How God Rebuilt My Life from the Ground Up
By Charlie York, Owner of York Safety Solutions
If you’re reading this and you’re tired, burned out, or buried under pressure, I get it. I’ve been there. I’ve stumbled through divorce, addiction, shame, and suicidal thoughts. I’ve lost family to drugs and alcohol. I’ve destroyed things I thought I was building, but I’m still standing, and not because of anything I did on my own.
God rebuilt my life. And now I’m trying to help others in this industry do the same.
t was 2001. I was a vice president of a successful construction company in New York. I was a decorated Marine. I had a beautiful family, money, a house, a reputation for having it all. From the outside, I looked like I had it together.
But inside, I was unraveling. I’d worked myself into the ground clocking in 100-hour weeks, never home, never resting, always chasing more. More work. More money. More approval. I turned to alcohol and drugs. And along the way, I lost sight of the one thing that mattered most … my family.
When my marriage fell apart, everything in me broke. I flew into a rage, and then I disappeared. I left my job. I left everything. I drove into the mountains and lived in the woods like a hermit. I bathed in creeks and slept under a tarp in the back of my truck like a ghost just waiting to disappear for good.
“We were created for more than this. We were created with purpose.”
Then came the day that I was finally done. I sat at the base of a tree and I pulled out a picture of my 10-year old son Corey out of my wallet. I kissed that photo of my son, and put a gun in my mouth.
That’s when it happened. I felt something. Something I hadn’t felt before. Something I couldn’t explain. It was as if God Himself whispered, “Charlie, I had to take everything from you so you’d finally look up.”
I took the gun out of my mouth and started to cry.
Finding God on the Jobsite
That moment set me on a path I never expected. I walked into a small church in my hometown in upstate New York. I sat in the back and judged everyone. I thought they were crazy but I kept coming because I had nowhere else to go.
Eventually, I called my oldest brother, the one who had been praying for me for over 20 years, and told him what had happened. He broke down crying. And right there on the phone, he explained to me the Good News of who Jesus Christ was and what He did for me on the cross. My heart was ready for this first time as I finally realized I had hijacked my life for the past 37 years, and I knew it had to stop. I gave my life to Christ that day. It was September 21st, 2001, and my life has not been the same since.
Now listen … I’m a skeptic by nature. I don’t buy into hype. I didn’t take the preacher’s word for it. I needed to read the Bible for myself and so I did. What I found wasn’t a book of rules—it was a blueprint for everything I’d been missing: leadership, character, integrity, peace, joy and finally real purpose.
I eventually went back to college for the first time in my life at 53 and got a bachelor’s degree in Bible and Theology, not because I wanted a title, but because I wanted more Truth. I served this great country for 21 years in the Marine Corps, but until I gave my life to Christ, I was NEVER REALLY FREE. Jesus Himself said “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). I am now free only because of Christ.
Why I Started Faith Builders Bible Study
A few months ago, I was in an AGC Health and Wellness Committee meeting, and the room was full of people talking about anxiety, depression, suicide, and burnout they see in construction.
Everyone had something to share: one person talked about nutrition, another about fitness. When it came to me, I didn’t have a workout plan. What I had was a testimony.
I said, “The only thing that’s helped me get through all that anger, addiction, depression, and shame was the Bible.”
That’s when Faith Builders was born.
This bible study meets every Tuesday at 7:30 am at the Construction Career Center. No preaching. No pressure. Just honest conversation. We talk about work, life, struggle, and how God fits into it all. I’ve seen grown men and women open up in ways they never have before—people who’ve carried pain for decades, and I’ve seen God start to heal some of that brokenness.
The Problem in Our Industry
Let me be real: there’s a spiritual crisis in construction. I still walk onto job sites and smell alcohol on a guy’s breath at 7 a.m. I see people showing up on Wednesday instead of Monday because they were too wrecked to work. I see companies lowering standards just to keep a crew.
We’ve made excuses for too long. “It’s just the industry.” “It’s the stress.” “It’s the culture.” That’s a lie.
We were created for more than this. We were created with purpose. The Bible says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, not for men.” (Colossians 3:23)
That means you don’t cut corners because you answer to a higher authority. You show up. You do good work. You lead well, not to impress your boss but to honor God.
This Is the Work I Want to Do Now
When I teach a safety class or lead a project, I’m thinking about something bigger than the building. I’m thinking about the person.
“I love how Charlie brings Bible principles to the job site and how we as builders should conduct ourselves in the construction industry which we all know can be a rough place. This bible study has been a huge help and influence for me. Charlie’s love and passion for spreading the gospel is contagious and it’s incredible to see the Lord work in and through him.”
Tyler Burns, Carpenter & Chaplain
Wind River Built