FREEDOM FROM ADDICTION

“I was born drug addicted and my brother and I were abandoned by our drug addicted mother.”

Hello, I am a 30-year-old Christian sister and I love the Lord with all my heart. This is my story. I was born drug addicted and me and my brother were abandoned by our drug addicted mother when I was 1-year-old. I was raised most of my life by my grandma.

I always knew that God was real and he had a purpose for my life, but in my teens, I got a little distracted. In High School, alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and fornication were a big part of my life. In college, it was a lot more alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, more fornication and I added LSD and speed to my list of “fun things”.

I quit college to travel around the country and consume as many drugs as quickly as possible. I started traveling with a man who brought needles into my life. Shortly after, I hit the road. Oh, boy! I finally found my “instant gratification’, physically, at least. I was still “lost’. I cried out to God so many times in those 7 years. “God, what am I missing? Why is my life so empty? Why am I so confused? What is wrong with me? Help me!”

At 27, I got pregnant and quit using needles. I stuck to marijuana. I figured it was Okay-after all, it wasn’t a drug; it was just an herb. Yah right! A drug is anything that consumes you. When my daughter was 2, I brought her home to visit my grandma. I made the horrendous mistake of putting a needle in my arm. I started shooting coke and my world crumbled quickly!

Within three weeks, my grandma called Children Services and they put a hold on my daughter. They wanted me in rehab-inpatient. Talk about a catch 22! God knows I wasn’t going to check into one of those places high and by the time I came down and went, they would turn me away because their beds are only for detox.

My life was a mess. I was writing checks and staying high. One month had passed since they took my daughter. I was flipping out-she means the world to me. She was all I had and now I had nothing.

A voice inside of me kept saying, “Seek God’, so, I opened the phone book and there was, “Jesus Setting Free!” The New Life Deliverance Center. I called and was sitting with Bob Bassler within an hour.

I was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit right there. A week later was my birthday and I called my grandma to see if I could see Autumn, my little girl. She said no and I backslid hard. I tried to kill myself with cocaine, but instead I ended up in jail. All the bad checks caught up with me. I was sentenced to 6 years, do 2, suspend 2.

I immediately jumped into my Bible, Church, and the Lord. I prayed in tongues and studied my Bible constantly. It turned out to be a blessing. After a year, I came back to the county for a modification hearing and wouldn’t you know it. I walked into my cell and the only thing in my room was a New Life Deliverance flyer.

I had come full circle and now I am free! The judge modified me out of the last year of my sentence by the grace of God. God works in mysterious ways and he will do whatever it takes to save his children. Now, I am free, clean, and walking with the Lord. Our God is a loving God for doing what he did to save my life and my soul!

Praise the Lord!

Lisa

California