0:00

So I remember knocking on his door and he

0:03

said, come in. And he was sitting there and I

0:05

walked in. I said I said, man, I'm

0:07

spiritually bankrupt. And

0:10

the bottom that I told you about the hopeless,

0:12

desperate place I was at on

0:15

my first go around, I

0:17

didn't. I didn't know anything about God

0:20

or Jesus or grace

0:23

or mercy. Didn't know anything about

0:25

that, but I had been saved by his

0:27

grace and mercy. And then I,

0:29

myself, will turn my back on him

0:32

and went back to doing the stuff I did. And

0:34

it was so devastating that I

0:37

felt like I had let God down. And

0:39

I did let God down as well as myself.

0:41

And I somehow figured that was unforgivable

0:44

because I said, your ego tells

0:46

you these lies, man, and the disease wants you

0:48

to stay stuck. But when I walked

0:50

in and I said, Joe, I'm spiritually bankrupt,

0:53

tears are rolling out because I

0:55

just, I feel terrible about

0:57

my actions and my inability to control

0:59

myself. I'll never forget

1:02

his response.

1:03

That is where we left off in Tom's story. Last

1:05

week after he had truly lost

1:07

everything. He had lost his wife.

1:10

He had lost his ability to work. He

1:12

had lost his purpose and

1:15

now you will get to hear the second

1:17

half of Tom's story. And the

1:19

amazing miracles that God

1:22

began to do in his life. Then Tom's

1:24

story illustrates in

1:26

a beautiful way. How

1:29

miracles truly work. Oftentimes

1:31

we sit back and we want God

1:33

to do magic in our lives. And

1:35

magic is where. One person

1:38

or one being just does great things. And it's a

1:40

one-way street. But what we need

1:42

is for God to do miracles in our lives.

1:45

And if you understand how miracles work, there's

1:47

two parts to miracles. There's our part

1:50

where we need to do some things

1:52

to get in line with what God

1:54

wants us to do to take those

1:56

steps, to begin to walk alongside

1:58

God in the path that he has for us. And

2:01

when we do that, God does

2:03

a second part and begins to do.

2:06

Amazing and miraculous things

2:08

that we could never do on our own.

2:10

It's such a beautiful illustration.

2:13

when you hear Tom's. Story.

2:16

And what happened in this second half?

2:19

You're going to love it. And I think you

2:21

will be able to learn so many wonderful lessons,

2:23

just like I've learned by listening

2:25

to Tom share what God has done.

2:28

Then how in such an

2:30

amazing way, God put everything back

2:32

together. And even a

2:34

greater way than it ever was before.

2:37

So enjoy the second half of Tom's story.

2:40

I pray that you'll learn some great

2:42

things from this second half of Tom's story.

2:45

And that you'll be able to figure

2:47

out whatever it is the Lord wants you to do

2:49

to take those steps, to begin to walk alongside

2:52

him. And then trust

2:54

him. For the great miracles

2:56

that he wants to do in your life

2:58

as well. God bless you. And

3:01

enjoy Tom's story.

3:03

HellO, and welcome to Renew, Restore,

3:05

Rejoice, the Safe House Ministries podcast,

3:08

where we share stories of the power of God

3:10

to change lives through Safe House Ministries.

3:13

Safe House Ministries is based out of Columbus,

3:15

Georgia, and we are a ministry that exists to

3:17

love and serve people who have been affected by

3:19

addiction, homelessness, and

3:21

incarceration. I'm your host, Phil

3:23

Shuler, the Director of Development for Safe House

3:25

Ministries here in Columbus, Georgia. Safe

3:28

House serves over 1, 100 people

3:30

each month as they transition back into

3:32

our community. Safe House provides an

3:34

abundance of services including 213

3:36

beds for homeless individuals and families,

3:38

case management for obtaining job skills and long

3:40

term employment. Over 300

3:42

hot meals every day, free clothing,

3:45

and so much more. One of the most incredible

3:47

services that Safe House provides is our

3:49

free 9 12 month intensive outpatient

3:51

substance abuse program, which is state

3:53

licensed, CARF accredited, and has

3:55

no wait list. Almost 100 percent

3:57

of individuals staying in our shelters who follow our

3:59

three phase program become

4:01

fully employed within a few months. And

4:03

68 percent of individuals who

4:06

stay at least one night with us End

4:08

up finding work and moving into their own home.

4:10

Thank you for being with us today and listening to our

4:12

podcast. We hope you enjoy this week's episode.

4:15

He stood up and he hugged me and

4:18

he said, you're going to be all right. He

4:20

said, now there's something you missed. When

4:22

we do these steps, you need

4:24

to figure out what it is and

4:26

then we'll work on it. And when he

4:28

said, I'm going to be all right, I was like, dude, you don't understand

4:31

I'm, my life's over. And, but he

4:33

knew when you get to that point where, all

4:35

right, I'm all in now, I'm going to do, I'm really

4:37

going to do whatever y'all tell me to do this time. And

4:39

went to treatment for my last long

4:42

term treatment. I went there and I'm praying

4:44

every morning and I'm like, God, I missed

4:47

something. And I've searched my

4:49

mind and I can't figure out what it is.

4:51

I need your help. Please reveal

4:53

to me what I missed. If you'll reveal this to me, I'll

4:55

work on it. Cause I, I want

4:58

to live for you. I don't want to stop living

5:00

for me. And I was there

5:02

a couple of weeks and I am not figuring

5:05

out what I missed. And I'm praying every morning,

5:07

same prayer. Please reveal to me what

5:09

I missed. And one day I was called at a group

5:11

by a psych nurse. They just

5:13

put me on depression medicine. So the

5:15

psych nurse calls me out to talk to me about

5:18

what I think you're going to ask me how the medicine's

5:20

working. Because truth was

5:22

I was severely depressed because I couldn't

5:24

stop getting high. Who wouldn't be severely

5:27

depressed? And so she

5:29

has my chart in front over and she says, Oh, I see

5:31

you're from Columbus, Georgia. And it says

5:33

here you're separated. I see. Yes, ma'am. She

5:36

said, okay, let's talk about that. Tell me about your separation.

5:38

I said there's not really a lot to talk about. My

5:40

wife kicked me out, about eight years

5:42

ago, and I ain't talked to her

5:44

since. She's what? You haven't,

5:46

are y'all getting divorced? Are y'all getting back together?

5:49

I was like, I don't know. She's what do you mean you

5:51

don't know? You have no closure on this. I was

5:53

like, what do you mean closure? She says, you,

5:55

Tom, you need to figure out if you're gonna get divorced

5:57

or you're gonna get back together. But she, not

5:59

only are you hanging, but you left her hanging

6:01

this whole time. Y'all can't move on

6:03

with life because you still don't know what

6:05

you're gonna do with this marriage. And

6:07

I thought. It was like an epiphany

6:10

to me. I was like, wow, I never thought I would, I never

6:12

even thought to look at that.

6:15

I know why now. That hurt

6:17

my heart when she told me you don't live here anymore.

6:20

Although I was high in stone,

6:23

it hurt my heart so

6:25

bad, cause I failed in marriage

6:28

and I wanted

6:30

to succeed in marriage. And

6:32

so I've decided that hurt right

6:34

there, I was going to box up and put a nice bow

6:36

on it and put it on the highest shelf I could find

6:38

never to be talked about or looked at again

6:41

because it's too uncomfortable. So

6:43

even though I was doing step work, I was never

6:46

going there because that's the one thing I am

6:48

not going back to because I don't want to

6:50

feel that pain. Because I love my wife

6:52

with all my heart. I was just out of control and I

6:54

couldn't be the husband I was intended to

6:56

be. So as that Nurse

6:59

talked about that. She never did talk to me

7:01

about my psych medicine because

7:03

when she told me that Tears

7:06

started coming out of my eyes because I knew that's

7:08

what I missed. I Missed

7:10

getting closure on my relationship

7:13

with my wife So I actually looked

7:15

at her and I said is it possible that God just

7:17

used you to reveal to me what I missed

7:19

And she said I don't know honey, and

7:22

I said Can I give you a hug? I've

7:24

never seen this lady before in my life. And

7:27

I stood up and I gave her a hug. I've

7:29

never seen that woman again. The whole time I was

7:31

in the 10 month program, I never saw this nurse

7:33

again. You can think what you want to think about

7:35

that, but it was revealed to me what

7:37

I missed. And I called my sponsor

7:40

and I said, I think I know what I've been overlooking

7:43

and he said that's good, man. He said, you just keep doing

7:45

what you're doing and we'll figure

7:47

it out. Anyway, I as

7:49

I went through the step process, working

7:52

the steps again, because every time I relapsed,

7:54

I worked the steps again. So

7:56

this is my fourth time working the steps with

7:58

my sponsor, different sponsors.

8:00

Don't get me wrong, because as you change locations,

8:02

you get different sponsors. And

8:05

And we went through it and I

8:07

remember taking it to my group when I was

8:09

in treatment, and asking their

8:11

advice, because we were told not to trust our

8:13

own decisions anymore, because our decisions got us

8:15

into treatment. So let's bounce these decisions

8:17

off these twelve other people, and see

8:19

if they think it's a good idea. So

8:21

I talked to them about that, and

8:23

They asked me, how do you communicate with your wife

8:25

right now? I said I don't communicate with her

8:28

at Christmas. She'll send me a text that

8:30

says, Merry Christmas. And as soon

8:32

as I see it, fear comes all over me and

8:35

I just text back, Merry Christmas. And I

8:37

send it and I hope she doesn't send anything else

8:39

because I don't know what to do, and

8:41

they said, okay you're not allowed to text her anymore. You need

8:43

to call her. I was like, Oh Lord,

8:45

you're going to have me call her. I'm not

8:48

comfortable with that. And they said that's what you have to do.

8:50

Do it and report back to group. I

8:52

was like, okay. So I

8:54

would bring up her number in my cell phone and

8:57

I just could not make myself press

9:00

call. And I would just put

9:02

the phone down and said I'll do it tomorrow. I can't

9:04

do it today. I'll do it tomorrow. The, after

9:06

about 30 days, they're like, Tom,

9:08

you need to make that call you need and

9:10

come tomorrow and tell us how it went.

9:13

So I finally pressed that thing. And

9:16

she answers the phone. She says, Hello.

9:18

And I said, Hey, it's me. She

9:21

said hello. She said why

9:23

are you calling me all of a sudden? I ain't heard from

9:25

you in years. And all of a sudden, you just call me out of the blue.

9:27

And unfortunately, I said I just

9:30

want to get on some level playing ground where we

9:32

can communicate with one another. And she

9:34

said, you got some kind of

9:36

nerve calling me after all this time, talking

9:38

about getting on some level playing ground. Let

9:41

me tell you something. And

9:43

she went off on me, hollered

9:45

and screaming on how I broke the trust.

9:48

And telling me everything I knew I

9:50

had done, but the things that really hurt

9:52

her. For 30 minutes, I listened to

9:54

her go up one side of me and down

9:57

the other. But something told me just to shut

9:59

up and listen because I needed to listen

10:01

to that. I needed to be accountable for my actions.

10:04

And so I let her get off her chest,

10:07

whatever she needed to get off her chest. And the

10:09

craziest thing was that was 30 minutes,

10:11

literally, because I had a timer on my phone. I know

10:13

how long she went off on me. And

10:16

we talked 30 minutes was

10:18

actually a pretty decent conversation,

10:21

which kind of It was hard to believe

10:23

after what I just heard come out of her on

10:25

how hurt she was. And then

10:27

she's talking to me about just

10:29

stuff, and I hung up the phone and

10:32

I was thinking, wow that actually went better than I thought

10:34

it was going to go. And I went back to group the

10:36

next day and read to report on what, what

10:38

just transpired. And I told him what I just told you.

10:40

And they said that's good. When are you going to talk to

10:42

her again? I was like, what do you mean? Talk to

10:44

her again, talk to her again. I did

10:46

what y'all told me to do. And they're like, no, you

10:49

haven't gotten to a solution to your

10:51

problem. So you're going to have to talk

10:53

to her again, talk to her again, and report back to group.

10:56

I waited 30 days, called her. And

10:58

her voice, you could hear in her voice, she was happy to

11:00

hear from me. The tone had changed,

11:03

and it was nice, man. It was really nice that

11:05

I felt like, wow, she's really glad to hear from

11:07

me. And we talked for about

11:09

an hour and I reported back to

11:11

group and it was a wonderful conversation.

11:14

And They told me to call her again and same

11:17

thing I'm doing what y'all tell me when

11:19

am I gonna be done? It's we'll let you know So

11:22

it went up from calling her every 30 days

11:24

So I call her every two weeks

11:26

and I call her once a week and then I started calling

11:28

her every day And as

11:30

things progressed in my recovery,

11:32

we started praying together for the first time

11:34

on the phone So every night

11:37

me and her are praying together and it's

11:39

a wonderful thing man and

11:41

I'm working the steps. I'm at a

11:43

point in the steps in step 11 where

11:45

it says we seek only knowledge of God's will

11:47

for us. We pray only for knowledge of God's will for

11:49

us and his power to carry it out. And

11:52

I'm really earnestly praying that prayer

11:54

on a daily, every morning. I'm praying, God,

11:57

please, your will be done in my life. Give me

11:59

your strength to carry it out. I don't know what

12:01

it is, but I know you'll reveal it to me.

12:03

And a changing moment in

12:06

my recovery When I

12:08

started really earnestly seeking

12:10

God's will in my life and not trying

12:12

to run it anymore like I'd always run it

12:14

Things started working out for them for the good.

12:17

I Remember I completed

12:19

treatment Had our moving on ceremony

12:22

and I was living in the community where the treatment center

12:24

was in South Georgia. And

12:26

I was very plugged in. I was

12:28

had a service position with a, which

12:31

kept me very involved. Best thing I'd ever did

12:33

was take a service position because that kept me

12:35

plugged in to that community.

12:37

I'd worked steps to the best of my ability.

12:40

I had a spiritual awakening. They said I was going

12:42

to have. I start out every morning

12:44

with prayer, meditation.

12:47

I'm very grateful that today I'm alive

12:49

and I don't want to kill myself.

12:52

And I had one of the guys down

12:54

there, he was working as a certified

12:56

peer specialist at a,

12:58

for Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network.

13:00

They had a respite, respite house there. And

13:03

it's for addicts, alcoholics, or people

13:05

suffering with or living with mental health

13:07

problems. Just a place where they can come and

13:09

chill, get some resources they need.

13:11

If they ever need help with anything,

13:14

this, the certified peer specialist helps

13:16

give them the resources to, to achieve

13:18

their goals. And one of the guys at work there

13:21

said, Tom we have a job opening and I

13:23

just want to let you know about it because I

13:25

think you'd be a perfect fit for it. And

13:27

I was like a job opening, I'm

13:29

not looking for a job. So I

13:32

was like, I appreciate it. I really appreciate the offer,

13:34

but now I'm on disability. I can't work.

13:36

I'm on disability. And So

13:39

I told my wife about it in that conversation.

13:41

She's okay, she didn't really know what all

13:43

that entailed or what it was. But

13:45

I started, I knew everyone that worked

13:47

there because I went up to the place and I would

13:49

go and join in their activities and

13:52

use their computers and so forth. And

13:54

I got to be friends with all the employees out there.

13:57

And I started thinking about, I went

13:59

through treatment with some of these people that are working

14:01

here before. They're

14:03

still sober. So I

14:06

asked each one of them, how many, how long have you been sober?

14:08

And that was 13 years, 14

14:11

years, 21 years, seven years,

14:13

six years. And I was like, huh,

14:15

might be something to this. They're actually

14:17

trying to help other people and there'll be

14:20

they're staying sober. I ain't doing nothing

14:22

and I'm not, so maybe there's something to

14:24

this. I was talking to my wife about

14:26

it and I'm praying on this. I'm going God

14:29

I didn't even knock on this door. This

14:31

door opened. Is this your will for me?

14:34

Are you leading me in this direction? If it

14:36

is I want to go, but I

14:38

need some clarification I don't know if this

14:40

is what you want me to do and me and my wife

14:42

are praying on it We pray on it continuously

14:45

Waiting for an answer. Sometimes it ain't

14:47

my time. It's his time and

14:49

I'm Now here's the, some

14:51

of the rest of the story. Me and my wife, I told you we're

14:53

praying every day together and

14:55

our relationship is starting to blossom,

14:58

which I never considered

15:01

getting back with her because I broke

15:03

her trust and there, I

15:05

didn't think she would ever forgive me. I don't think she'd ever

15:07

be able to forgive me. So as

15:09

we're talking and we're praying I Our

15:11

relationship starts moving in

15:13

a direction I never thought was possible. And,

15:17

one of our friends, unfortunately,

15:20

died in Columbus, so I had

15:22

to come home to go to the funeral. It was somebody we worked

15:24

with and she said why don't you just

15:27

come here and stay here,

15:29

and we'll go to the funeral together. So

15:32

I was like, okay, I came with my sponsor, stayed

15:34

in separate rooms. Don't get me wrong. Wasn't no funny

15:36

business going on cause we were not there yet.

15:39

And but it was an opportunity for us to

15:41

see each other face to face, pray

15:43

together, face to face, hand in hand

15:46

and talk about this job and

15:49

it's, we're going in a direction of actually

15:53

restoring our marriage and

15:55

I'm just completely blown away on how

15:57

this is even possible. It's

15:59

only God can, could restore something

16:01

that was so broken. When you break

16:03

someone's trust, it's almost impossible to gain

16:05

it back. But I learned

16:07

when I went to make my amends with her

16:09

and I sat down with her face to face and

16:12

I went through everything that I thought I had done to

16:14

harm her. And then I let her tell me what

16:16

I left out. And then I asked her, what

16:18

can I do to make this right? And she's on

16:20

there for it. She said, Tom, I've forgiven

16:23

you. But you haven't forgiven

16:25

yourself. What you need to do

16:27

is work on forgiving yourself. And

16:30

no truer words were ever spoken. I wanted

16:32

to hold myself accountable for breaking that

16:34

trust through my foolishness

16:36

and my addiction. But that being

16:39

forgiven, being shown how to be forgiven

16:41

allowed me to forgive myself. It

16:43

wasn't an instant process. It was a process.

16:46

But I finally got there. I'd never

16:48

been there before because I was never able

16:50

to look at this problem

16:53

I had with my wife. I always wanted to keep it up

16:55

on the shelf and not worry about it. But

16:57

anyway we're praying, we're thinking about getting back

17:00

together eventually, don't know when.

17:02

But this job opportunity comes up, so

17:05

we're praying, I said, now if I take this job, I'm

17:08

going to stay here and we won't get back together.

17:10

And and it just floored me that I

17:13

don't want to give up. I'm praying for God's

17:15

will in my life. And I think God wants me and her to get

17:17

back together. God restores families.

17:19

And I'm trying to justify this in my mind

17:21

that this would be God's will for me to

17:23

restore my marriage. But then this

17:25

door opens that I wasn't knocking on and it's

17:28

to help other people and we're,

17:30

we pray on it together and we come to the conclusion

17:33

that she said, I think

17:35

this is God's will for you. Why don't you

17:37

apply for that job? Just see what happens.

17:39

It's okay. So I apply for the job

17:42

and within a day I get

17:44

the call back and said, Hey, we want you to come

17:46

to work. And I was very grateful. I

17:48

never thought I would work again being on disability.

17:51

So here, I never thought I'd be able to after

17:53

the stroke, because I'd lost a lot of my cognitive

17:56

function. And over time, it

17:58

got, rerouted in my brain and I was able to

18:00

do things I wasn't able to do before. I

18:02

take this job and I am just exuberant

18:05

with gratitude. You know what God's doing

18:07

into my life and I'm going to be able to help people.

18:09

My wife is behind me a hundred percent. As

18:11

I talked to her on the phone, I know that's on hold.

18:13

And I, one thing she says, she said,

18:16

Tom, we may not get together

18:18

now, but when God

18:20

says it's time for us to get back together,

18:22

we will, I said, and I could deal

18:25

with that. I'm okay with that. So I take this

18:27

job, I work my first day, I have a wonderful

18:29

first day, I do the on board

18:31

paperwork with the Atlanta office and

18:34

they show me what my duties are and we talk

18:36

to a couple of clients and

18:38

we have a warm line where people call if they're struggling

18:40

with their mental health or addiction. She had me answer

18:42

that a couple of times. She said, Tom,

18:45

you're great on the phone because I had a background in customer

18:47

service. I know how to talk to people. And

18:49

she said, yeah, you're going to do great here.

18:52

It's been a great first day. Here's

18:54

your schedule. You're on the schedule for 30 hours.

18:56

We'll see you tomorrow. And I thought, wow,

18:58

this is great, man. And I went home

19:00

and I was just really happy,

19:03

man. Really grateful. And

19:05

at five, about two minutes to five, I got a

19:07

call from the Atlanta office. And

19:09

of course, after such a wonderful first day,

19:12

I knew that the director must be calling me

19:14

to welcome me aboard. And I answered the phone

19:16

and she said, Hey, I'm the director. And I said,

19:18

I know who you are. She said, I'm just

19:20

calling to let you know your job's no longer available.

19:23

And I was like, excuse me, what does that mean?

19:25

She said, what means just what I said, your job's no

19:27

longer available. So I know you're on the schedule,

19:30

but don't show up for work tomorrow. All right okay,

19:33

and I hang up the phone and

19:36

it's God is my witness. The words

19:38

that came out of my mouth were, thank you, God,

19:40

for closing that door. I can't wait to see

19:42

what door you open for me next. And

19:44

It was weird because my sponsor was in the

19:46

next room and he overheard the conversation.

19:49

He overheard my response and he

19:51

walked in and he said, wow, Tom, something's

19:53

changed about you and whatever it

19:55

is you need to hold on to. He

19:57

said, you just got some, what would be devastating

19:59

news. And you took that with a grain of

20:02

salt. But the truth of the situation

20:04

is that opened the door for me to come home. And

20:07

get back with my wife, which I

20:09

was just amazed on how God's plan

20:11

was working in my life when I seek it. Now,

20:13

I honestly feel like God

20:15

wanted to see if I was faithful. Are you

20:17

willing to give up what you want to

20:19

do what I want you to do? And

20:22

that was giving up my wife to go help other

20:24

people. And I decided to

20:26

go that route and trust God. And

20:29

he shut that door. He just wanted to see if I was willing

20:31

to do it. And once he knew that I was willing and I was

20:33

faithful, then I knew

20:35

other doors were going to be opened. I

20:38

didn't see that at the time, but I see this now.

20:40

So

20:42

I decided I wanted to get certified as

20:44

a certified peer specialist, and I'm going to pay for

20:46

it myself where they were going to pay for it for

20:48

me, the place I went to work for one day. So

20:51

I've researched it, I signed up

20:53

and I was going to, Do schooling and

20:56

then you have to go through a certain period of schooling and

20:58

then you have to take a test. It's an oral test. It's a written

21:00

test. And if you pass that, you get

21:02

your certified peer specialist credentials.

21:05

So I decided to do that and I'm talking to my wife

21:07

about it. And she said I've got an idea.

21:09

She said since because of COVID,

21:11

they were doing it online instead of in

21:13

person. She said, why don't you just

21:15

come home and do it while

21:18

I'm at work. You'll have the whole house to yourself.

21:20

and you can do your training from

21:23

here. And I thought, wow,

21:25

come home. That's all I heard. Train,

21:28

come home. You tell me I

21:30

can come home. So I said, yeah,

21:33

I said that's, that'd be awesome. So

21:35

I came home and I did the training

21:37

and but then I went and took tests, pass the test,

21:40

of course. And now I'm looking for a job.

21:42

And I'm praying God your will be done in

21:44

my life. I'm seeking knowledge of his will and his power

21:46

to carry it out. Leave me where you want me to be. Put

21:49

me somewhere where you can use me. I don't

21:51

care where it is, what it is, but use

21:53

me. So I, I put in application. I

21:55

went by safe house ministries was the first

21:57

place I went because someone

21:59

I was in treatment with said, Hey, I went through

22:02

the treatment in Columbus, Georgia's called tomorrow.

22:04

So go check them out, Tom. If you're

22:06

looking for a job, might be a good fit

22:08

for you. It's really good program. So

22:10

I went, I applied, I brought my resume

22:12

and I brought my letter saying that I was going

22:15

to get my certificate, but I didn't have it yet.

22:18

And I walk in and I see the director there,

22:20

Ms. Sapp was there and the other employees,

22:23

and I didn't, I knew I recognized

22:26

Ms. Cheryl Sapp, but I didn't know where I knew her

22:28

from. It was one of those, she looks real familiar

22:30

to me, and it's really weird. I know

22:32

this person, I just don't know where I know her from.

22:35

And, we talked and they said, Hey we

22:37

actually have a position coming up because we're

22:39

fixing to open up a place on victory drive.

22:41

So I can't hire you till that happens.

22:44

So I understand if you need to get a job somewhere

22:46

else you go for it and

22:48

we'll let you know when the opening comes up and

22:50

if you can come to work for us, that'd be great. So

22:53

I go home and I decided to Google Miss

22:55

Cheryl Sapp to figure out how do I

22:57

know this person? And I Google

22:59

it, Talbot Recovery comes up, the

23:01

first 30 day rehab that I was in.

23:04

And she was the first spiritual creature

23:06

on the face of the earth I met. The

23:08

hope she gave me, and

23:11

yes, I'm a little teared up because I'm so grateful.

23:14

She was the first person to give me hope. And

23:16

here I had an opportunity to work for this person.

23:18

I thought, boy, God, you are

23:20

working now, ain't you? Just

23:23

to put me back in a position to be in front

23:25

of this person is just amazing, not only to

23:27

just to see her again, but to work, actually work

23:29

for. And So it's after

23:32

a couple of weeks, I kept going up there every week

23:34

or every two weeks and hey, I'm just checking

23:36

to see if there's anything coming open because after

23:38

praying on this repeatedly daily,

23:41

I felt like this is where God wants me and this is

23:43

where I want to be. And then one Monday,

23:45

one Monday morning, I got a call from Miss Cheryl Sapp.

23:48

It was a Friday. She said, Tom we're

23:50

ready for you. Can you come to work Monday? And

23:53

I was like, I sure can. Can

23:55

I talk about getting on my knees and prayers

23:57

of gratitude? After that call, I

23:59

was just beside myself and

24:01

I went to work up there in

24:04

a long term treatment center, which is, I've

24:06

been through long term treatment three times. So

24:08

I was real familiar with what they did, but

24:10

now I'm on the other side of it.

24:13

I was feeling so blessed and I know

24:15

I was so blessed to go through everything

24:17

I went through and my experience of what I

24:19

went through and what it took for me to keep banging

24:21

my head over and over to finally

24:23

get this thing finally get honest, open minded

24:26

and willing because it's so

24:28

hard to do for me. But I finally

24:30

did it and God, I started seeking

24:32

God's will and he just started leading me in directions

24:35

to where I'm actually in a position

24:37

where I can give somebody that same hope

24:40

that I was given. And it's such

24:42

a beautiful thing, man, especially

24:44

to watch them progress and watch their

24:46

eyes go from darkness to

24:48

just these shining eyes

24:50

that you know the Holy Spirit's now dwelling

24:53

in them. It's a miraculous,

24:55

beautiful thing.

24:56

Wow.

24:58

So that's amazing.

25:00

I don't know what else I can say,

25:01

you've said a lot and the it's just an

25:03

amazing testimony of the beautiful

25:06

work of the Lord through your life

25:08

and from the brokenness

25:10

in every single way imaginable to

25:12

how the Lord has restored and just

25:15

even given you abundantly more than

25:17

you had before.

25:19

Way more than I even ever thought about. I just want

25:21

to make sure that this is very clear

25:24

that this is what God has done

25:26

for me. It's nothing I did.

25:28

Amen. I decided to

25:30

ask God to take

25:32

my life over. I want knowledge of

25:34

your will and I want your strength to

25:37

carry it out. And if you'll lead me, I

25:39

will go. That's awesome.

25:41

That is awesome. Now, how long have you been

25:43

at Tomorrow's Hope, a safe house?

25:45

April of this year was my second year there.

25:47

Amazing. Where do you and your wife go to church

25:50

at?

25:51

First Assembly of God, Phoenix City.

25:53

Alright. Praise

25:55

the Lord. Amen.

25:58

Praise the Lord. And I know that the Lord

26:00

is, has been and is using you

26:02

to be a Just a beacon of hope

26:04

and light in so many other people's lives.

26:06

So you've shared a lot and there's

26:09

so much wisdom already

26:11

in what you've shared, but if you had

26:13

to pull out a few

26:15

key lessons over the

26:17

journey that the Lord's taken you through,

26:20

what might some of those key lessons be?

26:22

Good question. What first comes

26:24

to my mind is God

26:26

loves me regardless of me no

26:28

matter what. I can't

26:31

mess that up. I do have

26:33

the self will, has the power

26:35

to block me from the sunlight of the spirit.

26:38

But the sunlight of the spirit is still there. All

26:40

I have to do is reach out and grab his hand and

26:42

he's back. Never give up. Start

26:45

being consistent. That's it. Today I show

26:47

up every day. Today I pray

26:50

every day. I'm just,

26:53

I am so grateful for what God has done in

26:55

my life. Just for me

26:57

being consistent, man. Wow.

26:59

So simple but, it was a program

27:01

action. If it wasn't for the 12

27:04

steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, I would

27:06

not be alive today.

27:07

Praise the Lord.

27:08

It's that's, that was my stairway

27:10

to finding a relationship with

27:12

Jesus Christ. And now I have a relationship

27:16

with Him. It's not a religion,

27:18

it's a relationship. We're,

27:20

He's my Father.

27:21

Amen. That's awesome. Any

27:24

any last bit of advice

27:26

or last little anecdote

27:28

or just anything you want to share? Sure.

27:31

Sure. One thing I do want to share in

27:34

in, in addiction, we

27:36

learn to love things and use

27:38

people and recovery. We

27:40

learned to love people and use things.

27:43

There it is. Wow. That's good. Thank

27:45

you. Thank you for just letting

27:48

the Lord use you. Thank you for surrendering to

27:50

his will. Thank you for preparing

27:52

and thinking through what you'd say here. And

27:54

just for sharing your story,

27:56

you're welcome. It was absolute pleasure to be here.

27:58

Never give up, man. Just never give up.

28:00

Amen. Amen. And

28:02

I still am just letting

28:05

that statement sink in. And you're so right.

28:08

God loves me no matter what

28:10

he just does. He gave his son to

28:13

die for us. The Bible's

28:15

very clear in that while we were yet sinners, Christ

28:17

died for us. And he loved us

28:19

and he wants the best for us.

28:22

He wants us to know him. That's good. You mind

28:24

if I Any doubt you mind if I close this in the word of prayer?

28:26

Be honored. Father, I praise you and I love

28:28

you, and I thank you for my friend Tom, for my brother Tom

28:31

pray. Bless his life, continue to bless

28:33

his marriage and his path and

28:36

use him Lord to do the

28:38

things that. You have planned

28:41

for him to do that would help so many other

28:43

people. Encourage his heart,

28:45

help him to stay strong in his faith, to stay

28:48

steadfast with you, to

28:50

stay connected to other believers

28:52

that are around him that love him and encourage

28:54

him and just are a

28:56

strength, Lord. You've designed

28:58

us to, to need connection,

29:01

Lord. First and foremost, connection with you and

29:03

then connection with others who love you as well.

29:06

Amen. Amen. Bless Tom and thank

29:08

you for all that you do in Jesus

29:10

name I pray, Amen.

29:11

Amen.

29:12

We look forward to being with you again next week as

29:14

we share another testimony about the power

29:16

and the goodness of God to change

29:19

lives through Safe House Ministries.

29:21

if you are someone listening to this podcast

29:23

that loves to hear these stories

29:25

of the great things that God is doing

29:28

in changing people's lives for the better, and

29:30

if you would like to be a part of that work,

29:32

please reach out to us You can

29:34

reach us at 2101 Hamilton

29:36

Road, Columbus, Georgia, 31,904.

29:39

You can call us at seven oh six three

29:41

two two. 3 7, 7 3,

29:44

or you can email us at [email protected].

29:50

Thank you so much for being with us this week for

29:52

the renew restore and rejoice

29:54

podcast of safe house ministries, we

29:56

pray that God will bless you this week. And

29:58

we look forward to having you back with us again

30:01

next week for a new episode.