Krystal pursued a "better life" for herself and her family, but it turned out to be instead a path of heartache and death. She shares much of the heartache and gives some powerful lessons that if heeded by others will spare them pain and suffering that they don't need to bring upon themselves. You will enjoy and learn much from Krystal in this week's episode.
Krystal pursued a "better life" for herself and her family, but it turned out to be instead a path of heartache and death. She shares much of the heartache and gives some powerful lessons that if heeded by others will spare them pain and suffering that they don't need to bring upon themselves. You will enjoy and learn much from Krystal in this week's episode.
I think I was building a reputation. I want, I was a small frame. So I wanted to be hard. I wanted to drive big Cadillacs and I wanted people to respect me, and I thought that I could I wanted to, for some reason, I thought that I would be able to just grow my family, build my family into another tax bracket. You know what I'm saying? We're like, we don't want to be, I don't want to be poor. I don't want my kids to be poor. I wanted to do better. And that was the goal. You know what I'm saying? But being around that situation and all those demons that come with that lifestyle. It it derails your thinking and you end up being a lot of things that you don't want to be, that God didn't call you to be. And I just remember a lot of prayers asking God to help me to get out of this lifestyle.
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Phil Shuler:HellO, and welcome to Renew, Restore, Rejoice, the Safe House Ministries podcast, where we share stories of the power of God to change lives through Safe House Ministries. Safe House Ministries is based out of Columbus, Georgia, and we are a ministry that exists to love and serve people who have been affected by addiction, homelessness, and incarceration. I'm your host, Phil Shuler, the Director of Development for Safe House Ministries here in Columbus, Georgia. Safe House serves over 1, 100 people each month as they transition back into our community. Safe House provides an abundance of services including 213 beds for homeless individuals and families, case management for obtaining job skills and long term employment. Over 300 hot meals every day, free clothing, and so much more. One of the most incredible services that Safe House provides is our free 9 12 month intensive outpatient substance abuse program, which is state licensed, CARF accredited, and has no wait list. Almost 100 percent of individuals staying in our shelters who follow our three phase program become fully employed within a few months. And 68 percent of individuals who stay at least one night with us End up finding work and moving into their own home. Thank you for being with us today and listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoy this week's episode.
Phil:Good morning. This morning on the podcast, I have Crystal and Crystal, I think I've just met her this morning, but she seems like very genuine and just a very, a good, kindhearted person. And I'm glad she's here. Crystal, thank you. Thank you for being here this morning. Thank you for having me. there were several people at Safe House that think very highly of you, and they did share and say, Hey, you should get Crystal on the podcast. She has a wonderful story. She's doing some great things. And I'm glad you agreed to be on the podcast. To start out, I'd love to ask you, if there was one word that maybe you think would best describe you, what do you think that word would be?
Krystal:I think a survivor.
Phil:That's a good word. How do you mean? What do you mean by that?
Krystal:I don't know. I just feel like I've been surviving some things. That, I've survived some things that just, My life has just been hills and valleys. Yeah. Okay. And I got through some things. Sometimes it surprised me that I got through them, by God's grace, you know what I'm saying? Yes.
Phil:That's awesome. Yeah, I'm glad. There's a song, I think it's called Hills and Valleys, a Christian song, have you ever heard that song?
Krystal:Probably
Phil:have, I think so. It's a good song. I haven't heard it in a while. I'm going to go back and try to find it and listen to it. You just reminded me of that song because he is the God of the hills, but he's also the God of the valleys. He sees us, he's with us, he loves us, and he has a plan for us. Through it all. Awesome. I got another question for you. Cool Ranch or Nacho
Krystal:Cheese? Cool Ranch. Oh, what? Really?
Phil:I Have to disagree with you on that one. But alright Crystal would you share where you're born and where you grew up and just what childhood was like in the early years?
Krystal:I was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. Wow! Yes, and I moved around a lot. I lived in Mobile, Alabama when I was younger with my grandparents for a while, my grandparents for a while. And in Columbus, I went to school here for a while. mIddle school and a couple, a few years of high school. Okay. And then I moved back to Little Rock. After high school? Yes. Wow. Yes, I was there for for the past 15, 20 years. In Little
Phil:Rock? Okay. Yes. Were you raised by your grandparents, or was that where you spent most of your time, your childhood?
Krystal:No, I was raised in different areas. Sometimes I lived with my father, my mother sometimes, and my grandmother sometimes. I also, yes.
Phil:Okay. Wow. So what were, what was the teenage years like for you?
Krystal:My teenage years I think it was typical, my family didn't have a lot, but we did okay. Yeah. And we had some good times. And I was yes, it was okay.
Phil:Okay were you a pretty good student in school where were you at just in your own life at that time?
Krystal:it Was school for a while. I was doing okay. Then, we had situations that, I ended up back in Arkansas. In 12th grade. With my father. I was in Columbus, actually through my teenage years. I went to Spencer High School. Sometimes, I could hang with or ride a bunch or whatever. But I kinda just I don't know. I think I don't know how to describe it. I'm sorry. It's okay.
Phil:So something happened your senior year of high school that made you have to go back to Arkansas? Or did you just want to go back and be with your dad?
Krystal:I actually got pregnant. I had a son. Okay. And I went to the stable with my dad. And I was there. My life in little Rock is it was rough at the time, they had a lot of gangs and and drugs and drug dealing or whatever. So I kinda got into a phase of for some reason, I wanted to be a I was a drug dealer for a while, which is crazy. And yes. And it was like, it was rough. I was I had my family here, I talked to my mom, she was like, Krista, you need to cry before you walk. But I was like, I already got to kill it. And and they just. You had a Cadillac car?
Phil:Yes. She was making some money.
Krystal:Yes. And I ended up in prison. Oh, wow. In 1998, I actually caught the charge, but I was on the run for eight years. Eight years? Yes. In different states. And then I went to prison. While in prison, that was hard for me. While I was in jail, I always knew God. I always, I got baptized at a young age. I went by myself to the pastor when I was like seven. Really? Yes, they called for, and I went up and I wanted to, I was like, yes, I want to get baptized. And I always believed in God. Even though I was going through some things like, you had to be tough. I was around some tough people, a lot of people around me died, got killed, and it, it was just going up. Little Rock is a small capital city, but it's like gangs and gang wars and stuff was rough there. And it was just You wanted to have a reputation and that's what I was doing. I think I was building a reputation. I want, I was a small frame. So I wanted to be hard. I wanted to drive big Cadillacs and I wanted people to respect me, and I thought that I could I wanted to, for some reason, I thought that I would be able to just grow my family, build my family into another tax bracket. You know what I'm saying? We're like, we don't want to be, I don't want to be poor. I don't want my kids to be poor. I wanted to do better. And that was the goal. You know what I'm saying? But being around that situation and all those demons that come with that lifestyle. It it derails your thinking and you end up being a lot of things that you don't want to be, that God didn't call you to be. And I just remember a lot of prayers asking God to help me to get out of this lifestyle. Long story short, there was. a Single parent program at EULA and Pulaski Tech. I went to a little bit of college and I was getting in trouble still. I still had those charges on me, even though I was trying to do right. You know what I'm saying? I had not faced those charges. My sister, we went to a church and the lady prayed for me. And she was like, I was like, is God going to forgive me? She's you did the crime. You're going to do the time. And eventually, yes, I actually did the time. I, my, the statute of limitations had ran out on a lot of the charges. I was out for 33 years, but I still ended up having to do I was sentenced. Because the judge, like some of them, I tried, I had a good, I thought I had a, I paid a lawyer and he was getting the charges reduced down to other charges. From a raid. My house was raided. And so he was getting the charges reduced down. Some of the charges, the judges did not accept. And they were going to different courts or whatever. And long story short, she was, the maximum that she could sentence me at that time was three years. And so
Phil:Wow. From 33, what it could have been, down to
Krystal:three? Yes, because the statute of limitations had ran out on all of the bigger charges. And so she found a loophole to lock me up. She wanted me locked up. And so I did that time. It was the hardest time of my life. Ever.
Phil:Wow. Was that in Arkansas
Krystal:or where was that? It was in Little Rock. In Little Rock. What I got sentenced, but I did the The prison is like outside of Little Rock. It's still in Arkansas.
Phil:Yeah, okay. That was the hardest time of your life? Yes.
Krystal:It Was one of the hardest times of my life. Wow. Just because I was separated from my kids. And it's just you for so long and I knew I was losing everything and my kids had to go stay with, they stayed with my dad, my sister, then they came here to live with my mom. And when I got out, I just built myself up, but, During that I carry that with me. That's why I kind of share, share that with people. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Just, that's a big, that's a big, that's what kind of makes you, you do some of the trials and tribulations that you go through. And I, when I got out, I started, I was like, I'm leaving, I'm going straight to Atlanta when I get out. That's where your kids
Phil:were in Atlanta?
Krystal:No, they was in here in Columbus and my mom actually live in Harris County. When I left, I went to Atlanta. I was there. My kids graduated a few years back. Everybody graduated or went to Job Corps. And so here I go. I'm A little bit of emptiness and I decided to, I had picked up a lot of skills on jobs. I worked for Atlanta fixtures. I was driving forklifts and stuff like that. So I was like I want to try something else. Found myself in a merch as a lead on a traveling merchandising group. And I was doing it, I was doing well, but Relationships and issues with relationships brought me back to another place,
Phil:Is that friends, family, romantic
Krystal:relationships? romantic relationships. Okay. I deal with a little bit of Domestic violence or whatever. So I was with somebody. Something bad happened. That's all I want to say about that. We was on the road. And I I the job was over. It was close to being over. But the situation was so bad up there. It was like, I had to get away. And I ended up in a domestic violence shelter. and here in Columbus. Wow. Okay. Yes. Okay. I was in Atlanta but they had to move me to Columbus to this shelter which they asked me like a couple of places that I could go and I thought, Columbus, it was home before. Yeah. And it's familiar, I got family here in Columbus. I was there for 30 days. I went to the safe house. fRom, to get help because I was trying to find a place and they helped me. They was like, they was able to, if I would just do these, this, that, and the other, then I could they could help me with my rent and deposit. And they did, it was actually, they was great, and then I would. I went and did a lot of things because they was telling me to go get this and that. I was trying to get my last name back. My maiden name from my divorce. I got that changed over. It's just, they was amazing. They've been a blessing. And they helped me pay my rent for a couple of months afterwards as I was getting on my feet. Yeah. And going to work because it was like, I was, At the shelter. My cars is breaking down. It was just crazy. But I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm all over the place with it. I just, you're doing fine. You're doing great.
Phil:Yeah. Yes. That's really neat. I'm so glad that Safe House was able to help you, that you're able to get in that, the domestic shelter to start with. so You had mentioned you were selling drugs like over the course of your life. Did you ever start using and become addicted to those drugs, or were you able to stay away from that piece of
Krystal:it? I had a problem with alcoholism for a while. I can't, I was always, I Alcoholism was a thing, I thought, I made it, tried to make it look cute, but it, At times it was so sloppy, and it's just a sad thing, but as far as nah, I never, I double dabbled a little bit of marijuana or whatever, but that's never been my thing, I had friends, I might, but nothing hard. That's
Phil:good. That's very good. So tell me about your kids how many kids do you have?
Krystal:I Actually birthed five children. My husband, I was a victim of parental kidnap. And so I have one child that I had before I went to prison. And my ex husband, he, we went through some things and it went, that wasn't my first, it was another bad situation and he ended up kidnapping my son. He told me I would never see him again, and I've never seen him again. And I don't really like to talk about that too much, but yeah.
Phil:Is that, are the police still looking for him, or is that kind of in the past
Krystal:and they're just No, because he moved to New York first for me. We it's he got his story. He just before it was like, he was saying that, the thing is, it's not against the law to kidnap your own child, you know what I'm saying? You're married. It's in certain states. So there's nobody I can call and say, his father kidnapped him, you know what I'm saying? In Arkansas or whatever. Then I had an option one time of reporting him missing. I could do a missing report, but throughout the years, I was trying a lot of different tactics on trying to lure me in, you know what I'm saying, since he, I still kept my married name, you know what I'm saying, I could, if I was to have physically. If I didn't find my son, then, it wouldn't be a kidnap for me, kidnapping for me either if I was to take him. But, it was certain times in my life that I knew if I did run into him, I didn't know what I would do. Yeah. And how I could handle it. I just I put it in God's hand and it's, and that's where it is right now.
Phil:There's no better place for it to be than in God's hands. Yeah. Wow. So you have four kids that you were a part of raising
Krystal:and Yes, my mom raised one of my sons and the other three I raised.
Phil:Okay. Are they, and you said they're all graduated, they're all out, they're adults. Are they doing well? Yeah, they're doing pretty good. Good. Are they here locally or are they just all spread
Krystal:out? One of my son, one of my son is in Kentucky. And then the other three are here. One is in Atlanta, but he's here right now visiting. But he lives in Atlanta. Okay. And then yeah.
Phil:Are they doing well? Are they staying on a pretty good
Krystal:path? Yeah. I'm praying for them. They're doing okay. Yeah.
Phil:You sound like a good mama. You mentioned praying for them. I've got seven kids, and the older my kids get, the more I realize The absolute best thing I can do is just to fervently, every day, pray for my kids. Because there's some things I just, I can't control them. You can't control what they do, the decisions they make. You just, back to putting it in the Lord's hands. You're praying for them. And you do the best you can to teach them and guide them and, but, in the end. They got to make their own choices and you just pray with all your heart that God will help them make the right ones.
Krystal:Yes. My whole thing while my kids was growing up is, I told them, Success is one thing, but salvation is another one, and I just, I'm really for my kids salvation. Because success will cause you, will send you on some paths, you know what I'm saying, some evil paths. Trying to gain it, you know what I'm saying, I think the goal should be salvation, because. Yeah. That's where it is. That is good. And all those things should be added unto you,
Phil:that is good. Would you just go into that idea a little deeper and just share a little more? It sounds like you learned a lot over the years and that is a profound statement that you just made. I would love for you just to maybe explain it a little more.
Krystal:I don't know. I just feel like I was so So I was just I spent so much time striving for success, I missed out on some things. I could have gave him a couple more hugs. I could have spent more time with him, but the goal was to give them for me at that time was to give them what I didn't have. And that was things, you know what I'm saying? And you miss out if that's your only goal, success, but see, but God says Seek ye the kingdom first, and he gonna add all those things for you, as long as you seeking the kingdom. Yeah. You wouldn't even have to worry about those things, because, heal right the fields, the lilies in the field and you don't want to let it go. Yeah. I don't want to go.
Phil:Yeah, you're right. It's, and Jesus said you could have, to have all the things in the world, but lose your soul. Yes. What is
Krystal:it worth? It's worth nothing. Nothing. And that's the scariest thing for me is for any of my children to lose their soul. Yeah,
Phil:are they in church or are they just, do they have a relationship with the Lord that you
Krystal:know of? When I sent daily, like I'll be sending them stuff. I know they, they watch my Facebook page and all that, so I post good things. And it's mostly where I inbox one of my sons. I've been preaching to them for a long time. Yeah. So they don't want to, they want to hear it, but they don't like it. I think, they get it, you know what I'm saying? And I think that I brought them up in it. They'll come back to it.
Phil:Yeah, that's what Proverbs says. Train up a child in the way he should go. When he is old, he will not depart from it. They may wander a little bit, but in the end, if they've got that foundation, the Lord can bring them back to it.
Krystal:Yes, every now and then they'll give you a little nugget and you'll be like, okay, I did good. They'll preach it back to you.
Phil:That's it's so funny when that happens too. Like my kids do that too. They're like, Oh, Hey dad, let me, what are you doing there? The Bible says this. Okay. That's so good. Mama preaching is some good stuff. Do you go to church anywhere? No. Okay. Are you visiting or just, you just spending time in the Bible on your own, praying, walking with the Lord? I do
Krystal:a lot of online work church and for some reason, a couple of the best pastors that, the pastors that I really like the most, they passed and one of them was a new pastor I started listening to and I found out five years later that he had passed like before I started listening to him. Wow. But he got a lot of sermons on the online, but I've tried, I do a lot of I'll visit a church or whatever. I went to one I think a month ago. But, the churches is different, now.
Phil:there's a lot of different kinds of churches.
Krystal:Yes.
Phil:Yeah, some really good and some Not as much. Right. They got people in'em. People can, people always mess stuff up, don't
Krystal:they? Yeah. Yeah. They say you're supposed to just pray for the church, that yeah.
Phil:But it's I know it's a place where I've received a lot of help and encouragement, just other Christians helping me to stay on the right path myself. Wow. You just hearing you speak. You sound very familiar with the Bible like I heard you Kind of quoting and paraphrasing many verses. So it sounds like you have learned a lot and studied a lot over the years
Krystal:I have studied daily.
Phil:That's awesome. That's awesome so crystal We've, you've shared a lot and it's been so good. Is there anything that's happened in your life that maybe where the Lord used to teach you some good lessons that you'd feel like would be a help to add?
Krystal:Not really the thing is I went through a lot of things. I never really got a lot of help from anyone as far as Government wise or you had a little foundations and people helping you until I came up on the safe house, which was, I feel like they was a whole blessing to me for them to go through, give me, I feel like I would go somewhere if somebody would get some help here or whatever. And while it's hard when you're raising children. bY yourself, but God just I just felt a different experience with them because I never believed somebody would just help you like that. But I I just feel grateful for them, some planted some water, but God gives the increase and I just appreciate them planting for me to safe house ministry and the the the domestic violence shelter that I was hit for here in Columbus and I feel safe here. So
Phil:I'm so glad to hear that. That encourages my heart. I'm glad that the Lord brought you here, that he used the domestic shelter and safe house ministries to just to really help you and get you on your feet. And it sounds like you're doing really well now. We're talking outside and you got a pretty good new job. You're about to start. You got a lot of good work experience.
Krystal:Oh, yes. I work daily, you know what I'm saying? I work off a lot of apps and stuff because it's just, it's easier now. But I had to, I know I needed to go back into some regular pay. And so I, and back to something that I really love to do. And when you love to do your work, they say it's not really work, so I joined another team. Awesome. Travel team. Awesome.
Phil:That's good. Crystal, is there any Just any little bits of wisdom or advice that you would think would be helpful that you'd like to share with anyone that might be listening?
Krystal:I don't know. Truthfully, from my heart, I believe the way things are going, that we need to focus a little bit, focus on Christ, God, and the rules that He's actually, the laws that He actually placed on us. In the Bible, you know what I'm saying? Because the world right now is on a path to love everything. So people are out here loving everything. They loving some things that Christ didn't love. It's some things that he did, he hated actually. And he said, do not do these things. But, we right now is just We nurture and sin, you know what I'm saying? And it's taking us to a dangerous place a place So close to Sodom, you know That we are in danger of actually reaping the same destruction is sad yeah, and so I just prayed that people understand that there was some things that, the past, if you in a church where they preaching everything is love and God loves everything, just understand there's a levels to this, you know what I'm saying? And some things that God hated, you know what I'm saying? And God did not approve of.
Phil:Wow, you have some deep spiritual insight. Wow, I appreciate that. And you're so right. That we get off track because people don't study the Bible for actually what it says. Some, someone steps up, preacher steps up, or some other person that claims to be spiritual steps up and they say things that might sound good. But When you actually look at what the Bible says, they're wrong, because the Bible is the anchor of truth, and we lose that. We, I love how John chapter 1 talks about Jesus coming and how he embodied grace and truth. We need grace, we need love, but it has to be tied to the truth. And if you separate the truth from it, that doesn't help people. That just leads them into a path of destruction. Yes. So that truth has got to be tied to the grace. You've got to have both.
Krystal:Yes. I just feel like, we've got to Find something. If you with God, be with him. You know what I'm saying? Don't, you can't straddle the fence. You can't be lukewarm out here. You can't be, I believe in this and if you believe in it, stand on it, and stand up for God. Sometimes I see people out here. A lot of these rappers or whatever they are here continuously. Yeah. Continuously trying to attack, attacking our God. You know what I'm saying? A lot of people. And we don't, that's one of the things we need to stand up for. Now I want to go the wrong way on this interview. I'm sorry. You're
Phil:okay. Yeah, I just, you, wow, you're speaking to my heart. You are speaking to my heart. I just, yeah, I love, there's so many people in my life that I love. But, I see the things that they do, that the music that they listen to, and I know how it's hurting them, and how it's hurting the way they think, and hurting their heart, and hurting their lives, and the future of their lives, and man, it's the devil subtle. He gets us trapped, he gets us ensnared, he gets us into these things, and we don't realize the danger. So often until it's too late and then we're sitting in a, we're sitting in a mess in our lives and we wonder, how did I get here? How did what went wrong? And then we keep listening to that music and it's just,
Krystal:yeah. The Pied Piper is singing their children into destruction,
Phil:man, thank you for shining a light. Thank you for speaking the truth. Thank you for sharing your testimony. All of us, as long as we all just shine a light and share and love and just embody the grace and truth of Jesus in our own lives and the people that we interact with every day, that makes a difference. And Your life is making a difference. You are making a difference in my life just by this conversation and I appreciate that. Yeah. Is there anything else you want to share before we finish
Krystal:up? No, thank
Phil:you. All right. Crystal, do you mind if I close this in a word of prayer?
Krystal:No, I don't mind.
Phil:Father, I love you. I just praise you. You are so amazing. This world and this universe, all that you've created is so amazing. Just mind bogglingly incredible. I bow my heart before you. I thank you for Crystal. Lord, I thank you for the providence that you have had in her life and even through the hardships and the trials and the tribulations and the struggles, you had your eye on her. You knew her, you loved her, you saw her, and you had and still have a plan for her life. Help her, Lord, encourage her, help her as a mama to be able to just be a hugely positive influence in her children's lives. I pray that your spirit would work in her children's lives to keep them on the path of righteousness, to keep their hearts from getting ensnared and entangled in sin and to just Let them for sure know and have a personal relationship with your son Jesus to be saved and to do your will guide us, bless us. Thank you so much for the part that safe house ministries had in helping crystal when she was just struggling and didn't know where to go and what to do. Thank you for leading her to the domestic shelter in Columbus, leading her to safe house ministries and allowing safe house to be a help. to, to her. Bless her future, guide her path, use her to help so many others, I pray, through this podcast and through many other things. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Krystal:Amen.
Phil Shuler:We look forward to being with you again next week as we share another testimony about the power and the goodness of God to change lives through Safe House Ministries. if you are someone listening to this podcast that loves to hear these stories of the great things that God is doing in changing people's lives for the better, and if you would like to be a part of that work, please reach out to us You can reach us at 2101 Hamilton Road, Columbus, Georgia, 31,904. You can call us at seven oh six three two two. 3 7, 7 3, or you can email us at info@safehouse-ministries.com.