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                                 DRUGS  * ALCOHOL * JAIL

 Drugs and alcohol have been a dominate part of my life from 1966 to 1990 and I am going to take this opportunity to let everyone know it. If by chance someone with a similar problem might see this, they can take comfort in knowing there is life after addiction. This very short story started with the hippie generation and all the groovy stuff that went with it. Smoking pot was just for fun...what harm could it do. A typical outlook for those that think it is just for laughs. We all start with innocent intentions but we are playing with death. It was a short trip for me to get from pot to sticking a needle in my arm. The fun was over and the addiction begins. I lived in a world consumed with one thought, how can I get loaded today and the heck with everyone else.
The life of addiction is ugly and sad because even knowing it is a disease, people let things go on without any real intervention, the addict is in a web of despair and hopelessness. It is amazing how the majority of people just enable the addict and actually help them and make excuses for their erratic behavior. Addicts are excellent con artists and can manipulate every situation. I spent many months in jail and still my real problem went on unchecked and unnoticed. If you love someone like that read on but get professional help. I was 43 before I got it together and I know people much older then me who have changed so don't give up hope.

After many years without a steady job my wife and I hit the bottom, welfare. We had no money or possessions and got around in $100 car with that was a bucket of rust. My wife finally wised up and left me but the con in me handled that easily with a... ok I'll quit drinking and no more drugs. Well I actually did quit for a year and started to work in our rented apartment refinishing furniture. We actually started to make enough money so they took away our welfare but gave us food stamps and 6 months later we were on our own. Knowing I quit for a year was proof I didn't have a problem (patience) I conned my way back to just a few drinks on Saturdays, of course it only took only a couple of months before it was the same old thing. To make this quick we repeated the same story over again and I quit for a couple of years this time before I started all over again.
My wife is a Christian and decided that she would try one more time.This time she told the Lord He will have to make something happen because this is her final try... intervention was her course of action. I was called at our store and told that our daughter had a slight injury and I would have to pick her up at the hospital. I walked in and they said you can get her in room A, as I approached the door I was greeted in the hallway and a doctor said my daughter is ok but some people want to talk to me. When I walked in I knew it was trouble, the table looked a city block long  and their  was my  lawyer, partner, sister, brother in law, wife and 2 kids. I was real scared and thought about running out but the con in me said you can get out of this Ray just play along. My sister started, my wife, then my daughter got to me a little, at that point my 4 year old son yelled out , when do I get my turn; he spoke, dad when are you going to quit drugs!!!!!!!!! Well that was to much for me to take and I broke down and cried like a little baby. It was a very sad moment in my life and I shocked everyone by agreeing to go into rehab. It didn't really sink in till 3 days later in the middle of the night. I began to review my life and came to realize the things I have done and the way I lived my life was not normal. BINGO the light finally went on, I am a drug addict and a drunk! For the first time in my life I knew something was wrong .

                                             * Peace in Christ * 

Yes I went threw rehab and quit for several years. Things still didn't seem right. I would always seem to be on edge and have a short fuse. One day I agreed to go to a Billy Graham Crusade, to the amazement of my wife and all who knew me. When he asked for people to come forward I immediately took off, leaving my group in total surprise. Something happened that night and I am a better person for it; I WAS BORN AGAIN. I don't go around preaching but that event changed my life and it can work for you. JOHN 3:16

Just like I had an intervention for substance abuse, we need to have an intervention to reach others for Christ. Unless a Christian cares enough to take a chance in sharing the Gospel of Christ, the lost will likely die without hope, separated from God. There is always risk involved when you share Jesus. But agape love and trust in the Holy Spirit will enable the Christian to exercise the intervention of personal witnessing. To finish up I would just like to say.

" PRAISE GOD FOR SAVING A WRETCH LIKE ME "

Confession

Our Walk thru the Valley of Death.

Breast Cancer 04/30/01

My wife has surgery 9/5/00 at 10:30 AM...please pray for her. These last few weeks have been an unexpected walk through the valley. I will expand on our experience when we are done with this walk. I must say that the Lord has blessed us with a spirit filled, caring church that has lifted us in our despair. The lord has been with us and will see us to victory... Praise God !

I would like to briefly share how Christ has walked with me through out life. My first encounter with Him was at a Christian grade school. I learned that Jesus rose from the dead but I thought He was in heaven and not involved in my day to day living. As I grew I began to see all

The injustice in the world and bought into the youth rebellion of the late 60’s and early 70’s. I believed that it was ok to do what ever you felt like doing as long as you didn’t hurt anyone, not realizing that our actions always affect somebody.

I was in control of my own life…until I came to the realization that my husband was addicted to alcohol and drugs. Early in our marriage I asked Jesus into my life (simply because of the persistence of another person). Salvation through Christ sounded too good to be true, so I accepted it with an attitude, saying that if He is real that He would have to make all the changes in my life. He did make changes and He began with me.

Shortly afterward a pastor visited us and invited me to his church. I began to attend and a void in my life was filled. I became very active and met an evangelist minister who just happened to be a former alcoholic. He prayed with me and explained how serious alcoholism is.

Although my life wasn’t perfect I found great joy in knowing the Lord. As the years went by Ray eventually went from an alcoholic to a workaholic. I was still involved in church but was so busy trying to meet everybody’s needs that I kept Christ at a distance.

I was brought to my knees when I noticed signs of substance abuse in Ray again. I prayed and cried to God in desperation because I felt so lost and out of control of the situation .At that very moment his sister called. She would have been the last person I would have asked to help me . But God used her to assist in seeking treatment for him. We were told that a spiritual program would be used and that an intervention was needed. I had my doubts because he was always against anything spiritual. The Lord walked me through the process and Ray found sobriety.

Three months later my mother, who was my best friend, passed away. I was overwhelmed with grief and emptiness. Upon the urging of another Christian friend we formed a Bible study. It seemed like a foreign language at first but we persisted and our group grew in closeness and knowledge. My grief had been replaced with a deeper commitment to Christ.

One week we decided to go to an Earl Bailey revival. A friend named Terry and I went to the altar and there I gave Ray and my children to Jesus to do what I was unable to do. From that moment I knew that Ray would come to Christ thinking that it would be on his deathbed. Again I underestimated God’s goodness. Now I know how wonderful it is to be married to a Christian.

A couple years ago we participated in a Bible study called "Experiencing God." I considered myself a good and forgiving Christian but during that study I began to feel bitterness toward Ray. Eventually I realized I had suppressed anger for many years. I asked the Lord to remove this overwhelming resentment. When He did I saw how judgmental and self-righteous I was inside and that without God’s grace and goodness I wasn’t any better than anyone else. I know now that I must call on Jesus Christ daily to stay on track, not just when I’m in trouble.

Jesus isn’t with us physically but he is the savior and comforter to all that call upon his name. We are on Earth for just a short time when compared to eternity. I had to come to terms with this over the past year.

It’s too soon for me to talk about my cancer experience but Ray will share how Christ has been with us.

=============================Ray============================

Over the past several years Deb and I would always joke around saying, "Is life awesome or what!" Life is so good it seems like a fairy tale. Then Deb received the news, you have a lump that needs looked at. This was the beginning of our walk through the valley of death. I had many feelings of helplessness. The first few weeks are like a dream that you are waiting to awake from. Then I realized that I could lose Deb …just when we were at a point in life that our walk with Jesus Christ and ourselves seemed so perfect.

I just felt it was up to me to be strong but I was devastated and wondered if I would blame God for inflicting such tragedy on the woman I loved. I was worried about losing my wife and God.

I only had one choice….PRAY. After much praying I received such an awesome answer: How could I get mad at God for giving us 25 years together. She was the example who led me to Christ and the woman who showed me how to walk the walk. We know God didn’t promise we wouldn’t have trials but he did promise that he would be there.

I can tell you Jesus has been with us every step of the way and we have come closer to him and each other. There have been many blessings through these troubling times and we are walking out of this valley much stronger then when we entered. Without the personal relationship, we have with Jesus Christ this crisis would have been unbearable.

 Deb and I are here to tell you Jesus Christ is as real today as 2000 years ago.

HE IS THE CHRIST-THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.