Tara was running from herself, from the abuse she suffered as a child, from a lifetime of being bullied and not fitting in. She ran into a relationship that put her in a downward spiral of addiction and destruction. At rock bottom, God led Tara to Nashville Rescue Mission—and gave her NEW LIFE in the Lord!
Tara remembers the day her psychiatrist said, “You’re going to die. You know you’re dying, right? Look at you. Your eyes are sunken, and you’re 100 lbs. You’re passing out all the time. You’re not going to wake up one of these times.”
But the doctor’s harsh words weren’t enough to jolt Tara back to coherence.
Looking back, Tara can see now that her anxiety and depression worsened when she began experimenting with alcohol. And when a loving relationship became controlling and dangerous, introducing her to drugs, Tara fell into an abyss so deep that she believed she would never emerge.
“We lived in deplorable conditions. We didn’t have utilities, we didn’t have money. Alcohol and drugs were the main priority,” she says. “I would wake up every day and think to myself, ‘Wow. This is my life.’”
A nervous breakdown gave Tara a moment of clarity. She called her parents and escaped her abuser. But her addictions ran deep, and the love of Tara’s parents couldn’t free her.
“Things got better for a while, and then they got way worse,” Tara says, remembering those dark days. “I was feeling like I couldn’t handle life, that I was nothing and worthless and would never get anywhere.”
Desperately sick, Tara was hospitalized. There, she hallucinated about being delivered to the hospital in an ambulance. She overheard the EMTs say, “We weren’t able to save her.”
That’s when Tara cried out to God. “I just asked God, ‘Please take me home. I don’t want to suffer any longer.’”
But God didn’t take Tara from this life. Instead, he led her to Nashville Rescue Mission.
Tara joined our Life Recovery Program—an intense, comprehensive, Christ-centered program designed to help men and women understand the reasons they struggle with addiction, homelessness, and other broken lifestyles. It wasn’t easy, but she stuck with it and learned what steps she needed to take to rebuild her life on a solid foundation rooted in God’s Word.
Seven months later, Tara is a new woman with new life in Christ. “I am just overflowing with joy and happiness. Like the chains have been lifted from me. I’m no longer like a slave to myself and to substances,” she says with a broad grin.
“I have a freedom and a new happiness that God has gifted me with. He does amazing things. He makes all things new, and He keeps doing it for me in my life.”
Tara will start school in January to fulfill her dream of becoming a licensed esthetician, helping provide cosmetic skin care treatments and services.
“I’m just so excited about the future. I have goals and aspirations now,” she says through tears of joy. “If you had met me a year ago, you would not even recognize me. You wouldn’t even know who I was. I’m so excited about what’s ahead.”
Please pray with us for Tara’s fresh start in life . . . and for the many other people who are turning to Nashville Rescue Mission hoping for new life this Easter season! Thank you for your ongoing support which is saving and changing lives!
