Sarah’s story, shared with me last week:

Readers are invited to share their stories here, telling of how you came to value the spiritual part of yourselves. Stories will be different, but please share yours as it could deeply touch and help others. We are three part beings: body, mind and spirit. Far too often the “spiritual” part of one’s self is ignored. In the story below that happened for Sarah:

From the time I was 11, I smoked weed and drank alcohol with my mom. In middle school, I experimented with LSD and mushrooms. At 16, I was addicted to crack cocaine and dating a drug dealer who was 10 years my senior.

Anesthetizing life’s difficulties through drug and alcohol use numbed any beliefs that brought honor to who I was as a person and how I wanted to be in this world.

Then came a phone call informing of my Dad’s death. Drugs and alcohol was all I had for numbing out the loss of my father. My mother also escaped through an addiction of her own. Soon, I lost her as well as she overdosed!

Lost and completely broken–and totally broke! I could see no way out. I had lost everything and was now living at a run-down dope house in California.

In this hopeless state, I remember thinking to myself, “I’ve never read the Bible—yet, I believe in God.” That tiny seed of faith, found me contemplating Jesus. Then, my praying grandmother showed up at the door of the drug house! I moved to Lake Havasu City and had a new start. God began a great work but my faith was tested. 

The demands of life caused a tremendous amount of stress. A medical professional suggested anxiety medication. After just four months of using this medication, alcohol found me again sedating further with heroin and meth. I was in a full-blown addiction, loaded with shame, guilt and hopelessness. I was in a black hole of despair being sucked further and further into depression. 

I needed a recovery program, one that would include and strengthen my growing belief in God. Teen Challenge in Casa Grande, a year-long residential program, was chosen as my Home of Hope.

There, the walls around my heart began to come down as I allowed myself to be vulnerable and teachable. I knew what was happening to me was a divine miracle. I came to know God truly was the one who could heal my broken heart, my broken life. Once I surrendered my life to Christ, deciding to go God’s way, this opened the door to my freedom from drugs and alcohol.

Great peace of heart came as the tormenting thoughts, guilt and shame of the past came to an end. Through the ministry of Teen Challenge, I was radically set free. I continued witnessing God’s power to change a life. But, then came the small compromises. Yes–I was tested. Truth be told, I could not make it on my own. I called for help—and thankfully I had the tools to get back on track.

It takes courage to ask for help! But that is where the miracle begins.  James 4:6, assures us, “ . . . God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Now for you readers: Do you have the courage to tell your story . . . showing what opened your life to the joys of a spiritual journey? WRITE IT!  The fact is Jesus changes lives! Theis is the vivid proof of Him being who He said He was: The Son of God . . . Savior of the World.

About the author: Joy Le page Smith is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain. Her website Healing-with-Joy.com holds many articles, blogs and books for people who are hurting.