Jesus worked transformative power in my heart and he freed me from the bondage of addiction, from the victim mindset that I had lived in for almost the entirety of my life, and the walls that I built up around myself.
I was raised in a Christian home by a single mom. My parents were divorced so this made for a pretty inconsistent and dysfunctional home life. My father was an abusive alcoholic, so pretty young I started exhibiting emotional and behavioral problems. I turned to addictive behaviors first to try to cope with insecurities and a desire to be loved and accepted by others. These types of behaviors included things like attention seeking, manipulating, lying, stealing, eating disorders, inappropriate relationships, cutting myself, and other self-destructive habits.
In High School, these rebellious behaviors as well as my disobedience to my parents and any authority in my life became very apparent- so much so that my mom decided to withdraw me from public school and enroll me in Florence Christian School. The sin problem I had in my life did not end, I just tried to hide it better. Around that time I began to use substances incorrectly such as drinking and smoking. At home and school I would constantly hear that the things I was doing were not a part of what God had planned for my life; but, I never did anything to change because I didn’t want to. Because I didn’t change, I carried around a lot of anger and bitterness. I would try to pull myself together through my own power. That would always bring me back to an inappropriate worldly relationship as well as a dependence on substances to help me cope with depression and anxiety.
God loved me way too much to let me continue on the path that I was creating for myself, though.
He created me, so he knew exactly what it would take for the eyes of my heart to be opened. I had ruined my relationships with those who cared about me. My possessions were all gone. I had abandoned my children to my mom’s care. When I tried to go back to them while I still was not okay, I thank God that they were kept away and protected from me. That is what it took, and only then did I realize that the only thing I had left was myself and a drug addiction that I could no longer deny. I needed to change, and that wasn’t going to happen without Jesus Christ.
I surrendered my life and my heart over to Him, and He immediately came into my heart and began to transform me. He changed my mind about the way that I was living and the things that I was doing.
God loved me way too much to let me continue on the path that I was creating for myself
The Lord used Reformers Unanimous to minister to my mom throughout my addiction. When I was ready, Corbett pointed me to Miracle Hill. Miracle Hill is an 8-month in-patient addiction recovery program in Greenville where I was accepted, loved, and discipled.
Jesus worked transformative power in my heart and he freed me from the bondage of addiction, from the victim mindset that I had lived in for almost the entirety of my life, and the walls that I built up around myself. He healed my heart.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, all things are become new.”
After completing in-patient treatment, I now live with my two children. The Lord has restored broken relationships within my life and my family. Because of the Lord, I was able to forgive my earthly father.
I’m confident that I am now walking in God’s will, and am forever thankful for the way the Lord has used the RU program in my life.