Smoking killed my mother at the early age of forty. I never got to know my grandfathers due to their smoking unfiltered Camels and Chesterfields. This didn't stop me from using marijuana. I first tried it at age twenty one and I loved the high. I had started smoking at age ten by finishing cigarette butts and by fifteen I had chain-smoked a pack of Marlboros while baby-sitting. I didn't believe that I was hooked until I was introduced to marijuana.

God brought me into his Kingdom in the summer of 2000, just as the Chemical Recovery ministry was being started in the Church in Los Angeles. I had first heard about this ministry from Mike Leatherwood and Willie Flores as they shared in meetings throughout the various regions in the church. My drug use started at an early age. At seven or eight years old, I was smoking cigarettes while stealing sips of wine and beer from unattended glasses. At age ten, I was getting drunk and by thirteen, was using inhalants. Cigarettes were a constant abuse for me, as was alcohol. I grew up in the sixties and LSD also became a drug of choice.

My life before the kingdom was a long endless road of misery with my addiction. Before I became a disciple I indulged in drinking almost constantly. I began drinking at the age of seven and continued through to my teenage years where I started smoking marijuana and tobacco. Each year I got worse, with my addiction separating me from my family and friends. I was failing at school and taking dangerous risks with the law just for the thrill of it.

Looking back, even I can't see what motivated me to start studying the bible. I was a heavy drinker and cocaine user. The reason I came to church was for my children and I chose this church because the service was at 2:30 in the afternoon on Sundays. I was usually feeling better by then and if not, there was always Wednesday night, if I missed Sunday. All of the early morning church services fell by the wayside because it was unthinkable for me not to party all night Saturday without being hung-over Sunday morning.