love me and take care of me." Needless to say Randy lived a dysfunctional life for more than 40 years using alcohol and drugs to help him cope.
As a 43 year old man, Randy came to the Muncie Mission for lunch one day. Before lunch was served a Mission counselor read a verse of scripture and prayed. Randy remembers vividly, "he talked about God loving me and wanting to set me free from my sins, my pain and my failures. I desperately wanted that and God convicted me of the hatred I felt." He made a decision that day to enter the Mission's recovery program. After one month Randy committed his life to Christ-that was the easy part. Giving up control of his life to God was very difficult. "But God got a hold of me and flipped me inside out. It's been great!"
Many wonderful and exciting things have happened to this man in his two years at MMM. First of all, he finally got a copy of his birth certificate which he was never able to do. His brother told him he was born in Texas 11/5/1961. In reality, he was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on November 6, 1962. More importantly, Randy has been in successful recovery, has been walking with God and is looking forward to helping other residents find the same joy and peace he has found. And lastly, he is in the process of re-establishing a healthy relationship with his children and brother.
A quick follow up to this story: On October 29 Randy was notified that he had passed his GED testing. He is busy thanking God for his wonderful goodness to him. With this important step accomplished he is able to move on to the next step on his recovery road.
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