My name is Ashley Bottrell and this is my testimony to show what God has done in my life, and the radical change that has happened in my life due to completing the Transformation program.
Unlike a lot of men and women in the program I was blessed to have both my parents together and be brought up in a good Christian family. Even though I had this up-bringing from a young age I had a distorted perception thinking that my father had unrealistic expectations of me and for my life which from an early age caused a rift between myself and my father. From this perception I felt I would never amount to anything and thought that I would never be able to please my dad so I started to resent him and look up to the wrong crowd for acceptance and a carefree lifestyle.
I started drinking and smoking marijuana at thirteen years old and my life started spiralling out of control from then on. I wanted to push the people who loved me further and further away because of the shame inside of me. I went to Bayside Transformations at the age of 26. I had been in prison for armed robberies, attempted murder, countless stealing and unlawful use charges and all the likes to go along with that sort of lifestyle. If you had told me as a young boy that my life was going to be that destructive and hurtful, I definitely would have made some different choices.
It never crossed my mind the damage those drugs were doing in my life; I nearly lost everything.
I had so many near-death experiences, years of wasted time in jail, time wasted hurting myself physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually; and hurting and impacting those who loved me; which in turn left me with shame, guilt and regret.
When my dad brought me up to the program I was suicidal, drug fried and could see no hope for the future. And then as I started the program I discovered how hard it was, so I was actually looking forward to going back to jail rather than doing the program and dealing with my issues and the destruction of my past. But the praise goes to God who walked with me each day, guiding me, supporting me, and people accepting me and loving me for who I am, which in turn helped radically transform my mind and heart into becoming the man I am now. To say life is smooth sailing now is an understatement.
Life is always challenging no matter who you are or what walk of life you are doing, but with God by our side we can overcome any obstacle, any challenge in life that comes our way.
God has restored my relationship with my family and my beautiful daughter. I have also been recently married to a beautiful woman whom I plan to spend the rest of my life with. I haven’t always done things right (by any means) but God is good and his grace empowers us to be overcomers. I hope this story inspires others and encourages the men and women in the program to believe that no matter what we have done in life or how hopeless we feel, we have a God who is on our side. And with God the impossible can be achieved.
