I am a cocaine addict and my name is Mechie.

I say it that way because without knowing what I am, I will never know who I am. December 11, 2010, is my God-given sobriety date and this is my story.

I’ve heard many people say, “I was just not ready for the message.” After many vain attempts and failures, I finally saw just what this meant. Desperation creates willingness and, at the time, I was not willing to do “whatever it takes”…until I went to Dove Tree.

Two weeks before entering Dove Tree, I was charged with drug possession. I had just dropped out of college for the third time and I had little hope left of getting my life back together. At the same time, I found out I was going to be a father.

To say that I came in to recovery with guilt, shame, and remorse would be an understatement. On my fourth day at Dove Tree, I packed all my stuff in a sheet and ran away down a dirt field in Lubbock. I have always been a runner. I was running not only from the fear of the unknown, but from my past. I did not know who I was and I could not see myself making it. I was chased down by two staff members who ended up being my best friends in life. They knew what I was doing because they themselves had done the same.

They asked me the most pivotal question I had ever faced: what are you running from? For the first time in my life, I broke down and surrendered to doing whatever it took.

Returning to Dove Tree, I worked extensively with some of the best counselors and people I have ever met. They believed in me and helped me learn how to love myself. They introduced me to two topics that drive me to this day: PURPOSE and IDENTITY. They taught me about the disease of addiction and that using was only a symptom of it.

Everything, for once in my life, clicked! I had accepted being an addict and was freed.

I listened to staff recommendations and went to sober living. Through the help of Karmen Adkins, the clinical director, I was able to attend school again. It was my purpose and identity that had been missing the whole time!

I am now able to be a present father in my child’s life–she has never seen the old me on drugs. Thanks to God and Dove Tree, I earned both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Texas Tech and I now work at the place that saved my life and commit every day to helping others.

Mechie Scherpereel is the alumni coordinator at Ranch at Dove Tree.