Mel's Story
"Life controlling issues? What does that really mean? Our first response may be an addiction or a sinful lust or depression. All of these most certainly are very serious issues on their own. But many times, they are the side effects of a greater issue that has broken a person beyond their worst nightmares.
Hello, my name is Mel King and I'm a broken man. I wasn't always this way. I was married to a wonderful wife and had four beautiful children and the best-looking grandchildren any man could have. We were a family that was active in our church and community. All was well in our life. That’s when hardship usually shows up. For us it came in the form of the most feared "Death."
My wife was diagnosed with metastasized breast cancer and after three and a half years she peacefully stepped into heaven. It broke my heart to let her go and the grief and sorrow ran deep into my soul. I should have pressed closer to God, but I didn't. My response was to isolate myself in my grief and to drink till I silenced the loneliness.
I thought my life couldn't get any worse; how wrong I was. November 8, 2018, I received the phone call that no parent ever wants to hear. "Your daughter is missing." My second daughter and her husband had done a random act of kindness for a man by giving him a ride home. Later that same night their bodies would be found in their burning car. My spirit was shattered and my soul crushed.
Nothing prepares a parent for these moments. I don't think anything can. Needless to say, I fell even deeper into the bottomless pit of fear, depression and addiction. I stopped loving my family for the fear that losing another would be even harder.
These are the conditions I was in when I came to Faith Home Adult & Teen Challenge. It was here that God started to heal me and I allowed Him to comfort me. Here I was able to walk through the Valley of the shadow of death and face the grief, sorrow and anguish instead of isolating and self-medicating myself. Here is where I learned that in Christ those who mourn are comforted, sorrow In Christ becomes Joy, broken hearts are mended, crushed souls are healed and enlarged. Even Death, in Christ, becomes an Easter morning full of new life.
My family is healing. Yes, we will always have our grief and sorrow. But we have a stronger faith and trust In Christ. Our hope and joy have been renewed. I am no longer afraid to love. Thank you for your support of ATC Faith Home"
-Broken for Christ’s sake, Mel King