My name is Dewey Wilhite. I’m a follower of Jesus Christ. I hope my story might reach someone’s heart and maybe open someone’s eyes to the truth about life. We live in a corrupt world where evil is all around us and even inside of us. It’s a constant battle with good and evil, but I need you to know the battle has already been won. In Galatians 1:4 it says, “Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.”
My story starts even before I was born. February 1986 my mom conceived me and didn’t find out that she was pregnant for 3 months. During that time, she was doing acid every weekend. So, in all honesty if it wasn’t for our Father in Heaven being with me, I wouldn’t be here today. Psalms 71: 6 says “Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me.” So, on November 24th I was born. My biological father split before I was even born, and my mother raised me up in addiction. At times, the lights or water would be shut off. We were the poor family on the block, so I figured out that if I wanted friends to like me, I needed to be the funny guy. I was short, fat, and broke. I had nothing else going for myself except that I was funny. So, I strived to please people. At the age of 14, I started smoking weed with my mom and stepdad every day. That’s when my troubled teenage years really began. I remember selling weed for my mom. I would hop on my bike with a bag in my pocket and head down the block to make some money. I began to feel parentless. In 2005, I met this girl; her name was Ashley. She was so beautiful. We started dating and I fell in love. I was spending all day and night with this girl. We became close; we did everything together. Swimming in the summer, sledding in the winter, movies on the weekends, driving around town wasting gas. We did it all. We were together for about 2 years, then sin really took over our lives. We were smoking weed, popping pills and heading down a dark road. Eventually, our relationship pretty much ended. Just a few months after we split up, I was in a motorcycle wreck. I shattered my ankle and had to have surgery. I was on crutches for a total of 6 months. I couldn’t work while I was hurt so I started selling weed. I eventually met another girl and we ended up having two beautiful baby girls together. All along I kept selling weed. Then in 2015 I had my first son, Ryder Kent Leon. Soon after, my brother died from heart problems and I started using meth. It got bad. I remember nights going up to his grave, wishing it was me instead of him. I kept doing drugs and kept getting into trouble. During all of this, I had another child, Hudson Franklin. I eventually got into drug court. At this point in my life, I’m trying to stay off of drugs. I’m learning different tools to keep me sober. I had about 9 months clean. Then I started thinking that I had enough clean time to start going back around old people, places and things. I got complacent in my recovery. Well, that’s when I got introduced to the drug known as “spice.” That stuff took me deeper and darker into addiction. I eventually went back to jail. I remember sitting in jail realizing that I had lost everything. I felt hopeless, ashamed and guilty for letting my kids down, but I knew where I needed to turn. While I was in drug court, I started educating myself on who this God really was, furthermore, who his son was and what he had done for me. So, in 2018, while I was sitting in jail, I begged Jesus Christ to come into my heart and to take control of my life. In that moment, I was saved! He gave me love, peace, joy and other emotions of fulfillment. After some time of reading my bible, daily prayer and church, I got the phone call that my children’s mom, Ashley, was at Friends of Sinners. She was getting her life together. I started praying for guidance, asking God what I should do when I get out of jail. Sometimes I would talk to Ashley on the phone and when I did, I noticed a huge difference in her. That’s when I knew that I needed to go to Friends of Sinners. So, in August of 2018, I was released from jail and went to Friends of Sinners. I knew that my life was about to truly begin.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” On November 11th, 2018 I was baptized into Christ! Today I am still a client in friends of Sinners. I’m so grateful for what Friends of Sinners has done for me. They showed me how to be a man, a father and a follower of Jesus Christ. God has restored mine and Ashley’s relationship and my relationship with my children. I have a great job and will be marrying the love of my life very soon. I am so grateful. My trust and my faith are in Jesus Christ, he is my Lord and Savior! I’ve had the pleasure of letting people see Christ through me. When trials come my way, I lean on Christ. I focus my eyes on him and allow him to take down the giants in my life. The God we serve is so powerful and so good. I don’t know where I would be without his grace, mercy and love. I’m going to continue to share the gospel as often as I can.
Galatians 6:9 “Let’s not get tired of doing what is good, at just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessings if we do not give up.”
So, people, please don’t give up! Keep pursuing Jesus Christ, your blessings will come!