Newsletter

It has been one year and three months since I graduated from the Rescue Mission’s Life Recovery Program. As I type this, my mind ponders all of the hearts I hope to touch. I want donors to know that your gifts are worth it. I want the Rescue Mission staff to know that your patience and determination seeps into families and radiates through communities far and wide. Most of all, though, I want to speak to the hearts of those who are considering a life change: whether it’s a series of abusive relationships, cycles of poor choices, a dark history you can’t seem to outrun, or an all-consuming dependence, you need to know that this is not forever and you are worth it. When it came to my life, I wanted change, but I really had no idea how to make changes in a meaningful, lasting way. I knew what I was supposed to do – stay clean, be responsible, love and protect my child, make healthy relationship choices, etc. Yet, knowing how to get there is like knowing you want to be rich but having no idea how to make money. I recognized the end goal, but had no clue how to make it happen, so I fell short of my goals again and again. This is where the Rescue Mission stepped in and bridged that gap for me.

Having spent a year in the care of the Rescue Mission, I now understand why short-term rehabs and detox programs are ineffective in the long run: they don’t set an example and then walk with you like the Rescue Mission does. What I needed was for a group of people to lead and help me practice what being sober looks like in every aspect of life. I needed to learn how to wake up without a habit, to experience stress without a crutch, to sleep without a substance, and I needed to come to understand how to replace those habits with choices that helped me feel emotionally stable. I didn’t need to do it for a month or two. I didn’t need to do it to prove to my family that I could stay sober. I didn’t need to do it to satisfy a mandate from the judicial system. I didn’t even need to do it so that my son would trust me again. I needed to do it many times, over and again, with Godly leadership so that I could come to believe in myself again. Somewhere in my darkness, I had lost the belief that I was good. I felt tainted and therefore unworthy of happiness. Because I felt unworthy of happiness, in the twisted way one’s mind works, I went ahead and brought misery onto myself, so I could at least have control over something. It’s this cycle of self-inflicted pain that short-term programs just can’t touch. We need places like the Mission – and Godly people running them – in order to really make the changes that so many of us are, literally, dying for every day.

Each phase of the Mission’s program taught me to reach deeper into myself, past my pride, and to a place where I learned to receive grace. I learned that my pride had been the biggest obstacle of all through my recovery journey. It was the barrier I used to keep God out – an excuse stating, “If I can’t do it myself, God won’t help me.” I applied the same pattern of thought to my family as well, “What do they know about what I’m going through? How could they possibly know what’s best for me? and, What do they get out of this?” It took time and practice, but I finally realized that I had been lying to myself for many years. God helps you because you aren’t meant to do it alone. He places people in your life to love and guide you in the right direction. Unfortunately, we get used to the voices of our family, and we tune them out over time. When you make the choice to receive help from the Mission, they become your family and a fresh, new voice of reason. They listen with an open heart, they lead with Godly direction, and they struggle through the thick of it with you. The Rescue Mission of Middle Georgia is a place that has been blessed by God to help those of us who struggle and to help those of us who may have begun to lose hope for a loved one. I am so thankful to have made the decision to receive grace in this place, and I have learned to develop a healthy pride in discovering who I really am in God’s eyes.

Today, I am an Assistant Manager in the main grocery store that serves my hometown. A couple of years ago, there wasn’t a chance that my pride would have allowed me to work in the eye of the public – the place where these people had watched me struggle – in a small town, no less, where everyone knows my background. I would never have guessed that this would be where my path leads, but I’ve come to realize that grocery stores are the hubs of communities and an ideal space for displaying the power of recovery through God’s grace. I have been honest with my co-workers throughout this journey, and the amount of love and support I have received is overwhelming.

Today, I have my son back. I now influence his life every single day. I’m here for homework and the struggles that come with being a pre-teen. I am here to listen when he’s sad and to hold him when he’s sick. I am here to set an example that the power of God reaches even those of us who feel small. Most of all, I am here – present – everyday, and he never has to worry about who or where I will be from one day to the next.

Today, I have the presence of mind to support those in need of recovery. If you’ve read my original testimony in the Mission Bell (May 2023), you’ll know that my mother has been on a journey of her own. Today, with a grateful heart, I am so unbelievably thankful to say that she is at the Mission! I am so very proud of her, and I pray that she rediscovers belief in herself through the grace of God.

This Christmas, I will be with my son. This Christmas, my mother will be sober. This Christmas, my family will be together because of God’s grace through the Rescue Mission of Middle Georgia. I pray that these words touch the hearts of those in need and the hearts of those who can help. I am living proof that your donations feed an endless supply of gratitude and hope. More importantly, I am proof that real, lasting change can happen when we make the choice to receive help.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Megan V. Jacobs