My name is Mark Roose, and I was born and raised in Wisconsin. I grew up in a Catholic family, attending church most Sundays, but as I got older, I gradually drifted away from my faith.

Sports were a big part of my life growing up. I enjoyed playing and watching them and collecting sports cards. Then, during my junior year of high school, I had my first drink.

At the time, alcohol seemed harmless—something social and fun. But when I went away to college, it began taking on a much bigger role. I bounced between several colleges searching for the right fit, but looking back, my real priority had become drinking, partying, and having a good time.

While in college, I met my future wife, and together we began building our life. We had good jobs, great friends, and eventually built a home in Tomah, Wisconsin. From the outside, everything seemed to be falling into place. We thought we had life figured out—but one thing was missing from mine: God.

I eventually returned to school at night to finish my bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management and Marketing. It was important to me that my children grow up knowing both of their parents had earned college degrees. I graduated in 2008, the same year the first of our three beautiful children was born.

Life seemed almost perfectly lined up. I had a family I loved, a home, a good career, great friends, a college degree, and an active life that included running marathons. Alcohol was there too, but it still seemed like a simple pleasure—just another part of the life I was enjoying.

Somewhere along the way, that changed. On the outside, I was still functioning, but underneath, things were slipping away as drinking became alcohol abuse. I went from being a marathon runner and active family man to watching the life I had built begin to unravel. Alcohol was changing me and taking everything from me.

My marriage ended in divorce in 2016. I went to rehab in 2017 but relapsed almost immediately. By 2018, I had reached another turning point and came to Covered Bridge, once again trying to get my life back on track.

It was there that something different happened. I was saved and began developing a real relationship with Jesus Christ. I grew spiritually and began to understand what it meant to live differently. For the first time in a long time, I had hope and confidence because I was beginning to understand where that hope came from.

After graduating and returning to Wisconsin, I didn’t maintain my relationship with Jesus, build a strong support system, or find a church where I could continue growing. Slowly, I returned to my old vices.

The years that followed became a cycle of alcohol abuse, isolation, jobs that came and went, and new legal problems that put me in and out of jail. Eventually, I reached the end of myself.
I knew I needed more than another attempt to get sober. I needed God at the center of my life—not only when things were falling apart, but in every part of it. I needed to return to the One who had given me hope in the first place.

I returned to Covered Bridge in May of this year knowing that simply getting sober wasn’t enough. Today, I am rebuilding my relationship with Christ, surrounding myself with like-minded people, attending church regularly, and spending more time in God’s Word than I have in years.

One of my greatest hopes is to rebuild my relationships with my children and be part of their lives again. I know that cannot happen simply because I want it to. I have to trust God with the process and His timing while I remain faithful, continue growing, and become the man and father He is calling me to be.

For years, I tried to take control of my own life, and alcohol slowly took that life away from me. Today, I have been given another opportunity, and I don’t want to waste it.

My hope is no longer based on having the perfect job, the perfect home, or everything in my life perfectly lined up. My hope is in Jesus Christ. As I continue walking alongside Him, one day at a time, I trust that He will lead me where I need to go.