- Drugs
- Faith
- Friends & Family
submitted by: Susanne Johnson
I met Lisa during the Heroes in 6K run in Atlanta. She is now only one week in treatment, but says she already feels a lot better than before and is very happy about her decision to turn toward recovery. She tried it once before, but only lasted three days at the other facility; it was not the right match for her. Now she feels in the right place to get her life in order and enter recovery. She used methamphetamines and marijuana. She started using marijuana at age 16 and meth at age 36. She started the meth after a traumatic experience in her life.
Lisa had a fight with her husband and her husband tried to kill her her with a knife. The police were called and her husband resisted arrest and in all this turmoil got shot by the police. Today Lisa says, “If it was the Lord’s plan that he got killed instead of me, it was the way it goes.” Even still, she was fighting a long struggle of shame and guilt over the past three years. She also has three children of 13, 11 and 9 years old. They all found help at the treatment facility to overcome this tragic incident. Her children are in a foster care at the moment, undergoing a complete counseling program, while Lisa gets help for herself, and after this she will get them back.
She saw the damage that people did to themselves around her and said to herself, “God, I don’t want to be there, I don’t want to do this.” She made the decision to get help for herself and her children. She already lost her income, lost her house, and now temporarily lost her children. All that Lisa wants is to get back on her feet and start her life all over again together as a family with her children.
Lisa was a stay-at-home mom. Her husband wouldn’t allow her to work during their marriage and was providing for her and the kids. She still has dreams and wants to own her own business. She already has ideas in mind, but it all requires that she get better first and get the addiction under control. Believing in miracles is something she owns. She says that miracles are already happening in her life and with her higher power anything is possible.
She used to think that the drugs keep her calm, but she sees already that this wasn’t true. It was only the drugs and the addiction talking to her at that time. She already feels so much relief and is looking forward what life has to offer her. The counseling she receives helps her to get over the bad things that happened in her past and get a good outlook towards the future. Her faith is helping her to overcome daily struggles and hurdles.
She now has a fiancé who is sober and she receives a lot of support from him for her recovery. Lisa would ask anybody out there who is still on drugs to surrender and turn life over to his higher power, as it gets much better instantly.