From Lost to Found to Freed

My name is Danielle Melvin and I have been a Licensed Practical Nurse for 20 years. It's a big milestone this year as I approach the 20 year anniversary and I'm blessed to look back over the years and see how much God was at work in my life as a nurse. Being an LPN certainly had its challenges and over the years I found my patience wearing thin more often than not. I also had a lot of issues holding a job for a long period of time due to anxiety and I battled with self-worth. One job that I had was working at an endoscopy clinic where I was blessed to work alongside so many amazing nurses. Through that job, God was allowing older women to shower me with love and wisdom. One of those nurses became one of my greatest blessings as she obediently followed Jesus and planted seeds in my life. Watching her composure, confidence, and peace really had an impact on me... there was something different about her. At that time in my life, I had become a bit hardened, and I was very cautious of religion and church. Thankfully my friend so lovingly displayed the love of Jesus that she had my curiosity growing despite my skepticism. One day after I had knee surgery she showed up at my home with the most beautiful gift I had ever received from a friend. It was a box full of hope and joy to wish me a good recovery. There were cards for every occasion, including when I felt sad, lonely, or tired, and a few other sweet items. But the one thing that really got my attention was a book full of testimonies from other women. I sat there on my bed, recovering slowly, and I read story after story filled with the hope of God I didn't know or understand at that time.

Fast forward from that moment to February 7th, 2021, and I surrendered my life to Christ! It took a few years after that seed was planted to bloom, but I am absolutely positive that my friend was a huge part of my journey which led to Jesus.

Once I was saved and started to really learn who God is, God got to work and started breaking off bondage and chains one by one. The biggest chain that was suffocating me in my personal life was drinking wine, which had become a scapegoat for pain, anxiety, and stress. As I was growing in my walk with Jesus, I understood that this was a problem for me, but I had tried so many times on my own to stop and had always gone back. Also, because I didn't drink during the day and didn't get "drunk" it was hard for me to distinguish this as an issue when I compared my drinking habits to the world's standards. I ended up getting a job at a recovery center in February 2023 where I saw firsthand how devasting drugs and alcohol truly are. I battled with seeing the pain in my patients’ eyes as they came to my window for their medication. I would pray constantly to God to give me the strength to do that job as my heart was breaking for the people I was caring for. I quickly became depressed while working there and God brought my attention to a Scripture that I clung to: "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13 I kept that Scripture in my pocket and recited it over and over as I worked. It became a bit of a declaration to the goodness of God as I witnessed the suffering. I learned to trust that He has a plan for every person and believe that He will use all things for good. One of the very things that He would turn for good was my own issue with drinking alcohol. Before going to sleep one night I was reading Proverbs 31 and verse 6 struck my heart, "Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish!" I was convicted. I wasn't perishing, I had been given new life from Jesus, I wasn't in anguish, I was filled with love and joy! I said a prayer and wrote it in the margins of my Bible, "Lord, please take away my desire for wine. 5/14/23" A quick simple prayer, but I know that it was the heart behind it that God understood. In an instant after reading that verse, I knew that being in anguish and perishing was not for me, as I am a child of God! I woke up the next morning and that desire was gone, and it's been gone every day since! It's now been over a year and not only have I not had a sip of alcohol, but I truly haven't wanted it. Jesus took that from me, by His mighty strength that bondage in my life was broken and I was set free from a struggle I had carried for years. After trying and failing to give up wine so many times before in my life, it was such a blessing to experience His power! In an instant, God spoke, and I was free! Only He can do more than we can imagine!

I now see that the alcohol was really just a band-aid, it was never the real issue. The true issue was my identity. I needed to truly grasp and claim who I was in Jesus and allow Him to break off the strongholds of shame, guilt, and anxiety that I had carried all my life. I can now shout with confidence from the mountaintops, "I am a daughter of the King Most High, who gave His life for me! I am not in anguish, I am not perishing, I have new life and am blessed by the love God."

Jesus gives me just what I need every day and every day I live with a hope and love that only He can give! I pray that you will find the very same hope in Jesus Christ.