TESTIMONIES OF FAITH, COURAGE AND RESILIENCE

Before Columbus Georgia, God gave me 50 (+) years to witness, and experience real life trials and tribulations of his people. In 2004 (Easter Service) I was reborn in Christ under the pressure of my first wife. And under the circumstances I didn't even know the "Pain" and "Anger" I had endured from never meeting my biological father. But when God released my stronghold at the Alter in tears of forgiveness for my dad being absent in my life from 8 years old, I began my new walk as a baby christian in Jesus Christ. 

This helped me rebuild myself as a man of God and a stronger leader over time. When God showed me my purpose back then while in church service (in 2004) he didn't tell me it would take many years before I will possess the wisdom to "see the need, and fill it". 

So for years after, God took me through some stuff I thought I would never experience, but held my hand and protected me along the way, because I needed to see it for myself. And because of my disobedience to him years ago, he took away the comfort of my marriage and children. And took me through the valley of the shadow of death to see what it was like on the OTHER SIDE.

In the world of darkness, despair and destruction there is evil. For God said, " For anyone who claims to love God, but hates his brother or sister is a liar".  For whoever does not love their brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must love their brother or sister. 

"It took me many years to understand this passage, because I hated my dad for so many years for making me go through so much pain by myself. But Thank God for the power of FORGIVENESS. And as God has forgiven me of all my sins, through repentance I also forgave my DAD. This began the lift of my stronghold and an incredible change in my life...

So now in 2026, I stand here before you today FULL OF PURPOSE to give thanks to my heavenly father for all he has done and everything he's about to do for the Kings and Queens who Love GOD Too! In Jesus Holy Name I Pray. Amen. Live Like A KING! Live Like A QUEEN! 

In the midst of all life's challenges, I began the fight of my life in 2017...This is my story...One day going to my check up at the doctor's office, I was told that my lab test came back, and I had been diagnosed with pre-stage diabetes. That day changed everything for me. I didn't know how I was going to lose the weight, or if I could do it. But I knew if I didn't want to become a diabetic, I knew I had to make some changes to save my own life. I asked my doctor who diagnosed me, but he said he couldn't help me, and that he was leaving it up to me to figure out. Well, I went home discouraged and had to figure out what I could do and what exercises will work for me? I started out with brisk walking around the neighborhood, I started eating for breakfast special k cereal, small cup of 2% milk, apple cider vinegar, 2 boiled eggs, slice of wheat toast, no sugar, no salt, 3 slices of grapefruit (this began my fight against obesity)  I was almost 300 lbs. Now, in 2025 I am about 135 lbs. and still pushing to stay healthy. With over 30 years of working in the healthcare industry I can honestly say, I love to help people. In fact, it is my God given gift. So without hesitation it's easy for me to bring real value to help men and women in transition become the Kings and Queens they were born to be for themselves and their families. At Next Level TLP it's my duty and honor to cook a healthy breakfast before work and dinner after work to support the Kings and  Queens of the Program. I Expect GREAT THINGS FROM ALL OF YOU! Welcome home to Next Level TLP. Live Like A KING! Live Like A QUEEN! 

Just as Job was from the Bible was stripped of everything, I was stripped of the same, most importantly my Family, Friends and Financial Funding, I even had to endure a Famine but I never lost or was stripped of my Faith in GOD, who is always Faithful, during the Ups and Downs, Rights or Wrongs even during the Great, Good, Bad and even Ugly moments I have experienced and endured. 

My Sunday School teacher, “Mrs. Cynthia Marshall”,  who sat in the same seat each Sunday…Rain, Sleet or Snow, told me one Sunday morning, that sometimes you're the only Bible someone has, so make sure you're the something, they want and need to Read. Now I will be Honest…I haven’t always been the the Book or Bible that someone may want Want or Need to Read but I have always been something and someone to keep your eyes on, depending on you, lol…

With all seriousness…I was released from incarceration in the summer of 2023, with the mind set to go back to Nashville, TN where I’m originally from to dot some “ I’s“, cross some “ T’s”.  But after a warm walk and talk with GOD, and "No"…not just Praying but Talking to GOD although he knew my Intentions, my Motivations,  and Considerations of the Changes I Wanted and Needed to make, not only for myself but for those I’m Responsible to and for, I allowed GOD to Guide my footsteps and he sent me in the direction of Columbus Georgia. 

There I was greeted by a young, bold and Godly man, who asked if I needed something…I responded, with Yes…first do you have some water, second… if you can help me get an Application for the Transitional Living Program,  I had heard about months prior to my release, while in a court holding cell, a seed was planted and already Growing for me in a place where there was plenty of Dirt. This Godly Man answered yes to both questions but he stated before I do either, I want to Pray with you first, because GOD has Blessings for Life and all you have to do is walk in the door he opens for you, I responded to him, walking is what I have been doing for awhile for now and this is where GOD guided my footsteps. After he prayed with and for me, he instructed me to have a seat and he would get someone for me, that someone I call "The General" to me. Being a retired Veteran and Godly man as well, he gave me an Application upon his arrival and instructed me to fill it out completely and he would be with me in time. During the intake process, he first asked me about My Faith in GOD, then, questioned me about who I am and who I want to become, where I was from and where I was going. 

The General went over my Application, the Rules Guidelines of “TLP” and of a Drug Screen, I was accepted into the “TLP” Program. God is Good and always on time. With being accepted my state ordered physical address was satisfied, I was provided a voucher for clothing and food for my loud and empty stomach, I’m sure he heard during my intake interview. Now that I was Blessed with all those things, I just knew I was ready to start my new journey, to get back on my feet and start this Climb of Life again but realized none of this was possible without GOD, so I began to not only seek his presence but house, thus I was told and invited to “ Bread of Life Christian Church”, where “Bishop L.D. Skinner Jr.” sets the table each Wednesday and Sunday. 

So I bluntly shout out to you , for you, Man of Men from all walks of life, as you can see what a “Transitional Living Program, TLP” is and has been doing for myself…to Re-Start, Re-Focus, and Realign my Journey,  my Climb to the Next Level of My Life, you can be Blessed and be positioned in the same manner with our “Next Level TLP” Program, where you continue to Prosper…Spiritually, Physically, Financially and even Emotionally…See You Soon…God Bless and Godspeed …C. Gooch! Live Like A KING! Live Like A QUEEN! 

Looking back at my childhood and teenage years, I know exactly how I became the “cornbread-fed kid" in 2013, who probably should have been playing defense on the Thomasville High School football team rather than watching Japanese animation and reading astronomy books.

While I did enjoy a very happy upbringing with my younger siblings and mother, I do recall being taken to a festival hosted in downtown Thomasville, GA. This was also 2013, The time when The Lord called my mother home a year later. I was serving in the US Army during this time. I left active duty in 2023 after 9 years and 2 months of service.

We were unfortunately poor folks. My father was present in our lives but he had personal flaws that often came to odds with my mother. To put in my own words, he was in and out like the mechanical mammals in the carnival classic of Whack-A-Mole. My mother was the greatest woman who’d ever lived. Give her a dollar and she would split it four ways among her children. She passed away of ovarian cancer on 25 July 2014. The most devastating day of my life. Gentlemen, as I write this on my birthday eleven years later, It still pains me to recall that unfortunate day. This day that is on a continual loop in my mind.

I can say through personal anecdote that I understand the term food desert or nutritional desert. A food desert (I’m giving my definition here the best I can) is an environment in which economic

hardships lead disadvantaged people to purchase cheaper, quicker to prepare foods. These foods often have no nutritional value whatsoever and is detrimental for your health in the long term. And you know what food I am speaking of here. I am led to think, that poorer folks have a pre-disposition for those comfort foods: fried meats, greasy collard greens, neckbones, chitterlings (which you’ll never find me even eating), gizzards, mac and cheese, and the list goes on and on. This leaves little to wonder why obesity is a crisis among the less fortunate. 

In 2014 right out of high school, I enlisted in the army. This played a crucial part in my

weight loss journey. I did lose weight during basic, but some. Three years in, I still was far from the slimmer man you see today. I was still just barely getting by on physical fitness tests. I grew to hate my size and grew ashamed of my mediocre athletic performance. I looked in the mirror at my fatty chest and jiggly midsection. I would lift my puffy pectoral fat, then release, watching it ripple as it dropped. Things needed to change. I didn’t like the man in the mirror. I didn’t think he was a man to be proud of.

A large part of losing weight and achieving a healthier body is having the enthusiasm, the drive to do so. I’d say my biggest character flaw is procrastination. Believe me gentlemen when I say, I would hold off on my own funeral until the last moments. “I will start after work on Friday.”, “I will work on it at some point.”, “I’m too tired!”, “I’m just too busy right now.”. Oh, the lies man will tell himself! I set out on my transformational journey with gusto. The weight loss formula is simple: more calories expended than consumed, leads to fat burning. I started using the free gym facilities provided to me by the army. I did a number of activities from running to swimming to hiking. Used every machine from a treadmill, the elliptical, and the Jacob’s ladder (a device of pure torment, I say jokingly). I picked up heavy weights, put them down, picked them up again. And repeated this. Personal fitness is, in large part, what you put into your body. I made a change from those comfort foods of my youth, started eating healthier meals. I replaced sugary sodas, drink mixes, and even cut back on my alcohol consumption in favor of water and vegetable drinks. I did away with the calorie-high, nutrient deficient foods of McDonald’s, KFC, and Wendy’s in favor of organic unprocessed food. I followed my regimen even as mortars and rockets fell upon me in the snow-capped mountains of Afghanistan. It was my own toil, perseverance, and fortitude that transformed me into the man I am today.

Here are my words to those seeking to make such a change as I have. Give up procrastination! Start with letting go of dietary sin. Find an incentive to transform yourself and when you begin, find joy in your new mission and set out with The Lord, always. Take him with you in all endeavors, yes even weight loss.

I will conclude this little tale with a scripture from the Book of Proverbs. It applies to any and all personal, health, financial, and spiritual journeys on which you will embark. It is in my opinion the best warning of procrastination ever written and is my personal favorite scripture.

Be strong intellectually, physically, and upmost spiritually.

"Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man". Proverbs 6:6-11  Live Like A KING! Live Like A QUEEN! 

Like many men in today's economic crisis living and providing for their families, I (Patrick) was no different than the ordinary hard working men amongst us today. Married for 9 years to the love of my life with a beautiful baby boy ( Patrick McKay III ) on the way, I never dreamed life would take a toil and run its course where in 2025 I find myself on the footsteps of a TLP program in Columbus Georgia for Men. 

Divorced and grieving after the passing of my 1st born due to heart failure I was sure my story was no attribute of a King. After being accepted in TLP within the first month I found a qualifying paying job to reconstruct my financial foundation that I completely plunged into debt. Within 3 months I paid off debts, reinstated license, and bought a truck. Surely if God ever smiled mercifully on any man it was me. So I thought! I was going to entertain to stay in TLP after graduation, but due to losing my job and after putting a portion of my savings into the truck I now own just to make it back and forth to work, driving almost 100 miles a day, 6 days a week with long 12/hr shifts can cause a lot of stress and high maintenance on a used truck. ( But it was the first thing I owned after rebuilding all I lost and I didn't find humbleness to let anything be taken away from me, for the little I had obtained and working so hard to place my feet at the starting line of this new chapter again in my life). Smh, once again "So I thought!" 

By the end of October 2025 I was humbled to losing job, car, and faced with the humility of maybe having to leave the TLP with the little savings I had. Unlike the man I was when I first walked through the doors of the TLP program, my faith and perspective of God's presence and purpose for me was positively insane to human eyes and ears. 

Within a week and a half maybe two weeks just to be modest I was back working at another qualifying job right next door to the last company that released me with 60 hrs per week plus Saturday and Sundays off. Not only that I found a new church home from a young spring Bishop that's bringing me aboard and lessons and training to be a Youth Minister in training on my days off. As my last month in TLP I understand why my grandfather use to say "If you want to make God laugh tell him your plans for your life". I am grateful that no longer I am trying to survive like a man but walking into the next chapter of my Living Like A Future King. Thanks TLP, Thanks to myself Positive Pat, And most of all Thanks and Glory to God through whom all things are possible.      Live Like A KING!