Guppy’s Testimonial

I never thought I'd be standing here today. 9 months ago, I was just another statistic, a needle in my arm, nodding out on some forgotten street corner, unaware that God had a plan for me all along. 

As far back as I can remember, I was a disruptive, defiant and difficult child.  My mother and father split when I was very young, and I chose to live with my mother, who still suffers from a perilous drug addiction. A combination of her disease and my defiance landed me in foster care and psychiatric facilities. I was alone a lot, different and felt like I didn’t belong anywhere I went. I was placed on many medications for my behavioral issues and felt more and more like there was something really broken about me. I started smoking weed and using anything I could to change the way I felt inside. I skipped school and did just about anything to fit in. As a young teenager, lost and eager to fit in, I joined a traveling family and set out on my own. 

For over a decade, I hopped freight trains across America.For over a decade, I hopped freight trains across America, traveling to 46 states and getting arrested in half. I honestly lost count of how many times I overdosed. The scariest part? I had come to terms with the fact that I would die from an overdose. It wasn't a question of if, just when.

Then came my wake-up call. After my last stint in jail, I overdosed five times in just two weeks. Lying in that hospital bed, something finally broke through. Maybe it was divine intervention, or maybe I'd just run out of options. That's when I found Legacy Home of Recovery.

You know what's strange about rock bottom? Sometimes, you have to completely shatter before you can be rebuilt. At Legacy Home, I discovered something I never knew I was missing: purpose. The 12 steps became my roadmap. The principles became my compass. But the real transformation? That came through Jesus.

There's this moment that still haunts me in the best possible way. I was thinking about my lowest point: dirty, broken, with a needle in my arm. And it hit me – that version of me, the one society had written off, the one that was going to be the death of me, that's the version Jesus died for. The grace in that reality is still hard for me to fathom. 

I should be dead. We all know it. But what I once saw as my curse has become my greatest asset. Every dark alley I slept in, every train I rode, every jail cell I ended up in, every bad choice and wrong turn; although they weren’t part of God's plan, He has turned around and used them for my good.  All that time I spent traveling and getting high, I was really searching for purpose, and I didn’t even know it. And now? I get to help others find their way out of that same darkness I just knew I'd never escape.

Today, I sponsor and mentor multiple men in recovery. I've been baptized to a new life. I have a real relationship with Jesus. And every time I watch God move in someone else's life, I'm reminded that our darkest chapters can become someone else's light. 

My story isn't about how far I fell. It's about how far God can reach. What feels like your curse today might become your testimony tomorrow. Here's what I know for sure: if God can transform a train hopper in the throes of addiction into a vessel for His purpose, He can transform anyone.

I’m grateful to the Legacy Home for showing me a life I never thought possible without drugs, for the time and energy they spend on so many, with no motive of profit, and for equipping me with the tools I need to let God lead me while I lead others, into a life of true freedom. 

In closing let me say that I choose to follow Jesus because He is not a cage of rules (I never much liked those anyway). He is a real person who loves me and sees my potential, not my failure. I'm glad that He is the judge of my life and my future. I am my biggest enemy.  Sometimes, I condemn myself through the guilt and shame of my past, and today, I realize that voice is the Devil. He knew my name but always called me by my sin. Jesus knows my sin, yet He calls me by my name. If I can have a relationship with Him, then I know absolutely anyone can, and from now on, I'll make it my life’s work to tell everyone I can.