True Self Esteem
“I’m 45 now and I finally like me.” Those were the words that Matthew shared as he summed up the difference the Ministry has made in his life. Drinking and drugging had been his path to getting acceptance and respect, but connecting with the God he once didn’t even believe existed, has led Matthew to a life where he can finally accept himself.
“Where I grew up, kids would head out to the river to swim, ski, and shoot the rapids. There was always something to drink there, and with it so available I started drinking at around thirteen. In our little town I knew the guy behind the counter, and I was buying my own alcohol by sixteen or seventeen. It got so bad that by eleventh grade I was drinking by breakfast and buying a biscuit at Burger King to cover up the smell before I got to school.”
“One day I got in trouble for smoking pot in the smoking courtyard at my school, and everything changed. Really quickly the rumors turned my little joint into a big bag, and I went from being a nerd to being very cool.” Drugs didn’t fulfill like alcohol, but acceptance was even more fulfilling, so he saw no reason to set the story straight. I had become fully addicted to alcohol by the end of high school. I was kicked out of my house by sixteen, and because I had gotten a steady job, I went ahead and dropped out of high school two weeks before graduation.”
Matthew moved to Atlanta at twenty-one and worked just to party and drink. When he out drank his money, he would take advantage of his friends to keep things going. “In ’98 I started going to AA meetings and my sponsor was a believer. I didn’t believe God existed, but my
