I was raised in a Christian home and had a blessed life with godly parents.  In high school I never experimented with drugs but did, on occasion, drink.  When I began college I became part of a Christian group called "The Navigators" and, for that time, did not use any substances. 

In 1985 I transferred to a private arts school and graduated with a degree in Commercial Illustration, which I do today.  In 1999 I suffered a racquetball accident that left me in severe pain.  I opted not to have the surgery, but to treat it with pain medication and therapy.  Within a year I was beginning to abuse the pain medicine, as there were a number of personal issues that were creating a great deal of anxiety in my life.  The pain pills seemed to take that pain away also. 

As my addiction developed, I compromised my value system.  By the end, I was stealing pain pills from people's medicine cabinets.  I was arrested for this and had to go through a court-appointed 28-day rehabilitation center.  I received 5 years probation and 500 hours of community service.  I was doing very well on probation for 4 years and thought that the problem was behind me.  However, I was not being consistent in my Christian walk.  My relationship with Christ had become quite complacent.

One day in April of 2005 the problem awakened and I knew that the capability for me to use again was still there.  I had not yet been set free.  A friend of mine had attended the Addicts Victorious 5-Day Biblical Counseling Program with a nearly identical problem, and he recommended that I attend.  I had witnessed the change in him since he had attended the Program and, upon his recommendation, was eager to go. 

There is something that happens at Addicts Victorious that never happens in a secular program.  You have a saturation of Bible study that specifically addresses your addiction and how Christ can deliver you.  Because of this Program I can thankfully say that I have been delivered from the desire (and all of the issues that created the desire) to use drugs.  Now it is my responsibility to maintain this change by loving the Lord, fellowshipping with Him and keeping His commandments.

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