The best time of the year...TOUR DE SLATE!! I get excited for this fundraiser every year because it benefits the organization that saved my life, Adult and Teen Challenge Vermont.
As most of you know, I struggled with alcohol for a very long time. I used it to deal with depression from abandonment issues, a divorce, deaths in the family...things that most people deal with in life in a healthy way. I chose to drink, and continued to choose the bottle for years. I went to rehab after rehab for 3 years and I kept going right back to the bottle of vodka, I idolozed it.
But God....GOD found my mother in a bar room and spoke to her through a wonderful woman about Adult and Teen Challenge Vermont. I initially bucked it and told Mom I wasn't going because of this faith and Bible stuff that didn't matter to me, but she said, "What do you have to lose at this point? You've tried everything else."
Mom drove me to the Holy Hill in Johnson on March 5, 2020 and God showed up and really started showing off. I started getting sobriety time under my belt. Month after month after month. When I hit my 10 month mark, that's when it really clicked about how good our God is. That was the day He told me to stay after I graduate and become an apprentice. During my apprenticeship I wanted to leave and go back to Connecticut to be close to family again, but God...He stopped me from that. I got into a car accident, ironically getting hit by a drunk driver which totaled my vehicle and broke my foot. God used that accident to teach me to sit still.
Since then, I became a full time staff member, serving as the Admissions Coordinator and Church Services Coordinator for two years. I got married to my God-created and hand-picked-by-God wife, Desiree, on 1/1/22 in our chapel at Adult and Teen Challenge Vermont. Today, I am proud to serve as the Assistant Director here.
If you told me four years ago that I would be working at a faith-based recovery program and married to God's best creation, I would have said you're nuts. Today, I can believe it because I'm actually living it.
My story isn't unique. This life of freedom that I have because of Jesus is available to anyone who wants it! Adult and Teen Challenge introduced me to Him, and I'm a new creation today because of it. Donating to this ministry gives more men and women the opportunity I received to get to know Jesus in a safe setting, in a setting with the ability to learn the Bible, vocational skills and personal skills. Donating to this ministry will help pay for somebody to come in through the doors of Adult and Teen Challenge Vermont.
Riding goals:
No matter what, I'm going to ride at least the 8 mile course. But I want to ride bigger.
If we can TOGETHER raise a total of $1,000, I will ride the 26.8 mile course.
If we can TOGETHER raise a total of $1,250, I will ride the 36 mile course.
If we can TOGETHER raise a total of $1,500, I will ride the 40 mile course.
Finally, if we can TOGETHER raise a total of $2,000, I WILL RIDE THE METRIC CENTURY 63 MILE COURSE!
I'm very grateful for all of your support over the last four years of being here, and for those of you who have stuck by me in my journey of alcohol addiction for way before that. Let's make this the best ride yet. Thank you, and blessings to you all!