Candice Mueller sat alone in her prison cell, separated from her husband and son, facing a decision that would change the rest of her life: make a change or risk an early demise.
Mueller had struggled with substance abuse for over twenty years. In 2021, she was convicted of driving under the influence of drugs and failed to complete the mandated drug rehabilitation, leading to a standing arrest warrant against her. Before her scheduled court appearance, Mueller recalled praying to God for forgiveness.
“I said to Him, ‘I don’t know what will happen, I don’t know how You will change my life, but I can’t go on like this anymore.’ That morning when I went to court, the judge said, ‘I see your health deteriorating, I don’t want to watch you die under my nose,'” Mueller reminisced.
Mueller served her sentence in Cincinnati, where she underwent treatment in prison and fully embraced her religious faith.
She said, “God made me stop and settle down. I couldn’t get drugs from anywhere, I had to face my addiction, and that’s when I turned to the Lord.”
“In the solitary confinement cell, I had ample time to read the Bible, pray, reflect on my life, and I saw God heal me, change my desires,” Mueller shared.
At the age of 38, with a teenage son and a husband, she vowed to live a better life.
“Many people didn’t know about my substance abuse issues, didn’t know about my drug problems. I tried to hide as much as possible until I couldn’t hide anymore, until life spiraled out of control, became unmanageable,” Mueller said.
“I was enduring a sense of shame that I didn’t want others to know about, along with anxiety and depression, it was the furthest I had ever been from God. I didn’t want to lose my son; I had volunteered at his school, coached basketball. I didn’t want others to look at me with different eyes; I was avoiding myself, escaping that stranger I had become.”
Mueller revealed that she started drinking alcohol at the age of 12 to escape family issues. She quit drinking when she was pregnant at 22, but after her son was born, she turned to opioid drugs.
“I never thought about the consequences at that time, considering I was a former alcoholic, easily susceptible to addiction,” Mueller remarked.
From infancy of her son, she began using drugs intermittently until he was 10, when she started using heroin and fentanyl. Addiction took over, always seeking to escape something, with alcohol serving as an escape from trauma. Not confronting the trauma led her to drug abuse.
Mueller explained that she initially developed a physical dependency on drugs, which gradually impacted her emotions and mental state.
“When a person develops a physical dependency on drugs, they get trapped in dealing with withdrawal symptoms. It changes the brain chemically, making one feel unable to survive without it,” she said.
In July 2021, she was released after serving 105 days in prison.
“I was scared, nervous because I knew there were no fences or barbed wires to restrain me anymore; I could make my choices freely, relying solely on myself. I had to ensure I stayed with God,” she said, getting baptized two weeks after her release.
“I was happy to be back with my son and husband, but I knew there were many areas that needed mending. The dynamics had changed for me; when I left, they remembered my words, actions, most of which I didn’t recall, but they did, and I knew there was a lot of work ahead,” she said.
Her husband stated that he wasn’t concerned about their marriage as they had been married for 11 years with a strong foundation, acknowledging that the most frightening thing for him was the risk of a relapse.
“I didn’t want to go through another setback, but our faith and bond helped us through the initial months, gradually stabilizing,” he remarked.
Over the past decade, the opioid epidemic has garnered widespread attention, coinciding with a surge in illegal immigration, and a growing prevalence of addiction to fentanyl and other drugs nationwide.
Vice President J.D. Vance’s mother, Beverly Aikins, is an inspirational figure. She overcame alcoholism, prescription drug abuse, heroin addiction, suicide attempts, multiple stints in rehab, ultimately achieving sobriety.
Former presidential candidate and current Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy Jr., openly discussed overcoming his 14-year heroin addiction.
During an addiction recovery conference in April, Kennedy expressed feeling an innate emptiness which necessitated filling up.
“Every addict more or less experiences this—they must address their issues, and the only effective way is through drugs. So, ‘you may die,’ ‘you’ll ruin your life,’ these words mean nothing to them,” he stated.
Kennedy revealed that after several unsuccessful attempts at rehab, he finally turned to a book written by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, mentioning that those who believed in God recovered faster and more enduringly, reigniting his faith, driving him to attend support groups for addiction.
Mueller voiced, “Addiction typically stems from some form of trauma, depression, or anxiety that people try to escape. It’s essential to treat a person holistically—physically, psychologically, and spiritually.”
Before her incarceration, Candice Mueller progressed from using heroin to using fentanyl, praising public figures and ordinary individuals who shared their recovery stories.
“I drew great inspiration when I saw others successfully emerge from the darkness at a time I was struggling with addiction. Witnessing how God had changed their lives gave me great encouragement. Hope is everything—if there’s no hope, lost in the darkness, what incentive is there for change? It’s like waiting for death,” she added.
She continued, “I’m still here breathing a miracle, given I had overdosed on drugs. I could have died, but God had a different plan for me.”
Her husband described becoming a Christian as a rebirth, having smoked marijuana for 17 years before that. He noted that in the early stages of their relationship, he hadn’t realized his wife’s addiction to pills until it escalated to stronger substances.
“People sometimes ask how we’ve stayed together until now. God, absolutely it’s God,” he emphasized.
Candice Mueller nodded in agreement.
To begin anew, the Mueller family relocated from the suburbs of Cincinnati to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in southern Ohio.
“We didn’t want to remain in a place filled with bad memories, nor let those old habits continue to affect us. God led our lives, guiding us here,” she said.
Mueller stressed that staying sober “is something you have to work on every day until the end of life.”
“Self-care is crucial; for me, it’s prayer,” she said, “It means reading the Bible, following its teachings, reflecting, examining my character. Throughout my recovery journey, my faith has remained at the core, which is truly important. Without being with God, I’m at risk of collapse.”
Mueller delved into community service, volunteering at a local religious food pantry, and serving on the board of “Strangers Helping Strangers,” a non-profit that offers relief services to the needy in Highland County, where the Mueller family resides, initiating community projects.
She currently works as a case manager at a local rehabilitation center, providing mental health, drug abuse therapy services in the drug-ridden rural areas of the Appalachian foothills in southern Ohio. She believes this is where she belongs.
“I hope to make them feel understood, cared for, but most importantly, to give them hope, to show them God can change any circumstance; I want them to see that anything is possible,” she expressed.
Her husband referred to her as “a beacon of hope” because “when they sit in front of her, facing her, they know they’re looking at someone who had been in their shoes.”
Mueller also operates “Graceful Flavors” bakery, specializing in sugar-free cakes and cupcakes. She said the name of the shop reflects her recovery journey.
“I went from despair, incarceration, to living the life I had long prayed for—all thanks to God’s grace. That’s also why I can keep going; He’s the reason I’m still here, and I don’t feel the need to escape anymore,” she remarked.