Testimony, Door of Hope rehabilitation center

My name is Marco Antonio; I am 41 years old and have 2 daughters.   I grew up in a dysfunctional home, my father used drugs and alcohol and eventually died from abusing them; then my mother left home.  At the age of 19 years old I was left alone with my two younger brothers, by this time I was consuming marijuana, thinner, mushrooms and alcohol.  Despite my drug use, I was still able to get a good job working with the government and I got married at 24 years old.  By the age of 30 I was consuming cocaine, I did not have bad intentions, I loved and adored my wife and my children, but my drug addiction led me to do bad things and eventually destroyed my life, my family, and my dreams.  At the age of 36 I was decided to take my life, my wife who studied medicine, was there and brought me back; if it were not for God and her I would not be sharing this testimony today.  Everyone tried to make me see how lucky I was and that I needed to stop consuming, but I was enslaved to the drugs, and began to smoke crack.  Due to my addictions over the years I went from being a happy, hard-working person with dreams to a person who just wanted to die.  So many times I would try to overdose with crack and cocaine, hoping that my heart would just stop.  One of my younger brothers came to me and told me that when  I was ready for help that he would take me to a rehabilitation center that he knew of;  It took me a year to take him up on his offer, but I did and he brought me to the Door of Hope rehab center.  I have been here for almost 6 months now, when I came here I was defeated, frustrated and without hope; but now my life has completely turned around.  I know now that the root of all of my problems was that I did not have God in my heart.  Now I have identity as a son of God; He has filled my heart, Only He could fill the emptiness that I tried to fill for years with drugs and alcohol.   I give thanks to God first, then to my family, and to Rev. Jimmy Hughes and his staff at Door of Hope rehabilitation center.  One of the verses that speaks to my life is in Matthew  22:37-39

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’