Resident Remarks – August 2019

Hi, I’m Michael

Today, I’m an active participant in my recovery from drugs and alcohol. I’ve been a resident of in2action since February 11th of this year when I left long term treatment at a prison treatment center, prior to that I was in the Moberly Prison for 3 years. I won’t go into detail about my long criminal history because that isn’t important, although, it spans 15 years of incarceration in three different states. What is important is that since February 11th, when I was last released from prison, I was forced to deal with many character defects and the inability to make reasonable choices. It seems that some people’s recovery here at in2Action moves much faster than other people’s recovery, and I must remind myself daily that this isn’t a race. I’ve learned that just because I haven’t used drugs or alcohol in over 19 months, my old way of thinking doesn’t simply disappear without a lot of focus and hard work. If I’d been left to my own devices, I don’t believe that I would have ever begun this journey of learning how to stay out of prison, but the staff here at in2action, have held me accountable and challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone and think differently. My struggles vary from poor money management, lack of communication skills, poor work ethic and on and on, but what I do have is God and a firm faith that He has a plan for me. If I stay out of His way and allow Him to work miracles, then there are no limits to what He will do in my life. I encourage anybody coming home from prison to work on a solid foundation built upon God and meetings or self-help groups that challenge them to do the same thing that I’m now currently doing. God has shown me that I have a gift to work with others and to lead them in a positive direction, and I plan to take full advantage of this. In closing, I do want to thank everybody who has challenged me to do the next right thing and to continue to reach out to others that may need the same kind help that I did. I’d like to thank Dan, Dave, Dale, Miss Doreen, and also James.