Alexis grew up in a Christian home, but at sixteen, she began to act out and rebel.
“I decided to start doing what I wanted. I stopped going to church and started partying,” Alexis recalled.
At twenty-one, she had her first baby with a boyfriend. After he got her pregnant again, they decided to get married—“more out of obligation than love,” she noted.
“We attended church, but I was just going through the motions of life. I became a workaholic and put work and drugs before my family,” said Alexis. “My husband verbally, mentally, emotionally, and physically abused me. I chose to walk away because of the toxicity, and I didn’t want our kids thinking it was acceptable. I continued down a bad pathway as a functioning addict.”
Unfortunately, her addiction soon overpowered her and led to accidental tragedy. Her arrest filled her with regret but also gratitude to God.
“When I hit rock bottom and ended up in jail, it was God’s way of saving my life,” Alexis said. “Had I not ended up in jail, I would be dead from drugs and alcohol. My rock bottom ended with me on my knees in my jail cell, begging God for forgiveness.”
In jail, Alexis’s cellmate introduced her to Crossroads, and she signed up to receive lessons and a Bible. She also decided to get baptized a few months later. However, her addiction was still holding her back.
“I struggled off and on with my addiction while in county jail,” she said. “When I was shipped to prison, it was a wake-up call.”
While serving her time in prison, she got serious about sobriety and her relationship with Jesus.
“The more I look back over my last four and a half years of incarceration, the more God moments I see,” said Alexis. “All I can say is my God is amazing and has saved me from the hell I was living in.”
Reflecting on her time behind bars, she also recognizes and appreciates the spiritual support she received from her Crossroads mentors.
“I can’t thank you all at Crossroads enough for the encouragement and lessons over the last four and a half years,” she said. “I still have that same Bible to this day, and it is well-worn. I’ve gotten some new Bibles [but] still go back to that same Bible y’all sent me. It’s got a lot of meaning to me.”
In October 2022, Alexis was released on parole. She is now readjusting to her new life on the outside, grateful for the second chance God has given her.
“I am thankful to be granted parole and be given the chance to show the change God has made in my life and live the rest of my life living for God and sharing my story with others,” she said.
Do you want to get involved with Crossroads?
Sign up to mentor students like Alexis.
Donate to send Bibles and Bible study lessons to men and women behind bars.
Pray for students on parole as they adapt to life after prison and trust Jesus for guidance and support.