I’d like to tell you a story about a man I know. This guy thought he had a pretty good life. He was married to the greatest woman he had ever known (besides his mother, of course). He had four wonderful children. His parents were top of the line. He had an excellent job, a nice home and nice cars. This guy even had the best father- and mother-in-laws. The best in-laws alone were more than most people could imagine.

He had all the people and things he could ever want. Way more than he had ever dreamed he would have. He thought if he could keep all of this, one day he would die a happy man.

Well, needless to say, he started using drugs. First one kind and then another. I mean this guy did have a lot on his mind. He had all those bills to pay. There weren’t enough hours in each day to get his work done. He had to help keep things going for his family and of course he had to keep all the materialistic things in his life. He had a lot on his plate. This guy needed a break! So, he thought, he would get high and escape for a while. Just a few hours though, he couldn’t get away for long.

It was around 10 o’clock on a Sunday night and he had to leave for work at 3 am the very next morning. So, he did it! He got high! In his mind he did escape for a short time, but in reality he still had to leave for work at 3 am. He did get rid of all that was weighing on his mind for three or four hours. However, not only did he still have all that was already going on in life before he got high in front of him. Now, he had a whole new set of bags to carry with him.

I told you that he still had to go to work the next morning but now, his real problems were beginning. He started craving something so strongly, so intensely, so passionately that he couldn’t leave town without making sure he had enough of that stuff to get him through the week. It was pulling him stronger than anything ever had. Stronger than everything combined ever had. He had never felt this way about anything. So, it ended up being around 8 o’clock that Monday morning before he headed out to West Virginia for his work. He did have the supply of what he was craving though.

All the way to West Virginia he thought and thought about what he had done. What has he gotten himself into? But, he didn’t put it down. He couldn’t! He had just taken that drug for the very first time in his life the night before. But he couldn’t leave it at that. He was hooked! He was from that moment on, an Addict.

His drug addiction ended up costing him everything. It cost him his family a couple of different times. He lost his job, his cars and three different homes through the years. He has lost contact with all four of his amazing and beautiful children. Its cost him the luxury of being able to hold, aggravate, cut up and talk to his absolutely perfect grandson. It has cost him the love and comfort of the greatest companion on earth, his wife. His 17 year journey in active addiction cost him all the materialistic things he had ever had. It has incarcerated him more times than he can count. He’s not very smart! He probably can’t count that high anyway. It’s put him in nursing homes, hospitals, jails and prisons. It’s cost him his health. He now has congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and diabetes.

I know all he is has gone through in life. I know all he is still going through. I know, because I am that guy. I’ll get down to specific details in later articles. I’ll tell you all I can remember going through. I’ll tell you things I don’t remember, the horrible things that family members, friends, law enforcement, prosecutors and judges have told me I’ve done. Yet, most of which I still to this day have no memory of. This is an awful feeling itsself! No excuses! I did this all to myself and it started when I did that very first line of Crystal Meth all those years ago.

So please, if you have never tried drugs, then leave it at that. Don’t try them!!! You never know if that first line, that first pill, that first joint or first beer will lead you down such a disastrous path. It can happen! It will happen! I beg you; don’t let it be you that it happens to.

I will also tell you that I do believe in miracles. I’ve seen miracles. I am myself a living, breathing miracle of God’s abundant grace. All though I had to lose everything just to find myself. I am finding that with each passing day I do have a friend, the greatest friend of all. He has stuck by me through it all. I didn’t want anything to do with Him. I would treat Him like an unwanted dog. I had this friend all along. I just chose to close my eyes and not see him. I chose to ignore him. His name is Jesus Christ! After all I’ve done against Him and He still forgave me. Now, I can’t think of life without Him. He walks with me everywhere I go.

Yes, I am a living breathing Miracle. You can be too! Do you struggle with addiction, an illness, or with life’s adversities in general? God is right there! He is with you. He hasn’t abandoned you no matter how desperate you may feel! No matter how alone you feel! If he had abandoned you, then you wouldn’t be reading this column right now at this very moment. I know the feeling of despair, but know I also know hope. I don’t pretend to know all the answers. I don’t understand why it has taken 17 years to get to this point in my life, but I do know that Jesus Christ breathes eternal life into all those who ask and believe. May God richly bless each of you and may He give you sight to see that you are never alone.

An addict, a child of God, a Christian,

Phillip Lee