Landon is now married with a son, and the family is active in their church.

He’s deeply rooted in church and community

It’s been five years since Landon, 32, graduated RMA Victor Valley’s Life Recovery Program, and he’s happy to share his life now looks completely different. He’s married, has a son, a home and tenure at his job. He also participates in Bible studies and the worship team at his church.

“Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” Landon said. “If you can keep yourself planted firmly, you are not going to be moved by the circumstances around you. It doesn’t mean it’s not hard, but it’s a lot easier with Jesus than without him. And I know as I’ve done it both ways.” Landon first entered the program in late 2016. “My addiction got progressively worse. I started off smoking weed, and that turned into drinking, and that turned into drinking with pills, and then that turned into drinking, pills, weed, and everything,” he said.

“My dad’s friend saw me at the park one day and called my dad. I had been homeless for about six months straight, though I was homeless on and off for years.”

Landon’s father recommended the Mission. Landon entered and graduated the program, but a few years after leaving the Mission, Landon was drinking again.

“Graduation is a loose term. It doesn’t mean a lot if you haven’t had the heart change that you need to have to be a successful new creation in Christ,” he added. “While I had graduated the program, there was still a lot of stuff inside me that I hadn’t let go of.”

Landon references Matthew 12:45: “Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

“That’s very much what I experienced,” Landon said. “I built a foundation with Jesus, but I hadn’t given 100 percent. And if you’re not 100 percent, you’re lukewarm. It caused me to compromise myself and I went back to drinking.” In 2019, Landon came back to the Mission determined to do things differently. “My second time in the program was the first time I decided that I would believe what’s in the Bible. Even if I didn’t fully understand it, I was going to apply it to my own life.

“What the Mission did was give me a safe place to fail. It allowed me to shut everything out besides Jesus. It let me set everything else aside and make room for the one thing that mattered.”

His advice to others who may be struggling is simple: “Everything you need can be found in the Bible, meditation, prayer and your relationship with Jesus. That’s going to be the only thing that will never fail you.”