“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

            In some ways, Steven Howard’s story sounds a lot like every other drug addict’s story: He started using pot in high school, just trying to fit in.  Dropped out of school at 17. Discovered cocaine shortly thereafter, got a job to pay for his drugs, married and had his first child at 19, kept right on using drugs. Started blowing off jobs, divorced, went to treatment, stayed clean for a few months, met another woman, had another child, got introduced to crank.  Wow! here was a whole new level of high, he had energy for days. But crank was nothing compared to his climax drug – the one that ended life as he knew it – meth. Meth consumed him from the inside out and left him with a felony record, emaciated, living in his car . . . until the Department of Corrections impounded his car.

            Twenty plus years of addiction and carnage – that’s the drug’s story, and truly, the drug’s story doesn’t change radically from one person to the next.  The drug kills, eats and destroys over and over and over again.

            What Steven discovered during his two years at the Union Gospel Mission, however, is that the story of his drug use is not his whole story.  It does not define who he is because now his identity comes from Christ.  “When I finally accepted Christ into my heart, it was the turning point of my program.  It was like, OK, that addict, that junkie, that worthless piece of garbage that I thought I was my whole life is gone.  That void in my heart was filled.  I truly believed I was somebody and that there wasn’t anything I couldn’t accomplish if I put my mind to it.”

            In the past year, Steven has accomplished a lot.  During the WorkNet class at the Mission, he discovered his aptitude for mechanics and soon after registered for welding school. Within the first week, his instructor noticed his natural ability and assigned him to an on-the-job training position where he could learn and be paid at the same time.  Laid off during a slow period, he finished his schooling and earned certification as a welder.

            Steven attends Celebrate Recovery meetings every Monday night at the Mission and meets for accountability with fellow graduates from the Mission’s recovery program (who also happen to be his best friends) every Thursday evening.  He is engaged to be married to Leala in July and enjoys spending time with her two daughters.

            “I’m not playing that same old tape in my head any more:  you’re worthless; you’ll never amount to anything.”  He’s playing a new tape now:  “I’m an honest, caring, dependable, trustworthy individual.”