12 Feb A Weary Heart Rejoices
Bryan’s parents tried to shield him from the world with rules. But their limits awakened rebellion inside Bryan as a teen. “I felt like I had control,” he says. “I didn’t think bad things could happen to me.”
To escape the rules at home, he started doing drugs. As an adult, he found work as a plumber and finally lived how he wanted. But drugs turned into an addiction and set up a destructive pattern he couldn’t control.
“I became lonely and sad,” he says. “Using people… I really only cared about myself, but I was never satisfied.”
It was jail that gave Bryan what he needed most. “For once, I was sitting still. I couldn’t run or do the things I wanted.”
Bryan had never tried an addiction recovery program. But a local judge agreed to let him try Wheeler’s program.
When he got here, he was struck by our staff’s compassion. “They cared about me, taught me the Bible,” he says. “I could see others in Wheeler’s program were changed men, and I wanted that too.”
At our Training Center, where men in our recovery program go through counseling, work therapy and Bible study to heal their broken lives, Bryan learned to break his patterns. “They teach us to face problems instead of running from them, like I always did.”
In facing his struggles, Bryan experienced a peace he’d never known. “God opened my eyes to see it’s not about me anymore.”
Bryan has finished our program and joined our Servant Leadership Training Program to keep growing in his relationship with the Lord and give back to Wheeler through serving others.
Today, he’s no longer focused on himself. “Whether I work in plumbing or in ministry, I want to help people… show them the mercy and kindness I’ve been shown… and tell them about Jesus Christ.”
When he sees his life today and compares it to just a year ago, Bryan is thrilled by his transformation thanks to God’s love in his life – and your support. “This place is helping minister to men like me… planting and watering seeds so God can make them grow.”