Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Jack Bridges, Gramdma Wilma
Series Code: CLR
Program Code: CLR00032A
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00:11 Welcome to Celebrating Life In Recovery,
00:13 I'm Cheri, your host 00:15 sad and intense, but don't be 00:17 fooled, God was right there blessing everyone. 00:20 Come join us as we talk about the miracle of 00:22 recovery, of healing. 00:51 It's hard to describe the sadness you feel 00:53 when someone you love dies, 00:54 mother, father, son, daughter. 00:56 It's like a part of you dies with them, 00:58 but when they die, when someone you love 01:01 dies by their own hand, by their own behaviors, 01:03 by their own addictions, it's even harder. 01:05 It's a different kind of sadness, 01:07 and I want to talk about my dad, 01:09 my actually step dad. 01:11 before I do that I want to do to introduce you to 01:14 who's on the set, first of all Wilma, 01:17 I just want to say so glad you're here. 01:19 Wilma is on oxygen, and so you are going to hear this 01:22 sound the entire show. 01:24 Hear that? 01:27 And so you are going to hear that sound 01:29 and that is just her oxygen. 01:30 We were going to have her shut off, but you know, 01:32 I thought if she dies I'll feel so bad, 01:34 So we are not going to have her do that. 01:36 Jack Bridges, we have got Brenda, Pastor, 01:41 his name is Bud, Buddy. 01:43 Cody and Stephanie, and you are going to hear each 01:46 one of their stories before we are done. 01:48 Be blessed by them. 01:49 Most of you know that my real father died in a 01:53 crack house last year, ninety-five pounds, 01:56 hair and nails grown out, unrecognizable. 01:59 When my brother found him, or came to deal with him, 02:02 they couldn't even recognize him as my dad. 02:05 My real father has died. 02:07 My stepfather who raised me since I was 4, 02:10 died in December. 02:11 I love him, I love him, I remember flying down 02:16 and just seeing him in emergency room. 02:18 Seeing him laying there with the tubes in and all 02:22 He is now down to eighty pounds, 02:24 cancer's riddled and he's got Emphysema, 02:27 and all these addictions are just taking over his 02:31 life, and they're all intense. 02:32 I remember just walking in and saying I want so badly 02:37 for you to be well. 02:39 Soon as they, how can I say this without offending 02:44 someone, this show may offend some people, 02:46 just because it's talking about how raw our 02:49 addictions are. 02:50 But my step dad is laying in the emergency room, 02:53 he's got cancer, in his throat because of smoking 02:56 weed, smoking cigarettes and all that kind of stuff. 02:58 His liver is shutting down, 03:00 his kidneys are shot, all that kind of thing going on. 03:04 They have this little, I love my dad, 03:07 and don't if I smile, it's just because he cracks me 03:11 up, they put a little thing on his finger to 03:13 check his blood gases. 03:14 You see when he takes in a breath, 03:15 how much oxygen was actually going to his 03:18 extremities or his hands. 03:19 But when they put that on, it also checks your pulse, 03:23 so it has a light that beeps, 03:24 or it lights up with your pulse. 03:27 My dad put it on his middle finger and showed 03:29 his middle finger to everybody that came into 03:33 and if you know what mean, I just had to laugh, 03:36 Even in your death is like you're the addict, 03:40 it's still there. 03:42 I held him and my family is just not into prayer, 03:45 God or whatever, and they know I am. 03:47 I held him and he just quietly said he didn't want 03:50 to be embarrassed by any one, 03:51 but he quietly said to me, are you praying for me? 03:53 I wanted to weep, I said absolutely, 03:56 absolutely I just held him for the longest time. 03:59 It was amazing for the next few days as he was 04:03 dying, for me to watch as God stepped in and loved him. 04:07 It was amazing for me on his death bed for him to 04:10 allow me to pray, and knowing that he wanted God 04:14 It was like he wanted God back in his life. 04:17 he wanted forgiveness, he wanted to come back home. 04:21 and you know what God did, absolutely wrapped His 04:24 arm around him. 04:25 It's just the coolest thing I have ever seen. 04:28 Absolutely the coolest thing. 04:29 As he was dying, he had kids from other marriages 04:33 that showed up and we were sitting in his room 04:37 and I said, Mac, do you remember the first song 04:41 you ever taught me as a little girl? 04:42 And he said no. 04:45 I said, can I sing it for you He's like okay, and 04:50 I just went, 04:52 trailers for sale or rent, rooms to rent for fifty cents. 04:57 As a little girl, I'm singing, 04:58 ain't got no cigarettes. 05:01 You know that is the song that he taught me in his 05:04 addiction, but I absolutely love him. 05:07 Does anybody hear me, I absolutely love him. 05:10 Most people think that people that are strung out 05:13 in their addiction, they don't look at them as 05:15 people anymore, but their family still does look at 05:18 them as people we seen them in their best 05:21 times, we've seen them in their worst times, 05:22 and we miss them when they die. 05:24 As soon as somebody told my dad that he could have 05:26 as much morphine as he wants, he's like Yahoo! 05:29 I watched him take morphine almost every 05:33 hour on the hour. 05:34 So much that he could even wake up to say goodbye to 05:37 us, does anybody hear me? 05:38 I wanted so badly to grab his face and say please, 05:41 and through all the drugs, do you 05:45 know that I love you? 05:46 I wanted, it was so important to me 05:50 that he hear that. 05:51 but he was so drug sickened, 05:52 that can that he could hardly stay 05:54 present to hear that. 05:55 I love God, for accepting my father back, 06:02 I love Him. 06:03 I think it's a miracle to know that in the middle of 06:10 our addictions and were acting like idiots, 06:11 we think that the most important thing for this 06:13 moment is to get some more drugs in our body. 06:15 Even when it's our last breath, God says, 06:18 I still love you, I still want to heal you. 06:21 You are still my child as much as 06:24 anybody else is my child. 06:25 And I'm sorry that your addiction, 06:27 has cause you to come to this place. 06:29 So this show is going to be about addictions. 06:32 It's got to be about families, 06:34 it's going to be about loss, but don't fool yourself, 06:38 the most important thing is going to be about 06:40 is how incredible God is. 06:42 Absolutely incredible that the God of heaven, 06:44 that created everything waits for the addict to 06:47 turn even his head a little bit. 06:49 And as he turns a little bit, 06:51 the God of heaven says welcome home, 06:53 Welcome home, I love you. 06:55 If we can't take you the body and heal the body, 06:58 I'm just going to heal your soul so much, 07:00 you're not going to care about your body. 07:02 I'm thinking Amen, and Pastor don't you 07:04 don't you say Amen? 07:06 Amen! 07:07 Okay, The first person I want you to meet, 07:09 this show, it's going to be a little bit 07:10 different, because I've absolutely so many folks 07:13 for you to meet today. 07:14 More than we have ever had on any program, 07:16 more than we have ever even dreamt that it would 07:19 be possible to have on any program so going to go 07:22 fast, you're going to meet a ton of folks, 07:23 and I want you to just pray that 07:25 you stay with us. 07:26 Jack I want you to come up first, 07:28 and Jack Bridges is going to come up first. 07:31 He's going to tell us a little bit about his 07:33 family and addiction. 07:36 Jack, welcome to the show. 07:37 Who are you and what you think of what I'm talking 07:41 about as losing somebody you love to addiction? 07:44 I know where you're coming from, 07:46 because I've lived it with my son and I, 07:49 I know exactly what you're saying. 07:53 Okay, one should you start from almost the beginning, 07:55 because I saw a picture, a video of your son, 07:58 when he was running around the house, 08:00 as a cute little 2 or 3 year old, adorable. 08:03 Well, that's a long story. 08:05 If we go back that far, Sean was our firstborn son 08:14 and I love him very much. 08:16 And he grew up, like most kids do. 08:21 He got into, what we from what we understand from 08:25 his friends, from watching him grow up in 08:31 some of the things he did, he got into, 08:32 started probably smoking at age 14. 08:35 Just smoking cigarettes, but you know what that I 08:39 know from just knowing you guys, 08:41 and watching some videos you put out, 08:43 that Sean had a brother that died when 08:46 he was young. 08:47 How old was Sean when he lost his brother? 08:49 He was about 41/2, 5 years old when Jason was 08:52 killed in a car accident in 1976. 08:55 And that shook him. 08:56 It shook all of us. 08:58 We didn't realize how badly it had shaken Sean. 09:04 We were so tied up in our own, 09:06 it was more than grief, it was devastation. 09:13 We were only kids too at that time. 09:16 How old were you? 09:18 I was, probably early 20's, would 09:25 be about 23, I think. 09:29 And just lost your son. 09:31 23, and Jason was killed in a car 09:37 It just about devastated all of us. 09:40 It almost made me forget my Christian upbringing, 09:46 but thankfully it didn't. 09:49 The Lord stuck with us and brought us through it. 09:52 But we can't understand. 09:54 And what I want to say, Jack because for a 09:55 lot of people, it's hard for them, 09:57 but when you said, almost made you forget your 09:59 Christian stuff, it almost made you step away from 10:02 God or any thing that you believed at that time. 10:04 And that's what grief does to us, 10:06 it's like where is God when 10:07 all this is happening? 10:08 We don't understand, but He's right there with us 10:11 for whatever reason. 10:13 We don't know, the big plan. 10:15 We have got to have faith that the Lord knows best, 10:19 that He is there for us and help bring us through 10:26 the passage says that, "He will not give us any 10:30 more than we can bear". 10:31 And we also forget that the Devil is real. 10:35 We have an adversary, just if he can set us 10:38 down, if he can take our kids or what ever. 10:39 If he can get us to smoke some crack, 10:41 he'll do it because his job is to destroy us. 10:44 His goal to destroy us because we are created in 10:48 the image of God, and it just kills him to see us. 10:52 So the fact that you lost your son, 10:55 that Sean really was affected in a huge way, 11:00 at that point and then got into smoking cigarettes 11:02 and doing other drugs early, 14. 11:05 He started smoking at age 14, 11:08 he probably started experimenting with beer, 11:14 light alcohol, possibly marijuana between 15 and 16. 11:18 At 16, we understand that he and some of his friends 11:21 were smoking marijuana regularly. 11:23 Sean went on to harder alcohol, 11:27 and we believe that probably when he was 11:33 about 20 years old, he got it to some of the other 11:38 drugs the kids were doing. 11:39 Meth and stuff. 11:40 At first, I don't think so. 11:42 From what we understand, he started 11:46 using Pseudo ephedrine. 11:48 Here than going with me on the truck. 11:49 He started going with other people on the truck, 11:53 and driving more and more and more. 11:55 And finally got his license, 11:57 got on his own and started using Ephedrine and 12:01 Pseudo ephedrine at age 23 he lost his appendix. 12:06 They were eaten completely up from the Ephedrine's 12:11 and Pseudo ephedrine's from what the doctors told 12:14 us that he had holes in it was leaking 12:17 poison into his body. 12:18 Imagine at 23, 23, Wow! 12:21 After he healed from at for that, evidently, 12:23 he started the use of Meth, 12:25 some of the harder drugs, because he had his first 12:28 heart attack after that, 26. 12:29 He had his first heart attack at 26, did he stop, 12:36 off all drugs then? 12:37 He did for short time, he was told 12:42 he couldn't work anymore. 12:43 He had put into for his disabilities, 12:47 because he had no income, they wouldn't let him work. 12:51 They wouldn't give him his CDL's back, 12:53 he couldn't pass the physical 12:55 because of the doctors and the cardiologist, 12:57 they told him that he wouldn't be 13:01 able to work anymore. 13:02 So when it came down to it and they had the hearing, 13:06 the doctors came in and said sure, you can work. 13:09 So he went back to driving truck, 13:11 then he couldn't keep his appointments with the 13:14 cardiologists... 13:15 So you know what I got to say is, 13:16 cause I'm going to interview your mom too, 13:18 and so, as his father, you watched this whole kind of 13:27 deterioration of him physically, mentally, 13:28 and definitely spiritually. 13:29 I was on the road myself. 13:31 So you didn't see a lot of it. 13:33 I went coast-to-coast, and then he was driving at 13:37 that time too. 13:38 So we were like ships passing a night. 13:42 I seen some of it when I questioned him about some 13:47 of the things that was happening, in his health, 13:53 A lot of times he would lie to me, 13:55 would tell me what he thought I wanted to hear. 13:57 And you know, a drug addict lying, no way, 14:00 don't even tell me. 14:01 They become perfect. 14:02 perfect liars, 14:03 perfect liars overnight. 14:05 And we don't even know we're lying half the time. 14:06 So I just have to say that out loud. 14:07 Just because I could see Sean. 14:10 We don't even know. 14:11 We're so convincing in our lies that we don't even 14:14 know we're lying We don't even know what the truth 14:17 looks like anymore, and we alienate everybody. 14:20 I want to interview different people in your 14:22 family and then what to have you back up. 14:23 And I want to say it before you sit down, 14:27 is God bless you. 14:29 God bless you, Cheri, for what you're doing. 14:30 Getting people stories out and helping people that 14:36 are affected with addictions of drugs and 14:39 other addictions and helping them find a way 14:43 to Christ, through their addictions, 14:45 and back into the life, and living life. 14:48 And that's what Sean was doing. 14:50 I'm going to have you back onto talk about that, 14:52 because you're doing that in a huge way. 14:54 Sean asked you to do that in a huge way. 14:57 This is the Lord's message using Sean's story to get 15:02 it out to the world. 15:03 So I'm going to step down, go-ahead have a seat. 15:05 I'm going to step down and talk to your mom. 15:07 The reason I want to step down and talk with you is 15:11 because you told me some things about your 15:13 relationship was Sean and some of the things that 15:15 happened as he got into his addiction and then as 15:20 he came out of that. 15:21 And so can you say, what was it like for you to 15:24 watch your grandson jump into a drug addiction, 15:28 be lost in that? 15:29 It was heartbreaking. 15:31 I bet it was. 15:33 Because I couldn't do anything. 15:35 I talked to him, but I didn't know 15:40 how to talk to him. 15:42 You just knew that something was wrong. 15:44 Except that, and I prayed for him, 15:47 and I'd tell him I prayed for him, and he'd say, 15:52 okay granny. 15:54 He went to church with us when he was little. 15:58 But when he came out of the hospital, 16:07 he had turned his life around. 16:14 But he couldn't get in his head that he didn't have 16:20 to be baptized anymore. 16:21 He didn't understand that he could 16:24 just re-dedicate his live. 16:27 Because he had been baptized. 16:28 And he had been baptized, Yes. 16:31 But he wanted to come back in the water, yes. 16:33 So you know what we jumped way too far, 16:35 because I'm thinking wait a minute, he turned 16:37 his life around. 16:38 So I want to ask you, there was a time that you 16:41 said what you just said that I told him I was 16:44 going to pray for him and he said okay. 16:46 Do think that he had any idea the power that he 16:49 gave you, that you could actually take his face to 16:50 the throne room of God as his grandmother? 16:53 No, He didn't, but you prayed every, 16:55 I'm sure you prayed every day. 16:57 I'm sure that you love this kid. 16:59 He was my first grandchild, Yep! 17:03 So, when you said, he turned his life around, 17:05 I want to hear that, what happened, 17:07 because I know he's a Meth addict, 17:09 He's fried his brain. 17:10 There's literally holes in his brain, 17:12 he's having heart attacks, he can't hardly think 17:14 clear, and how did he turn it around, what happened? 17:17 Well, he just give his life back to the Lord. 17:21 You took care of him when he was 17:23 out of the hospital. 17:25 Partly. 17:26 You said there were times you couldn't 17:27 even lift his head. 17:28 He couldn't when he first came home, and he didn't. 17:33 I prayed for him then. 17:34 But he didn't ask for anything and then as he 17:39 got better, he asked for a Bible. 17:42 I got it for him, got him my Bible. 17:45 Did it for thrill your heart? 17:48 Yes, and I stood there and cried. 17:51 Of course. 17:52 So, I read him some and then he'd say, 17:58 let me read it. 18:00 So he'd read John 3:16. 18:03 Do you remember what it says? 18:05 "For God so loved the world that he gave his 18:11 only begotten son, that whosoever believe in me 18:16 shall not perish but have everlasting life. " 18:20 And whosoever at that point was a Meth addict, 18:23 with holes in his brain, yep. 18:25 So when somebody says, whosoever don't you ever 18:28 read that passage again without knowing that 18:29 whosoever is an addict, with holes in his brains. 18:32 Whosoever is an alcoholic, that just ran over 18:35 somebody during a drunk driving thing, 18:37 whosoever is anybody that says, 18:39 God I am so sorry look at me, 18:42 I can't even lift my head. 18:44 I'm at my grandmother's house, she has to feed me, 18:46 I'm on feeding tubes, I just had heart attacks, 18:49 and God says, whosoever is Sean. 18:51 That's right. 18:53 And I just want to say, from the time I met you, 18:57 I love you, the fact that you had so much love for him. 19:00 And I even see the love you have for him looking 19:02 at me knowing that I went through a little bit of 19:05 what Sean went through. 19:06 And when he got able to hold his head up and ride 19:14 in a regular wheelchair, he'd want to go to church. 19:19 Amen. 19:21 So we took him to church. - In a wheelchair! 19:23 In a wheelchair! 19:24 Every Sunday, or every time we went to church, 19:28 right down that isle he'd want to go, 19:31 and he couldn't get it in his mind, he was okay, 19:39 that God would forgive him, 19:43 and he was going to go to heaven. 19:45 He just simply couldn't understand that because he 19:51 thought he had to be baptized over. 19:54 So every time we go to church, 19:58 right down that aisle he'd go. 20:00 He got to where he would even go himself, 20:03 nobody had to push him. 20:04 It's just like I want to get that water again, 20:05 because are you sure I'm forgiven. 20:07 That was the cry of his heart. 20:09 So finally, brother Jake, he had been out with back 20:15 surgery, and he came back and he preached that time, 20:20 And so he explained to Sean. 20:25 He didn't know how, but that he would figure out 20:33 a way to baptize him. 20:34 But he was in such a shape, 20:38 because he's so sick. 20:40 He had heart catheter here, 20:45 that dripped down all the time, 20:48 it went straight to his heart for it to beat. 20:52 To keep him alive. 20:54 Yep, he was on a feeding tube, 20:56 and he was on a feeding tube and a catheter. 20:58 And so to dunk him in water, 21:00 people were just scared, how do we do that. 21:01 Yeah, so he was satisfied after brother Jake had 21:06 explained it to him. 21:09 I remember when I first came into the church is 21:11 that I knew in my whole heart 21:13 I'm a heroine addict in recovery. 21:15 I have never been loved at all and I finally feel the 21:18 love of God and the grace of God, 21:19 and someone says that I could be baptized, right. 21:23 And I wanted to run around everybody, and dodge them, 21:26 and just jump in the water myself because I didn't 21:28 want to get out of that water. 21:29 Because I had found God, and I want to talk, 21:32 I'm going to leave right now. 21:33 I'm going to go back on the platform and I'm going 21:36 bring the Pastor that talked to Sean up. 21:39 But first of all I just want to say, 21:41 you know that I love you. 21:44 I love you too. 21:46 Okay Amen, Amen, And I praise God for you. 21:48 Thank you, and you too reading the Bible to him, 21:51 God bless you, okay. 21:53 Pastor Buddy, come on up. 21:55 So now I just have to say that we have heard from 22:04 Sean's father, talking about the fact watching 22:09 his son go into this addiction, 22:10 being helpless as the father not understanding 22:13 what was going on. 22:14 Sean lying, and all that kind of stuff every thing 22:17 that is common, in an addictive guy. 22:20 And then, heart attacks, catheters and feeding tubes, 22:24 and not being able to lift his head, near death. 22:26 Many, many times, grandmother having to feed 22:29 him all the time and then Sean gets a sense that 22:35 I want to get back into church. 22:37 So tell me when you met him, 22:39 did you hear anything about him before 22:42 he came into the building? 22:44 Yes, briefly, because I was the Pastor of Wilma 22:47 the grandmother and the husband, Leonard. 22:49 Of course Wilma and Leonard would always have 22:53 us pray for Sean, knowing that he 22:55 was going through struggles. 22:56 Can I just offer a quick and look I wanted to say 22:59 prayer is absolutely crucial. 23:01 All of heaven moves, we may not see it we may not 23:05 sense it, we may not even see it in a persons life, 23:07 we think nothing is happening, 23:08 everything is happening. 23:10 Absolutely. 23:11 Alright. 23:12 So, the first time I had actually met Sean, 23:14 was after evening service, through the week, 23:17 and I turned around as I was locking the door, 23:20 he was just standing there, 23:21 didn't know him at that time. 23:23 I say, could I help you, and he said yes. 23:26 Are you the preacher, I said Yes. 23:29 Who are you Buddy. 23:30 He said I need to talk to you in private, 23:32 and I said, certainly. 23:33 So we went into my office, in the church, 23:36 and he pointed his finger at me and he said first, 23:38 I don't need to be preached at. 23:41 I said all right, fair enough. 23:42 So what do you want to talk to me about, 23:45 and you know, the Word tells us that our light, 23:48 our eyes are a light into the soul, 23:51 and there was an emptiness there. 23:53 He could see it. 23:56 Yes, and he said I'm really struggling, he said can 23:57 trust you, I want to know if I can trust you and I 24:01 said, absolutely. 24:02 I have to ask you is this something I 24:04 can share with my wife. 24:06 If you don't want me to share with her I won't. 24:08 He said right now, I don't want you to share it. 24:10 I said okay, so he started telling me 24:12 that he was struggling. 24:13 He said, I'm really searching. 24:17 I don't have any peace in my life, 24:20 and I don't know what to do. 24:22 I said, Sean, I think you do, you are here. 24:24 So I think you do know what you need to do. 24:27 He said, you don't understand. 24:30 I'm struggling, I am an addict, and I need help, 24:35 and he said, I know I need to get my life 24:37 straightened out before I can accept the good Lord. 24:40 And I said, "hold it time out", 24:42 what you need to understand is what the 24:44 gift of grace is all about, 24:45 and the gift of grace says that God accepts 24:48 us as we are. 24:50 He takes us, He takes a drug addicts, 24:53 He takes a prostitutes, He takes the person that 24:56 had an aborted baby and He takes us as we are. 24:59 We wouldn't be able to do it. 25:01 We can not scrub ourselves up, and I quoted to him. 25:05 I said, I'm not going to preach to you, 25:06 but Philippians 4:13 says, "we can do all things 25:09 through Christ who strengthens us. " 25:11 First we've got to have Christ, 25:13 He takes us as we are, we accept Him. 25:15 We will draw strength from that point forward. 25:18 And he look at me and said Grace, 25:20 I said yes Grace is something that we don't 25:23 deserve, grace is something that God freely 25:26 gives to each and every one of us. 25:29 If it was not for that merciful gift of grace, 25:31 none of us would have a chance. 25:32 So Sean started unbuttoning his shirt, 25:34 I kind of looked at him, what are you doing here 25:38 Sean, and he starts unbuttoning his shirt. 25:39 Let me show you exactly what I'm talking about, 25:41 and so he had tattoos on his body and he pointed to 25:47 the left side of the arm, and it was evil. 25:50 He said over here is evil, and he pointed 25:52 to the right side. 25:54 It had the cross and some good things over here, 25:56 and he said this is the right side, this is good, 25:58 but the evil always wins. 26:00 What do you think about that preacher? 26:02 Don't you think we all struggle with the same 26:05 thing, you visualized it for me, 26:07 but we all struggle with the carnal and the 26:09 spiritual minded and you know Sean, 26:12 you are not so far gone that you can't be 26:17 accepted by God Almighty. 26:19 Amen! 26:20 And I said, you know, you got to understand that Sean. 26:22 Okay, you know what preacher, 26:24 because you cannot let a preacher start talking 'cause 26:26 you'll lose the show. 26:27 But I want you to, we're going to break and come 26:30 back for the second half. 26:31 I want you to again share some stuff, but right now. 26:35 We are going to go ahead and take a break and I 26:37 just want you to hear. 26:38 This is a guy that got lost in his addiction. 26:42 His father, his mother, and wife, his grandmother, 26:47 everybody praying and wanting him to come back. 26:50 And as he starts walking back it's absolutely 26:52 unbelievable, but stay tuned, 26:56 because the next step in this, it will WOW you, 26:59 of what God had planed for Sean, in his life, 27:02 and the people around him. 27:04 In some believable, and it just makes me want to 27:07 kiss God on the face, stay with us. |
Revised 2014-12-17