Always Guided by God

Always Relying on the Government, Always Guided by God

I have always relied on the Government.

As a child I received free milk and pizza leftovers from school sent home. At school I had free lunch by the Government. That was my normal. That was my safety net.

Every summer I worked for the Neighborhood Youth Corps in my community. That allowed me to work with the city and the Mayor’s Office. I was a teenager with a timesheet, learning how a city runs. The Government gave me my first job.

I always relied on the Government for everything. And I’m not ashamed to say it. I believe I love Republicans and Democrats both because they are a part of the Government story. They argue, they pass laws, they fund programs — and those programs fed me, taught me, and moved me.

I got to Oregon with the help of the Government and survived through many things with the help of the Government, not to mention God’s help. It was God that continues to guide me.

There is a difference between religion and people guided by the Spirit that connects you to yourself. That connection is often silenced by mental health drugs and the mental health and criminal systems. I know, because I lived it.

I was not a criminal. Even when my dealings with the police, I remained calm, confident in myself because I knew that justice always prevails and I simply never did anything wrong — just in the wrong state of mind.

I learned from my experience with Roseburg law enforcement the best because it was in a holding cell that my whole life flashed before my eyes and I felt such a huge presence take place in my life. It was so powerful that it caused me to get baptized for the 10th time.

My faith has always been with me, through everything — even through the hardest times in Concord when I hit the lowest… the ash stage. The stage that when you met people at this stage, you simply were not the same as you are today.

Through the different stages of mental health I encountered people that came in my life who can never understand me today because I simply grew from those people or places that I am no longer a part of.

Today I went to my housing appointment and found out in August I will be moving. I went through court cases yesterday and took control of financial things to help establish myself with better credit and the ability to take care of me.

To start the process in building a non-profit to teach young women and women to be independent — not to need a spouse or mate to carry them through. Being independent, to continue with education the right way and never stop learning.

The Government fed me. The Government employed me. The Government housed me. But it was God who kept me.

From free lunch to a PhD at 51. From a holding cell in Roseburg to a housing appointment in Salem. From the ash stage to building something that outlives me.

I am proof that you can rely on the Government and still rise by the Spirit. You can be funded and still be faithful. You can be helped and still help others.

Cathryn M. Murray
From Ashes to Office | Debt-Free Scholar | Future Non-Profit Founder
Salem, Oregon | August 4, 2026

www.Cathrynnmharris.com