Troy at ETC

My guest post ended up taking six months instead of two weeks, but here it is...

This is Troy, mom's second oldest son. I'm currently at Evans Training Center and have been for the last 21 months. When I was fifteen I tried my first cigarette and from there it was less than six months before I was smoking pot. I knew no limits and there was no line I was unwilling to cross. This lasted all the was through my high school career.  When I got to the end of my 12th grade year I still had 3 classes I needed to finish in the summer; but I was way to involved with my fantasy world with my buddies, smoking pot and drinking that school was never something I pursued. Two months after my 19th birthday I found myself in such a lowly place I saw no hope or chance of freedom. One night after a argument with my father I decided I was done with my family and life as I knew it. I, in anger and teenage stupidity, decided I would be better off under a bridge than in the home with my loving family. While I was packing my bags through tears and rage mom ask me if I would like to call Benji. She told me he had a place for guys like me. I called and talked to him for a few minutes and before I got off he told me to call him back the next morning at ten. This went on for three or four days. then on a rainy Monday night mom drove me out t this little house set back in the woods. During my intake interview Ben told me that the little brat that back talked his mom and disrespected his dad would show up. I was sure I could keep up a good face and fool everyone into thinking I was a good'ole boy. It wasn't long before I showed my tail and got truth spoke to me. My program seemed to take forever.  All the way through I knew God was telling me to stay on for Servant Leadership Training (SLT), so after graduating on July 15, 2012 I sighed up for another year. I love where I am. Its still not easy but having God's favor on my life comes by obedience to His word and His word is stay. I came broken and in pieces. God's had me in a pressure cooker for the last two years and he has healed so much in my life.  Now I can help other young men come out of the same bondage that held me for so long. In Ben's words "We are more than conquerors, taking what the enemy used to keep us down and using it to bring glory to our Father."