--- 🌿 My Testimony – 10 Months Sober 🌿 It’s Friday. The last Friday of the month. Let me tell you Maina, a year ago, give or take, I wouldn’t have known. Days were just that—days. Another day to drink, an endless drunk. Days of the week merged, weeks of the month disappeared, and months…you knew which month it was from public holidays or major events, and most times you needed confirmation on what day it was. “My weekend begins on Tuesday,” I used to brag. But today I say this with joy: I have been 10 months sober. Ten months. Allow me to shout about it, scream about it, and be happy for myself. Remember those flowers? Let me give myself a bunch—or ten. 🌸 Am I bragging? No. I am as surprised as you probably are. I was an alcoholic. A day couldn’t pass without my getting drunk—not just having a drink, but getting drunk. I looked sober when drunk, and sick when sober. I spent most of the time thinking of ways of getting the next drink while I still had a drink in my hand. “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.” (Proverbs 26:11) I woke up at three most mornings wondering how the day was going to be like. Did I have enough to get a few drinks? That was my foremost concern. Nowadays, I wake up in the morning thanking the Good Lord for His mercies. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23) Food was a nuisance—something I did when I couldn’t help it, when my body demanded it by force. I indulged in illicit, illegal businesses just to get ready cash. Anything goes, we used to say, as long as you got paid. But when I look back at my life, I know that God has a purpose for me. The near-death experiences that I went through, the seemingly close shaves and calls I had—they were not my doing. It was all God, protecting me, caring for me, because like they say: God wasn’t finished with me yet. And He isn’t finished with me still. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) It is written: He knew you before you knew Him, He chose you before you chose Him, before you were born…He knew you and predestined you for Himself. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” (Jeremiah 1:5) I could give you stories that sound like fiction—a movie or a series that seems unbelievable. Things I did, things I went through…will it make you believe in God? Or will you say hizo ni story za jaba? And no, I am not ashamed of the person I used to be. That was a life I left behind. A testimony for how far the Lord has brought me. Lessons hard learned that I share to bring glory to God. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) I was loud in my sin—allow me to be loud in my salvation, my recovery. It’s been a wondrous 10 months. I have had my lows, moments when without God to sustain me I would have regressed. But the moments of joy, the moments of peace and fulfillment have been beyond counting. Every day counts. Every moment, there has been another reason to give glory to God. I am recognized as a person now. The labels I had—kalewa and all the rest, wajakoya, Rasta, bronje…those ones are gone, a thing of the past. God called me by His name: “You shall be called children of the living God.” (Romans 9:26) The old is gone, I am a new being, a new man. I am learning my abilities, my capabilities each day. And each day is a joy, a blessing. --- ✝️ My name is Chege Wa Ndung’u, A Child of God. Chege wa Ndung'u 26 Sept 2025