Testimonials
Perseverance: James's Story
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1 verses 2-4
In this case, perseverance finished its work in the heart of a young man named James Reyes.
“I was 14 when I came to Epworth Village about 12 years ago. I remember, because it was right before my birthday in October. I knew I had problems. I was already seeing a counselor because of the issues I was dealing with. I had behavioral problems, depression and I manipulated people a lot. A lot of my depression was from anger, from the abuse when I was younger. My step-father physically and mentally abused me. That is how I ended up moving with my aunt to Nebraska. My mom then moved here. That was my growing up, living with my mom and my aunt, just alternating between the two of them. There was not a lot of consistency or structure, so I just went wherever I could get away with the most.”
“No one would have known about the abuse if it hadn’t been for my cousin. We were getting ready to run through the sprinklers and she saw my bruises. My cousin told her mom about it,” James said.
James said the counselor who was seeing him at age 14 found Epworth Village. He said he had also come to the point in his life that he knew there needed to be a change. “I was with the wrong people and I saw what they were doing and I didn’t want my life to end up like that. I knew I had more potential than that. There were people who had told me that I had more potential. I knew I needed to get out of the situation and get right with myself.”
At Epworth James found the tools to build a better life and the safe structure he needed to develop new skills and confidence to grow. He learned he could overcome the mental impacts of the abuse and other life challenges from the people at the family-centered treatment agency and the caring hearts he came across in his life once he left Epworth’s doors and entered the world.
“I was at Mills Cottage and I could immediately see that people at Epworth believed in me. The school helped a lot too. I was able to focus on my studies there and actually did a lot better at school because you didn’t have all the other distractions. The teachers showed that they cared and they did not put up with anything. At the public school you had all those other kids doing their thing and at the Epworth Village Learning Center, I could just focus on doing what I had to do,” he said.
While finding himself, James also found a relationship with Jesus Christ. “In Spiritual Life we would do Bible studies and I actually started reading the Bible when I was there and it helped a lot.”
James was at Epworth approximately eight months. “Then I went back home with my mom. It was kind of hard, I have to admit. I was 15 and I was trying to utilize what I had learned at Epworth, sometimes that was a battle and I fell back into my old routine.”
Still, the consistent care of the dedicated people at Epworth kept creeping into his life. “I graduated high school and started trying to re-discover myself. When I was packing to move out from home, I found a book given to me from Epworth. It was called, ‘Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul.’ There was a message in there from Sherlock Valley; he was a Life Skills Trainer. It said something to the effect of, ‘Use this book to make chicken soup for your own soul.’ I have never forgotten that.”
As a high school graduate, James was exploring his career and education options. “One day I was watching MTV and there was a guy on there doing hair and he was talking about how he made all this money and I thought, ‘I could do that.’ So, I went to Joseph’s College of Beauty and tried it out.”
Though James did meet the pretty, young woman named Tracie who would become his future wife at the college, he did not finish school because his mother wanted him home to help her. However, that didn’t stop James from building a life with Tracie and continuing to seek the ideal career for himself and his family.
On April 17, 2004, the couple was married at the Raymond United Methodist Church in Raymond, NE. “Rod Lyon married us. We had always been afraid to go to church because I had gotten into tattoos and piercings previously and we thought maybe people would judge us. My wife also had two children from a previous marriage and we didn’t know how people would look at that. But my wife’s best friend had met Pastor Rod and said he was a great person. So, we started going to church and they accepted us openly. It’s the best thing that ever happened to us.”
James worked for awhile at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln. “I would see those guys in prison and I was getting really unhappy. You see the worst that is out there.”
Then a new opportunity came forward to work at Nebraska Public Power District’s Cooper Nuclear Station. “My wife said I could do it. She said, ‘Just try, what is the worst thing they are going to say, no?’ My wife is my biggest motivator and so I tried and I got the job.”
James said he has been, “constantly learning,” since getting the position at Cooper Nuclear Station. “We have a training every month. I work a rotating shift and there is the opportunity to work overtime too. I really enjoy my job.”
He also loves his three girls and the fact that his wife is able to be a stay-at-home mom.
“When she is ready, she can go back to whatever she wants to do. As long as she is happy,” he said about Tracie.
“Since I was at Epworth, I’ve gotten more than I ever deserved,” James said.
The staff at Epworth disagrees; instead, they believe that due to the intervention of caring people, faith in God and his own perseverance, James deserves all the joy in life he has been able to obtain.
“Epworth showed me there are always choices. When I was working at the prison that is what I always told the inmates. I grew up in the poor area of a big city. I’ve seen people get shot and moms selling themselves for drugs. I don’t buy that you are a victim of your circumstances. It’s all up to you to make a choice and go on. I didn’t want to end up dead in a ditch or in prison. I just wanted to go on. Every choice impacts your life so try and make the right ones.”