1) Walked through the east door of the Union Gospel Mission.

2) Joined the program.

3) Got sober and healthy.

4) Regained confidence through hard work and the satisfaction of a job well done.

5) Paid $200 fine to get driver’s license back.

6) Tested for commercial driver’s license.

7) Graduated from the Mission’s recovery program.

8) Signed up for trucking school.

The distance Chris traveled from that gazebo to the Mission’s east door was only a few blocks, but the distance between the man Chris was in April 2006, when he made that trip, and the man he has become is immeasurable.  “I was a broken man – a real bad alcoholic – wondering where I was gonna sleep from night to night.  I didn’t have anything. I looked up and said, ‘God, what am I gonna do?’  I was all sucked in. I just felt terrible.  I needed some help.”

When Chris came to the Mission, the first person he met was “Diesel” – a large, burly man in a leather vest with a bandana tied around his head and a drooping mustache. Not the sort of man you find easy to approach. But Diesel, Chris said, immediately approached him, welcomed him, and assured him that there was hope.

“My alcoholism didn’t go away.  I relapsed the second week I was here.  I went out and drank, but I admitted that I drank and that was hard for me to do. So my 30-day evaluation period started over.”  After that, Chris said, “It was game on.”

In his matter-of-fact way, Chris attributed his transformation to putting his faith in the Lord, getting his health back, working through some issues with the man he refers to as his “second dad,” Counselor Doug Munday, and trusting the camaraderie he found within the community. Chris was part of the Mission’s Hoopfest team. “I enjoyed running up and down the basketball court with Randy.” He also worked on a nearby ranch, driving fence posts with several other men from the program.  He remembers the hard work fondly – almost as another kind of therapy. Chris graduated from the Mission’s recovery program last June, but he still counts many of the staff and former residents among his best friends.

Chris’ goal setting isn’t limited to his career.  He uses the same step-by-step mentality with regard to restoring relationships. “I got Mom and Dad back, and then I got my brothers and my sisters back. I went around apologizing to them.”  Chris has not, however, seen his 18-year-old twin daughters since they were six. “That’s my next step. Everything’s a process.  It all takes time.”

In the meantime, Chris is enjoying the fruit of his hard work: “I love the challenge.  I get to see God’s country – I mean, every bit of it – and I love the independence.”