July 2019 Newsletter

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Rescue For the Rescuer

After years of successful living, Misti relapsed over one fateful, mistaken belief, she said, “I thought I could drink like a ‘normy.’” She wanted so to be “normal”, that is, free of disorder. Yet, all humanity has faults, some are just manifested in more apparent, self-destructive ways. She had a rough childhood and young adult life, then years of success, followed by heartbreak and relapse. Now she is victorious.

Misti’s formative years were marked by loss and rejection. When only nine-years-old, her mother committed suicide. She was raised by inadequate relatives until 14. Then a single foster mother, along with her abusive, alcoholic boyfriend, filled in as parents. She said,” I felt like I didn’t belong, not blood, not wanted, not nurtured or loved. So, I started hanging around people that cared, and they drank. The day she turned 18, she moved out to experience life on her own terms.

A friend brought meth, and everyone else was doing it. The stimulant gave her temporary relief, it seemed. She said, “You are wired, busy, cannot think about anything, so you forget about bad feelings.” In the end, the drug remedy was the poison that caused severe domestic violence, divorce, and lost custody of her daughter.

A drug court judge sent Misti to her sister’s house, instead of jail. There, she turned her life around, accepted the Lord, even taught childrens’ classes at church. Her background and conversion caught the attention of the Mission, and she was hired as our manager of Samaritan Inn. Two years later, she left to manage a large transitional housing facility for over 12 years, leaving only when they insisted on having a resident manager. Then for a couple of years, she managed an operation for victims of domestic violence. But, life unraveled when her children were grown, the busyness stopped, and her second marriage fell apart. Her ex-husband committed suicide. She said, “I had the same kind of unworthy thoughts (as when a child), not able to save my manager’s position and taking a lot of responsibility for the divorce. When I walked into that bar for the first time again, I thought, ‘I deserve a cocktail.’ But, I am an alcoholic. Something in me, a chemical thing in my brain, takes control.”

Misti then was alone, unemployed, homeless, couch surfing, car camping. She said, “I came to the end of myself. I was very sick.” While living in a store parking lot, she confessed, “I have never felt the presence of God so strongly in my life. I felt love, like it was going to be ok, like I was a little girl. This was not the plan I have for your life.” Then she remembered, “I knew I needed routine, structure, and accountability. Samaritan Inn had it. I would be safe here, and do everything I needed to make it.”

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Cor. 5:17

When Misti became the manager of Samaritan Inn in 1998, it was just one residential house. She was here when the second house was purchased, but not the third one. Her return as a client was to a new, much larger shelter at a different location. Her reaction was, “The new Samaritan Inn is amazing. It is more structured, less chaos and drama. There is a whole lot of compassion here, consistency of rules. Programmers and staff are amazing. Its run the way it should be.”

She could now look back to admit, “My relationship had been a surface one. Ok God, ‘I will give You this, but not this.’ I wanted control.” Now Misti’s profession of faith is, “I surrendered my will and my life to God.” She sought out and found a job that would keep her active. With the issues that caused her homelessness being worked on first, now Misti is looking for independent housing.