All of us suffer our share of bumps and bruises in life. But if you think you’ve had it hard, wait until you hear what Patricia England has survived.

At 8 years old she started to sneak her father’s cigarettes to be more like him. She smoked marijuana at 14 to fit in with older kids, snorted cocaine at 18 and smoked crack at 21.

Drugs helped numb her feelings of hopelessness.

On January 13, 2014, she awoke to the sound of sheriff’s deputies beating on her door.

“I sat numb outside as they spent hours tearing the house apart looking for evidence,” she said.

“The only thing I remember is the look on my daughter’s face as they carried her out and put her in the police car.

“They would never let me hold her again and I would be lucky if I was ever able to see her again.

“I was arrested and knocked out for 7 days on the high-risk floor of the County Detention Center.

“The charges against me included manufacturing meth, possessing a firearm during a crime and child endangerment.

“The detention center high-risk floor is the coldest, darkest – and I felt it reeked of death. My feelings of shame and fear were overwhelming.

“I wrote a goodbye letter to my children explaining why they were better off without me. I explained to my daughter’s godparents my wish for them to raise her to know Christ.

“I had tried for years to stop using drugs and alcohol. No matter how hard I tried I always went back.”

In Ezra 9:6, I read:

“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to You because our sins are higher than our heads. Because of our sins, we have been subjected to ... captivity to pillage and humiliation.”

“I had been taken captive. After the police finished with my house, my friends and family robbed me, so I had been pillaged and humiliated, too.

“My mug shot was on the news with the words: Small child tested positive for methamphetamines.

“As I sat waiting to hear my name called to get a razor, a woman with crazy hair and no teeth sat down at my table.

“Everyone moved away from her as if she had a disease. She looked as bad as I felt–if that was possible. I handed her my small, county-issued, 5-inch comb and told her that if she was going to court, she should straighten herself up.

“She asked, ‘Can I share something with you?’

“She grabbed a Bible, turned to Ezekiel 16:6 and said, ‘This is the Lord talking to you. “Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood, I said to you ‘LIVE.”’

“God just told me to live. My Bible says God knows everything that I do, and that was even more proof of His awareness.

“I heard my name and picked up my razor. The walk to the shower was the longest of my life.

Soon the devil attacked.

She would hear “shame” in one ear, then “Live” in the other. She would hear “disgrace” then “Live.”

Each accusation from the devil would correspond with a sincere shout of “Live” from her Savior.

When she stepped into the shower, only God’s voice could be heard and she gave her life to God.

“The water washing over me was as if I was truly being cleansed.

“I asked God to forgive me and be Lord over my life,” she said.

Patricia said Romans 7:14-25 is an accurate description of her feeling:

The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. It is sin living in me that does it.

Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Is she ever tempted now to use drugs?

“To say I never think about drugs would be a lie, but drugs are no longer my go-to for relieving whatever basic need I am missing,” she said.

“Today I have hope which means I have a future.

“I have learned many different things, many life skills and a network of healthy support.

“Each time I was released from county jail I had a strong desire to live free of drugs and trauma. But each time I had no idea how to make that happen.”

“Today with some amazing people God has placed in my path we have created a non-profit organization to help women like me.

“We have a life skills curriculum I created to teach women how to live differently. We help them set goals and create a plan for the day they leave jail.

“The long term goal is to open a home for women to get the help needed to start this new life. This does not happen overnight.”

Hadassah Hope Ministries gets it’s name from the Old Testament. Hadassah was Esther’s Jewish name before she went into the palace to be transformed for a king.

“I feel that has been happening to me and hope it happens for the women we are able to walk beside.”

Now she says she knows where she wants to go and believes in her ability to get where she wants to go. “One of the most humbling things for me,” she said, is to witness the light of hope in someone’s eyes.” For details please go to Hadassahhope.org.