Candice Mueller had fought substance abuse for more than two decades when she spent 105 days in jail, altering her life’s path.
HILLSBORO, Ohio—Sitting in a jail cell alone, separated from her husband and teenage son, Candice Mueller said she was confronted with a decision that would alter the rest of her life: Make changes, or likely face an early death.
Mueller had battled substance abuse for more than two decades. In 2021, she was convicted of operating a vehicle while impaired and never completed the assigned treatments, so there were warrants for her arrest. Before her scheduled court appearance, Mueller recalls, she asked God for grace.
“I said to Him, ‘I don’t know what it’s going to take. I don’t know how you’re going to change my life, but I cannot do this anymore.’ And when I went to court that morning, the judge said, ‘I’ve watched you go downhill, and I’m not going to watch you die on my watch,’” Mueller recalled.
Mueller received a jail sentence in Cincinnati, underwent treatment while incarcerated, and fully turned to her faith.
“God sat me down where I was unable to run anymore. I couldn’t go anywhere to get drugs. I had to face my addiction head on, and that’s when I surrendered to the Lord,” she said.
“In a cell all alone, I was able to spend a lot of time reading the Bible, praying, and examining my life. I started to see God heal me and change my desires.”
Mueller was 38 at the time. She vowed to lead a better life for her teenage son and her husband.
“Most people didn’t know that I had a problem with pills. They didn’t know that I had a problem with drugs. I hid that as well as someone can, until I couldn’t, until life was completely unmanageable and out of control,” Mueller said.
