If I stated, “Addicts make the best Christians”, I am sure it would raise a few eyebrows and would need explanation; but, I am convinced those who lived their lives struggling with some form of addiction, as most of us do, at the end of the day it will be attested, by the addict, it was having lived life as an addict and having been saved, by God, made them a stronger Christian with a purpose.
Upon my return to New York I learned a friend I’ve known for over 35 years is dying of Stage 4 cancer. He is 41 years old! Yesterday I went to visit him for the first time and the hospital where he is currently is also the same neighborhood where my addiction to crack cocaine took place exactly 20 years ago! Were there any anxiety attacks? Was there a bit of fear when I purchased my ticket and took the bus and had to walk into the old neighborhood which began my downward spiral some years ago? Yes there was, but there was also the greater feeling of God in my life and knowing I was not alone and I needed to make this trip, not only for my friend, but for me, too.
I have always considered addiction as a pond where you toss a stone and watch the ripples of the water continue outward until you can no longer see the effect. Question: Because your eye is unable to detect the ripple as it grows smaller and smaller, does the ripple still go on?
This might be off-topic but it still lies with the subject of substance abuse. Quite frankly, I need work! But, I don’t want to consider just any type of work. Been there and have done that. I want to be involved in some type of ministry where others are being helped by the experience I have received by my own substance abuse issues.
It happens to each and everyone of us. There is something in our life which disturbs us and we don’t like it. We try many ways to forget it but it is always there. We don’t like how it makes us feel, the thought of what happened and, too, later in our life we might not even remember what happened but we have what remains: the pain.
This is a blog which will appear on both the Substance Abuse and Sex Offender blogs because it covers both areas. I recognize I haven’t posted blogs, of recent, as I have done in the past. I made a promise to myself I would not write for the sake of writing but when I had a message to convey I believed was something of substance, only then, would it be posted. I’m not here to waste my time filling up space and waste your time filling your head with mundane and not relevant information. I respect you and value your interest in my site and desire to keep you interested only if it is going to provide a service and that is to encouragement and help those of us who suffer from addictions whether substance or sexual.
This day has special importance attached to it in both prongs of my ministry: sexual and substance abuse, and will be posted in both blogs. It was how God used my substance abuse addiction to have me placed in Federal custody where He would provide healing for my sexual issues as well. This was the day I was arrested in 2002.
The story is a familiar one taken from Scripture where a grown man, blind from birth, sits near the city square begging for handouts when one day Christ came along for the purpose of changing this man’s life. He, Christ, asked him if he would wish to receive his sight. The man agreed and a miracle was performed that day. The story has many insights, no pun intended, and can be used to illustrate the same God willing to do for those who are in addiction.
Tye Tribbett’s song, “I Want It All Back” is more than an adequate description of what I experienced Wednesday, August 4th, as I walked the streets of Newburgh, New York. At first, there was hesitancy why I was doing it, but after having visited a dying friend there more than a week ago, I knew I needed to return to the city of my first time doing crack cocaine some twenty years ago.
This blog has reference both to the habits of inappropriate sexual behavior as well as substance abuse; therefore, you will find it in both blogs I manage. Credit should be given to Mr. Douglas Watts, of Atlanta, for inspiring me with the words, “…we tend to use the top as a reference point instead of the bottom.” You can view his site, “www.douglaswattsministries.org”
