“Thanks for the good life!”
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“I have come a very long way with the help of Open Door Mission,” says Mona.
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” —John 10:10
Looking back on her life, Mona feels like she’s been on a long journey with one destructive detour after another. The journey began in Greenville, Mississippi where she was born and spent the first 12 years of her life. Seeds of faith were planted in her heart by her grandmother, who made sure Mona and her siblings attended church faithfully. But then, on the threshold of her teens, Mona’s family moved to Omaha. And soon, Mona started wandering offtrack. By the time she was 19, she was a single mother and an addict— introduced to crack cocaine by the father of one of her children. (She has four, all grown now.) Before long, Mona was caught in a dead-end cycle that would repeat numerous times over the next two decades. It was a cycle of drug use and abuse, arrests, incarceration, and failed efforts at getting her life together. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t stay on track.
“I didn’t want to be locked up any more, away from my children,” she recalls. At times, this resolve kept her clean and sober for months. One particular season of sobriety lasted well over a year. She was working two jobs and doing very well, but then she lost one of her work options. “I didn’t know where to run to,” she explains. “So I ended up relapsing.”
A blessing in disguise
The relapse got Mona in trouble...again. But looking back, she says, “By the grace of God, I got incarcerated.” She can say this because it was through this experience that God led her to Open Door Mission. “Once I came and saw everything, I decided to join the program,” she says. “I have come a very long way with the help of Open Door Mission and their staff. So if you really want to gain something back as far as your life goes...this is an amazing place to start.”
One of the best things Mona has gained back is her relationship with God. Her relationships with her children, grandchildren, mother and siblings have never been stronger. Mona is still working through the program, but she already has goals and plans for her life after graduation—plans that include a wedding! These days, Mona is more and more confident that, with God’s help, she can stay on track and avoid those detours. She’s grateful to you and others who have made it possible for her to find new life at Open Door Mission. As she says, “Thanks for the good life!”
