“I’ve been around booze as far back as I can remember,” Doug recalls. His parents shared sips of alcohol with Doug as early as kindergarten. And he’d often accompany older siblings to parties where liquor and marijuana flowed.

When Doug’s parents divorced, his mother married an alcoholic. “We moved six or seven times in a school year and I started falling behind,” he recalls. “I got my GED so I could graduate with my class.”

Doug enrolled in college, but partying became his priority. Eventually, he became a cook at a nightclub. Working under a chef he learned the trade, but alcohol and drugs were just too accessible. As he got deeper into trouble, he knew he needed a change. “So I started cooking at retirement homes, and my drinking and drug use tapered off,” he says.

Several years ago, Doug was seriously injured in a car accident. “In the past I’d called my family when I needed somebody to get me out of jail,” he admits. “This time, the hospital called them.”

As Doug tells of how his father and stepmother came to his rescue, his voice breaks. “They spent hours helping me work my legs. They—and God—gave me the courage to battle to walk again.”

But Doug had another battle to wage; in the hospital, excruciating pain forced him to use prescription drugs and he became addicted to Vicodine. “Soon, all I was doing was sleeping and gaining weight. Finally Dad told me, ‘I don’t want to lose my son.’”

His father’s words touched Doug and he decided to come to Open Door Mission to win the battle over his addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Today, he says, “Living the life I lived, I became very paranoid—now the paranoia is gone. I was addicted to just about everything—now I’m addicted to the Word of God. It tells me I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. It’s the truth!”

Doug says the people at Open Door Mission are good people helping people. “They helped me learn God can use the hardest circumstance for good.” He looks forward to renewing ties with his family and possibly getting formal training in culinary arts. “I’m so thankful for the love God has shown us by sending His Son. Now I can put my burdens on His shoulders.”

Because of friends like you, Doug’s life has been changed for eternity.

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