Accepting that we need change in our lives can be easy, but actually taking the steps necessary to make that change happen is often a much harder pill to swallow. It becomes even more difficult when you have a loved one that's wrapped up in your hurts, habits and hangups, because while you may not want to lose that person, disentangling yourself from the built up pain and resentment that comes with addiction while keeping them in your life can feel like an almost impossible challenge.
But the truth is that by welcoming personal transformation into your own life, you can spark the desire for that same change in others; sometimes all our loved ones need to embark on their own recovery journey is to see that recovery is possible in the first place.
Beau's story of addiction begins in the 5th grade, when he was invited to drink for the first time by a friend he walked home from school with. As kids do, he was dared to finish a bottle of vodka that the friend's mother had stored away, and just like that, his addictive nature was off to the races.
Following the 9/11 terror attacks he enlisted in the military, but upon being medically discharged, he states that things 'began to go downhill'. He felt angry inside, not at anyone specific, but angry in a way that only drugs and alcohol seemed to fix. He began drinking heavily, in addition to using cocaine, and eventually meth. It was soon after that he was introduced to Mandy.
Mandy had what she describes as a normal childhood growing up, but began to use Ritalin in high school, which progressed to a meth addiction at the age of 17. She states that the drug wasn't necessarily important to her, but that as an addict, she was ready to do anything as long as it removed the burden of a sober mind from her consideration. Eventually her father introduced her to Beau, and it was in Beau that she found not just a friend and lover, but a partner in her addiction.
Like many addicts, they fed off of each other, each justifying their own addictive tendencies by way of the addictive tendencies of the other; after all, why should Beau feel the need to get sober when Mandy wouldn't? And vice versa.
Beau and Mandy were both in and out of prison at this time, and Beau's father would actively encourage him to try rehabilitation every time they spoke. He put it off for quite some time, not wanting to let go of the lifestyle, or of Mandy, until the dam finally broke.
Upon coming to Hope Center Ministries Beau was made to realize that over the course of their relationship, he'd built up a veritable mountain of resentment for Mandy, and it was only by way of accepting his own need for change and growth that he would be able to start moving past it. He needed a fresh start in life, but didn't want to do so without her being a part of it.
At this time that Beau was first with Hope Center, Mandy was at the end of her rope: she'd been kicked out of a sober living home for coming in high, and was trying desperately to find some form of secondary assistance, when she checked her Facebook messages and realized that Beau had reached out to her.
With Beau's help, Mandy was also able to come to Hope Center Ministries, and began her own journey of recovery. She had doubts about how effective rehab would really be for her, having attempted recovery in the past, but came to find that what the other rehabs had been lacking was the same thing that she was missing in her own life: the loving embrace of Jesus Christ.
Beau and Mandy both completed their programs with Hope Center Ministries, and stand now as redeemed souls with a restored family as a result of their commitment to both personal and mutual recovery. Their relationship has never been stronger now that they've been freed from the bonds of addiction, and Beau was so affected by his time with Hope Center that he decided to continue his service to our ministry, now working as the Recovery Pastor for our Vernon, TX Men's Center.
His story of how his life and marriage were saved by his journey with Christ is fuel for everything he does for the men of Vernon, and together with Mandy's story, they stand as a remarkable example of everything we seek to do in Hope Center – it isn't just our mission to see individuals saved; it's our mission to lead addicts and their families to become fully devoted followers of Christ.
Thank you Beau and Mandy for sharing your testimony, and for everything that you all continue to do for Hope Center Ministries!
Happy Transformation Tuesday!