An Essay of My Life
By Runas C. Powers, III
 Self experience has saved my life in many ways.  Throughout my teen years and adult years I used alcohol and drugs.  They have inflicted me with much pain and heartache to the point where I just wanted to quit on life.  Although the grace of God has allowed me to be clean for 13 years now, this I take no credit for.  Throughout this journey self-experience has taught me a whole lot about life.
 I started using drugs and alcohol when I was eight years old.  My mother kept cooking wine in the refrigerator and one day I found it and began to drink it.  By the time I was in high school I had been to three rehabs and in four drug and alcohol related car wrecks.  I also found the love of my life, marijuana, which affected my performance in the classroom.  I used marijuana every day to the point that I no longer attended school, and when I did occasionally attend school, I was drunk.  Due to these struggles, discipline problems led to me going to four schools in five years.  Although I used drugs tremendously, I was able to function enough to graduate from high school.  Due to some relapses, hospitals, and rehabs, I also learned from my mistakes.  Therefore, I learned when to take advice and when not to take advice.  Still drugs and alcohol were a major part of my life.  I was headed on a crash course for death or a cell block but with self-experience being the best teacher I could ever have, I continued to learn.
 I later attended college twice, but failed to get a degree, so I dropped out due to poor academic achievement.  By this time, my habit was so bad that I did not bathe or brush my teeth for two weeks at a time.  My work habits were horrible and I lived with my parents who enabled my using.
 My sister got married in Jamaica.  Knowing me, I had to get high so I bought a bag of marijuana and smoked it.  As I hit the drugs, I knew I wanted to take it back to the states.  So after the ceremony came to a close, my family and I boarded a plane for home.  When we arrived in Atlanta a drug canine cop smelled the weed and I was arrested.  It was there that self-experience through God’s grace intervened and I was to be taught again.
 While in jail during processing, I was placed in a holding cell for a few hours.  Then a woman wearing white appeared who I thought was an inmate, but she spoke spiritually to me.  She told me that I had a God-given talent, and that the Lord Jesus Christ loved me and died for me.  She went on to say that no matter what we did in life, whether wrong or right, God loved us, no matter what.  I did not put two and two together about who this woman was; all I knew was that I needed the encouragement.  Then suddenly she was gone and I was left alone.  Today I know that this was a miracle in my life and that this woman that God put in my path was none other than Lisa Left-eye Lopes (a famous singer and rapper).
   Due to God’s grace I’ve been clean ever since, one day at a time.  So as I look back on 32 years of life, it was the mistakes, heartaches, and pain that caused me to learn. By this process I have grown, and God has helped me cope. So the combination of hurt, and God’s grace has made me change my life and become the man I am today. I thank the Lord for blessing me with the opportunity of having had these experiences.
 Today I am still pursuing a college degree, and have written three books of poetry, thanks to the lessons I have learned in life and my Savior Jesus Christ.