“Clingy,” insecure and desperate for acceptance as a teenager, Lesley found the confidence she craved in drugs and alcohol. But the highs didn’t last. “They gave me wings but took away my sky,” she says.
During the next 14 years, Lesley says, “My best friend took me in, but I still wanted to do drugs and drink, so I left and just became a wanderer. I was definitely in some dangerous places, but that didn’t matter to me at the time.”
Lesley struggled with her addiction for 14 years, until she gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl. “Seeing those two innocent babies and knowing what I was doing opened my eyes, big time. “When they were taken away from me, my whole life stopped. I didn’t have my kids, I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have a place to live. I was completely hopeless,” she recalls.
The Lord led Lesley to safety at Simonka Place for Women and Children, where she joined the New Life Fellowship program. “It’s been a struggle, but it was the best thing I ever did. I found God here. I know now that He has a purpose for me,” she says.
God’s purpose for Lesley’s life includes raising her twins, now 18 months old. She has been granted regular visitation with them and looks forward to regaining joint custody as soon as she graduates from the program. “I wouldn’t be able to be a mother to them without the tools I’ve been given at Simonka Place.”
Lesley sees God’s hand in other areas of her life as well. “By His grace and mercy, my family relationships are being restored,” she tells us. “I look forward to what lies ahead.”
Building her new life on the solid foundation of God’s word, Lesley now understands that she had looked for acceptance in all the wrong places. “Jesus is all I ever needed. I can be a clingy person with Him and I’m filled with joy because of it!
