From Suburbia’s Silver Spoon, to drugs, to Jesus--Hope 4 Teens saved my life

My name is Ashton Beisel, I'm 21 years old and I'm from Dallas, Texas. My parents got a divorce when I was 6 and were both re-married by the time I was 8. I spent all of my time with my friends, playing basketball and involved with my youth group. My parents have been taking me to church for as long as I can remember. I was the girl who piled all of her friends in her mom's suburban and took them to church. I had several boyfriends by the time I was a freshman in high school and was already sexually active. I gave away my heart time and time again always to find myself heartbroken. I didn't have self-confidence at all, I found my only happiness in basketball and my friends. Despite my bad choices in the boyfriend area of my life, I would have considered myself a "normal" teenager. I made A's and B's, was a part of the Varsity Basketball team at my high school and went to church every Wednesday and Sunday. The summer before my senior year my grandpa died. I have a very close family and this was a hard thing for us all. Also to add to my grief my boyfriend of two years and I had just broken up. Nevertheless school started in August and so did basketball off-season. On August 22nd one of my friends John, who was one of my first friends at this school, waskilled in a car wreck. Not understanding why God would let this happen, I got drunk the night before his funeral. I ended up nearly getting hit by a car and receiving a public intoxication ticket. Seeing as I was a varsity basketball player, this was not good. I was to be out 30% of the season.So in my clouded state of mind, I quit a sport that had been my life since I was 6 years old. My life began to change right before my eyes; new friends and a new me. I started to smoke weed everyday after school, to forget about my problems. On October 2nd my friends Jodie killed herself. I was with her two nights before, so you can imagine my confusion, guilt and sorrow. After this I began to hate my life. I hated who I was, what I was doing and who I was becoming. By January of 2005 I was doing cocaine, ecstasy, smoking weed, dropping acid, and drinking on a regular basis. In March I totaled my car going 70 mph on a highway. This gave my whole family and myself a reality check. I slowed down a lot after this near death experience. I began counseling and increasing my dose of anti-depressants. After graduation and prom I began to get very depressed again. All of my friends had plans to go to college and I had nothing, I wasted my senior year doing drugs. The disappointment in myself only led me to do drugs once again. I started smoking crystal meth, lost 20 pounds in a month and began dating a drug dealer. My mom, in desperation to get me away from my town, got me into Oklahoma State University where my sister Taylor was going to college. I went to college at OSU in August and tried to start new, but the depression, guilt, resentment and low-self esteem wouldn't leave. I would do drugs when I would go home to Texas on the weekends and stayed in close contact with my boyfriend. One weekend I lost it. I screamed crying the whole way back up to college, and once I got there I laid in bed for days. My time was coming to an end, I saw no reason to live anymore. Suicide was in the near future.But God had a different plan for me. My mom came to Oklahoma, put me on a plane and sent me to Hope for Teens in Arizona where I found myself surrounded by the love of Jesus. The program I was in was a 30 day spiritual treatment program for people struggling with addictions. I arrived on November 10th, 2005 and on Friday November 18th I let my guard down at a Spirit Life Church, Friday Night Live service. I re-committed my life to Jesus. After that night God began to re-new and restore my whole being. He healed me from my depression and for the first time in as long as I could remember I was smiling. God took me in his arms and made me new, he gave me more peace, love and joy in a month than I had found in years of searching for it in basketball, boys, friends and drugs. I felt innocent again. God restored my relationship with both of my parents. After I completed the program, I chose to be apart of Elijah Generation, a bible college that helped me to grow in character and learn the true meaning of being a leader. I then went to cosmotology school to become a hairstylist. Thanks to Gods favor, I now work in the number one Salon in Scottsdale. I am also, a Jr. Pastor at Spirit Life Church and love to minister to women. After beng single for three years, God faithfully gave me the man of my dreams. August 7th, 2008 Devin and I got married. We saved our first kiss until our wedding day and God has blessed us so much! God is my best friend and I thank him for saving my life. God is using me and always developing me into a person I never thought I could be. Thanks to this ministry ad Jesus Christ, I know I have a purpose, I have a destiny, and most importantly I have a father.