Renew. Restore. Rejoice. A SafeHouse Ministries Podcast

Lilian's Story: Great Potential, Great Loss, But Greater Redemption.

• Phil Shuler • Season 2 • Episode 29

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From the time I started volunteering at SafeHouse Ministries and preaching on Saturdays, Lilian had an amazing spirit about her.  She was so full of boldness for good, love for others, and a strong desire to help and serve.  I saw these qualities even through the darkness of her struggles with cocaine, and I always loved seeing Lilian help recruit others to come to the chapel service and hear me preach the Word of God.  It fills my heart with joy to see Lilian now clean and sober and living a life in which God can use her many gifts and talents in even greater ways for his glory and for the great benefit of so many others.  Lilian's story is powerful, and the life lessons she learned along the way and shares on the podcast will be beneficial for all of us to remember.

Phil:

So what over the years when you're struggling, what did safe house ministries mean and what was safe house ministries to you during that time?

Lilian:

So it was definitely a respite. It was a safe spot for me to be. There were times when when it wasn't safe for me to go home. And so I'll go there. Pastor Paul has hid me in the kitchen from my ex I saw so, so much in my time there. But I also saw people who needed help just as much or more than I did. So I was, I always tried to reach out to somebody else who I thought that I, I could maybe bring a smile to their face or bring some joy to their life. It's rough out there and a lot of the clients are without a home altogether and living on the streets is, it's not easy. And I felt it was an honor and a privilege to be able to clean tables or just help out when I could. Because they're, they were there for me definitely when I needed somewhere to be that they kept me safe.

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 my really good friend Lillian and I've known her for probably for. Two and a half, three years, I think, since I started going on Saturdays to preach the Saturday chapel service at Safe House Ministries. From the beginning, Lillian has had just a joyful, exuberant, really a beautiful spirit. Thank you. And I saw that from the beginning. So Lillian, thank you for being here.

Lilian:

I appreciate it.

Phil:

So kicking it off, I'd love to ask you if there was one word that would best describe you, what would that word be?

Lilian:

I would say hopeful. Hopeful just for a brighter tomorrow. Has really brought me from a mighty long way, I would say. And I only see better coming. Yeah, hopeful. That's

Phil:

awesome. I'm just sitting here and I just can't stop. I'm rejoicing in my heart at seeing you sitting in that chair and just, you are an amazing person and I'm so happy for what God has done in your life and I'm so excited about your future. Thank you. So there are, God loves all of us. I know that. And he has a plan for all of our lives. I know that too. But there are, I think there are certain people that he has created that he has given greater gifts. And that he has a great purpose for, and I think you're one of those people.

Lilian:

Thank you very much. Yeah.

Phil:

Tell us where it all started. Where'd you grow up and what was growing up like for you?

Lilian:

All right. I'm right here from Columbus, Georgia. I had a pretty good childhood, I would say. I'm from the Carver Heights neighborhood, right down the street. I went to. and Richards and I ended up at Brookstone growing up. I basically grew up an only child. I'm often have another kid until I was 15. And right off the bat my pediatrician prescribed me to be in the gifted program. Yeah, I was one of those kids like the self fulfilling prophecy, I was told I was gifted. And and so I ran with that. I always excelled in school. Yeah, just really really well. Connecting the community because of my mother she had me in tap and ballet, some gymnastics involved in the museum. I was in a Springer opera house production. Wow. Yeah. So had a lot going on, but She really kept me busy and and focused. And

Phil:

was it just you and your mom or

Lilian:

me, my mom? And then I grew up in, in my grandparents house. So I had that role model of what a healthy marriage was in the household.

Phil:

How long were your grandparents married for? Are they still alive?

Lilian:

No. Both of them are deceased, but they were together over 50 years.

Phil:

Are you kidding?

Lilian:

Yeah.

Phil:

I love that.

Lilian:

It was beautiful. Kind of pillars in the community. They had a small grocery store. And so we had a family business, Bush groceries, and that's what we did. Yeah, growing up.

Phil:

Wow. That is. I love hearing stories of people that have been married for that long. Yeah. We need more examples of that. Absolutely. That's such, that's a beautiful thing. That's awesome. I love it. Okay. So yeah, so that sounds like a good start. Yeah. So what happens teenage years?

Lilian:

Okay. So teenage years because of the things I had done prior to, I ended up getting an honor scholarship to Brookstone and that was a totally different change of environment for me. Just cause I'm from the hood and then I I got introduced to a different culture in society. And I did pretty well. I would say it was a different situation because I was the newbie and these are kids who had gone to school together since they were, in pre three. And it was a culturally different experience. But I enjoyed high school. I really did. I I did track and basketball. Yeah. And that's in track really became my thing. So I've got five state championships. Wow. I've got three in hurdles and two in long jump. That kind of became a main focus. And um, my senior year, I was the all by city, no drink wire athlete of the year. Wendy's All American, that kind of stuff. Yeah. So I really I really, I had a great education, and sports was like my backbone. Yeah. Yeah.

Phil:

Wow, so did that lead to a college scholarship?

Lilian:

I got a scholarship to college, but it was in academics, so I went,

Phil:

You're super smart and a super athlete!

Lilian:

Yeah, I used to be, but so I went to Stanford out in California and I did run track there. I was a multi event athlete, which in the heptathlon so that's the a hundred meter hurdles, 800, 200 long jump, high jump shot put and javelin.

Phil:

Wow. Yeah. Wow.

Lilian:

Yeah. California was

Phil:

you're like one of those people that everybody wishes they had that talent and skillset.

Lilian:

I don't know. I don't know about that, but I was definitely Yeah.

Phil:

Okay. What was Stanford like then?

Lilian:

I felt like I had found my place. Out there I wasn't weird, I wasn't different, it's because everybody was weird. It's California but I loved it. I flourished there. I really I really felt like I had found my place. And I just loved it. I really greatly value the time I spend out here.

Phil:

Okay, so freshman year, did you graduate from Stanford? No,

Lilian:

I didn't graduate. It's this is where my story, uh, gets a little difficult. But my senior year, before my senior year we moved off campus and

Phil:

Who's we? Like you and some roommates? Yeah,

Lilian:

me and a roommate a girl that I got in close to, we moved off campus and just prior to my senior year, she had a friend over and he brought a friend with him and I ended up being sexually assaulted.

Phil:

Oh.

Lilian:

And Yeah, I just it broke me because up until that point in my life, I really not taking any losses. It was an upward trajectory. I just become an all American in the spring and it just, uh, stopped everything in its tracks for lack of a better word. I couldn't get out of bed So I didn't go to school I was done running and Yeah, Wow, my mom ended up coming out After a few months not hearing from me and knocking on my front door. Hey, what's going on? So I told her and she got me some help

Phil:

Wow

Lilian:

yeah.

Phil:

So how did the road continue from there?

Lilian:

So I stayed out there for about another year.

Phil:

You were

Lilian:

in California,

Phil:

Dropped out of school at that point.

Lilian:

Yeah. I just I couldn't get it together enough to go back. I was on antidepressants, but I never got therapy. And Yeah, it just never, I never found the way to get back in line to continue my education or to finish up because I have less than a year left, but yeah, so I ended up moving back to Columbus in 05 and got, got a job and started my life and I met the guy and they're marrying, about six months after I got here.

Phil:

Wow. Yeah. That's a fast relationship.

Lilian:

No. I met him. Oh, you met him. Okay. You didn't get married six months later. Okay. So you met

Phil:

him six months later. Okay. Okay. And,

Lilian:

It started off as a pretty good relationship. And he was dealing drugs and I, that's, I ended up using And so yeah, it didn't

Phil:

So that started you on an even more downward spiral and a darker path.

Lilian:

Just it was a heavier drug. Up until that point, I only smoked weed. But I came home and and was introduced to the world cocaine and yeah. It's not a it's not a good way to excel in life, which is that yeah. Yeah. So

Phil:

it you started that and it what did that do in your life that it just took you down into, yeah. What was that like?

Lilian:

It was just It was a constant struggle. You just You can't really excel in anything when that's your focus. Pretty quickly, we were both addicted. And I I ended up getting pregnant and cut it off, had my first kid, then

Phil:

So you stopped using when you were pregnant? Yes. Okay.

Lilian:

He got arrested and came back and I was pregnant again and we ended up getting married when he got out and eventually he was arrested and sent to prison.

Phil:

So you had two kids on your own, two under two. He was off at prison. Yeah. Wow. I bet that was tough.

Lilian:

That was tough. And I reverted back to bad behaviors, just.

Phil:

Did not just escape to the cocaine. Get just didn't know what to do.

Lilian:

Trying to numb the pain. I ended up meeting someone else and again, inactive addiction and just enabling each other, but he was abusive and that really caused a separation in my family. They're like, what are you doing with this person, who's putting their hands on you? And at the time I thought it was love. And

Phil:

you had the kids with you too? Yeah. Yeah.

Lilian:

No the boy, my mom would not allow that situation to happen. She just, I couldn't save myself and so they were with her most of the time. Okay. And I, so I ended up having two girls with him and yeah, he ended up Killing my next door neighbor. What? Yeah And so when that happened I Just I it was a rock bottom for me and I figured listen now you got these four kids You don't have any help. So it was time for you to get yourself together. So he

Phil:

went off to prison, as well.

Lilian:

Yeah, definitely. And I picked myself back up.

Phil:

So when, so at that point, how long ago was that?

Lilian:

That was 2016.

Phil:

Okay.

Lilian:

Sixteen, yeah. So

Phil:

You said, I want to turn things around. I want to, Get out of this mess.

Lilian:

Straight and narrow. I've got to do something. I've got to I've got to get my life together because I got to take care of these kids. Yeah And they deserve, you know the best so I I saw help I went to Midtown Recovery. I didn't graduate because I ended up finding a job And in this job, I traveled so I couldn't stay and go to day classes, but I was doing pretty good for a while Yeah. And eventually after about five and a half years, I met somebody else and I'm thinking, he's the one that's going to be great. Somebody that's financially stable and wants to take care of me and my family. And yeah. I don't have great taste in men. We were up in Tennessee and he got super, super drunk on the way. We're about to come back here for Christmas for Christmas. Yeah. And he ended up Assaulting me and leaving me on the side of the road in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Phil:

So y'all were traveling down and like something happened in the car ride and wow. And he just tossed you out on the side of the road.

Lilian:

Yeah. Literally kicked me out. And I was there with no phone, no money, no communication. But you were clean

Phil:

at that point to that point, like you were not using drugs anymore

Lilian:

for no. I've been clean until I met him. And

Phil:

So then you guys started using together and

Lilian:

He liked to party. And That's when things really got bad. Oh. Cause I was in the middle of nowhere. I didn't know anybody. And pretty badly hurt. And I was kinda lost. Just didn't know which way to go. I was ashamed. Of getting into that same kind of situation again.

Phil:

Where were your kids at this point? With my mom. Okay, so they had been staying with her?

Lilian:

No we were all together up until that point. And

Phil:

You had just taken, you were up there with him. Yeah. And coming back down.

Lilian:

And coming down and I I don't know. I was just lost and I I was looking for something to take away my pain. And I didn't know what it was, but everybody was smoking on the side of where I was hanging out at a homeless encampment, basically. And that's when I was introduced to methamphetamine.

Phil:

Wow.

Lilian:

Yeah. And it was not It was not pretty from there. I ended up making it back down here in January. And Just totally,

Phil:

Deep in the darkness.

Lilian:

Yeah, deep in the darkness.

Phil:

So you were doing, did you admit meth takeover or were you doing meth and cocaine still?

Lilian:

No, I was smoking.

Phil:

Oh. Yeah.

Lilian:

And so

Phil:

You came back to Columbia, you were just living on the streets? Just.

Lilian:

I hooked up with an ex and so I was I was in the area where I met you. And. It wasn't I wasn't homeless, but we definitely didn't have lights or water. And I never went back home. I didn't want my kids or mom to see me. And in that situation, I guess I was ashamed. Maybe my pride was in the way, I don't know. But I couldn't. There's just something in me. I didn't want them to see me like that. And so I would fill my time up at the safe house, where we met volunteering and basically, Just spinning in circles, going nowhere fast. That's how I would describe it.

Phil:

Yeah, were you bouncing around or did you stay with that one ex for most of that time? Yeah,

Lilian:

I was mainly there with him. And after about 18 months things ended really badly with us.

Phil:

Oh.

Lilian:

I was pistol whipped and She has Out of options. Wow. Really nowhere to go. And I I reached out to a friend and he's the person that I'm currently with. He don't do drugs, thank God. And he was the one that really helped me out when I didn't have any other options. Yeah. Yeah.

Phil:

Wow. You're just, cause when, from the time I met you had a spirit that seemed like you were a Christian, like you knew the Lord. You just had gotten lost in the darkness. Tell me about your relationship with the Lord and when in your life did you come to trust Jesus as your savior and just what that dynamic was and how it turned around as well.

Lilian:

Grew up in the church. My grandmother passed, she was mother of the church. Um, yeah. She was 92 years old and so I was always around church going folks. I joined the church when I was about 12 years old and basically grew up knowing Jesus Christ as my Savior. I say that God never left me. I walked away.

Phil:

So when you were a kid you came to the place where you asked the Lord to forgive your sins and you received Jesus as your Savior from a young age.

Lilian:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I'm So thankful that my mom has continued that with my kids and they've all been baptized and I miss that. But I know that they are being raised and are in, um, in a situation grounded in love and grounded in faith. And I couldn't be more thrilled about that, during my time at the safe house. I I prayed a lot even in the darkness, I still called out to the Lord because I know that he's my savior. And I think that I just had a wake up call and epiphany sitting in jail, not having anybody to turn to. And He said, I got you, I got you, you do your part, I'll do mine. And I did choose to join drug court because the reason why I was arrested weren't for drug charges, but my lifestyle led me to do,

Phil:

yeah, this was from the point that the last bad Ending with the ex. Something happened and you got put in prison?

Lilian:

No. I'm never in a prison. Or jail. I'm sorry. Yeah. And so I I reached out for help because I knew I needed help to stop my own. Yeah. And I consider drug court a blessing, it's taught me some structure in my life.

Phil:

How long ago was that you started that process?

Lilian:

So I got out last November the 29th. So

Phil:

wow, coming up on a year,

Lilian:

coming up on a year. My clean day is December 13th, so yeah.

Phil:

Awesome. So what was that journey like? And where were you living at that time?

Lilian:

Okay. I was over on the south side of town when all that happened, but so when I was released, I went to Journey to Recovery. I'm still there. I've graduated the program, but now I'm in transitional housing. So yeah.

Phil:

Okay. And doing drug court, are you now? Are you finished with that program as well now?

Lilian:

No. So I'm still fully in the midst of it. God willing, I graduate in June. How long,

Phil:

that's a, so that's a longer program. Yes, it's an

Lilian:

18 month program. Okay. And it's it's therapy lots of meetings. But basically, it's accountability court. Yeah. And of course I'm screened regularly. And it just keeps your feet to the fire. And just gives you some kind of direction, which is what which is what I needed to get my stuff back together. Yeah. Yeah.

Phil:

Wow.

Lilian:

So I thank God for it.

Phil:

That's awesome. That's awesome. So what over the years when you're struggling, what did safe house ministries mean and what was safe house ministries to you during that time?

Lilian:

So it was definitely a respite. It was a safe spot for me to be. There were times when when it wasn't safe for me to go home. And so I'll go there. Pastor Paul has hid me in the kitchen from my ex I saw so, so much in my time there. But I also saw people who needed help just as much or more than I did. So I was, I always tried to reach out to somebody else who I thought that I, I could maybe bring a smile to their face or bring some joy to their life. It's rough out there and a lot of the clients are without a home altogether and living on the streets is, it's not easy. And I felt it was an honor and a privilege to be able to clean tables or just help out when I could. Because they're, they were there for me definitely when I needed somewhere to be that they kept me safe. Yeah. Yeah.

Phil:

Awesome. Awesome. Uh, you are in transitional housing, you said?

Lilian:

Yes, sir.

Phil:

Okay.

Lilian:

I've got an apartment, and I've got a roommate, but it's just us two, and basically it's like independent living. I work full time. I've got a pretty good little job.

Phil:

Yeah? What kind of work do you do?

Lilian:

I am a Clark at a a company where we make denim of all things, but Yeah, I love my job. I have a purpose in life now. People depend on me and but I've got a car, saved up enough to get me a little car and very soon here I'll be, I'll have my own place. So

Phil:

That's exciting. Yes,

Lilian:

sir. It's really exciting. Yeah. And most importantly I'm reconnected with my kids. How old

Phil:

are they now?

Lilian:

So my boys are 17 and 15 and my girls are 11 and

Phil:

What are their names?

Lilian:

JC, Julius, Virginia, and Regina. And they are amazing children. They're all very intelligent, athletically inclined. But the boys run cross country and basketball and track in the spring and the girls are cheerleaders and trying to get a few other things.

Phil:

Awesome. And are they still with your mom?

Lilian:

They are still my mom. Right now it's just the best thing for them to, for stability. And I'm there and I play my part. So

Phil:

you're a big part of their life now. You're over there. You're spending time with them. You're picking up from school. Yeah. Doing

Lilian:

what I can. Just let them know that I still love them, that I'm still their mom. And I'm going to do everything I can to make their lives. Great,

Phil:

that's awesome.

Lilian:

I all joy because had it not been for this program, it had not been for me saying, look, enough is enough. Then who knows? It maybe would have been another two years before I saw them again. Yeah. One of the counselors from journey to recovery actually drove me to my mom's house and said, just go knock on the door. And that's how we were connected. Wow. I think, wow. Yeah. So bless him.

Phil:

So tell me what, what was different about, cause I know you probably had over the years had come to places where you're like, this is crazy. I don't want to do this, but what was different about that time when you were in jail a year ago, what was different about that and what made the difference,

Lilian:

For me? It was just enough is enough. You are 41 years old at the time. You don't look it. Thank you. I I just want it better for myself. And I knew that God had a bigger purpose for me. You can have all the potential in the world unless you do something with it. It means nothing. And so I just committed myself. To getting it right, to getting a sponsor, to working some steps, to figure out what was the crux of what was going on. Why do I keep ending up in these relationships? What was broken? How can I fix some of this? Dealing with some of the trauma.

Phil:

Yeah. And what, for you, what was it that was broken that you had to come to face with and to heal?

Lilian:

It's a tough question. I had to learn to love myself more than anybody else ever could have to Pour into myself and realize that I am worth and worthy of more than I settled for. No matter what you may look like on the outside, it's how you feel on the inside. That is going to reflect in the decisions you make for yourself, what's healthy, what's not healthy. And I just committed to. The life of recovery not just Put down some dope but recover fixing What the inside, you know caring getting some spiritual principles in my life like some acceptance and understanding yeah

Phil:

You spoke a powerful word talking about that Doesn't matter What you look like on the outside It's the inside that really determines the trajectory of your life. That's so true. And it's hard for us, I think, as people to embrace that truth. We're so focused on the outward, right? We're so focused on, and we have these assumptions and expectations that go along with that word appearance. But yeah, it's, if you're broken on the inside, you're broken on the outside. And you're, even if you're the most beautiful person on the outside, it's

Lilian:

a dressed up trash can.

Phil:

Yeah. And, but if you're solid and beautiful on the inside, then that doesn't matter what the outside is. It's just, yeah, then, hearing you talk about just coming to the place where you realized that you were valuable, you were worth loving it makes me think about that. Yeah. There's God's love and how deeply he loves every single one of us. Like all of us. Jesus died for every one of us because God sees us as valuable. He doesn't want to lose any person in this world. He doesn't want any person in this world to die without salvation and end up apart from him forever because he sees us as valuable and he loves us. It's a beautiful thing. Amen. Amen.

Lilian:

It's absolutely beautiful.

Phil:

So Lillian, over the journey that you've had, what are some of the key lessons that the Lord has taught you that you think would be helpful to share?

Lilian:

Okay, that the Lord has taught me, never give up.

Phil:

Never give up?

Lilian:

Never give up. He didn't give up on us, so I can't give up myself. Be smart, not strong.

Phil:

Okay.

Lilian:

Yeah. Because sometimes you feel like, Oh, I can will my way through this, but you have to use your head. Actions have consequences, and so you're going to have to think before you act because you might end up somewhere you don't want to be or somewhere you never thought you would be. Yeah. Yeah. Happens. Wow.

Phil:

It sounds like you might have a few stories that illustrate that truth. Be smart. those are good. What else?

Lilian:

Gosh, that he'll never leave us or forsake us, even in the darkest of times, he was still there for me. I just wasn't looking for him. I really believe that. Because the program is spiritual, not religious, that it is a godsend program. And recovery it's such a beautiful thing. It's just new life and wholeness and I'm just so blessed to be a part of y'all. I can't believe I'm here, like not here, but here and

Phil:

where you are in your life. Yeah.

Lilian:

In my life.

Phil:

Yeah.

Lilian:

I never would have thought because a year ago on Thanksgiving I was in jail, like just not doing anything. Productive, no hope, no future, no hope. And and today that, like I said, that, that's my word hopeful because I can see the fruits of my labor. I the fruit that what God has planted in me is producing good fruit, and so I just I am hopeful and I know that better is coming. Absolutely.

Phil:

Yeah. So you, it seems like you have found you found and embraced the place that you are enough with just God. You don't need to find worth anywhere else.

Lilian:

No external validation needed. None at all. Thanks be to God. Yeah.

Phil:

Amen. Amen. Any other lessons you want to bring out or share?

Lilian:

Get a sponsor.

Phil:

Okay.

Lilian:

Okay. Because remember my best thinking got me there. And so whenever something comes up that, Oh, I have to stay too much in my head about, I run it by her. My sponsor has 32 years of sobriety. So she has figured out a way to make this thing work. And it's just so good to have a sounding board, to have somebody who, has your best interest in mind, who is versed in the word because she's also a minister and it's just God centered, God fearing and you a guy for me to help me when I might go astray, when I'm doing something right, I might get a pat on the back, but definitely leading me in the way that I need to be going. So

Phil:

yeah, get

Lilian:

you one.

Phil:

That's awesome.

Lilian:

Yeah, absolutely.

Phil:

Lillian, I don't know what the future is for you, but I want to tell you something. I see in you a quality. that I also see in one other person and the person I'm thinking of was a person that lived in darkness for a long time. 30 years of cocaine addiction. It's a person that has God given gifts, like great gifts of intelligence and energy and ability. But they squandered that for so long. But then this person. Turned back to the Lord and the Lord redeemed them. And what this person has done just is mind blowing. And it really has been their surrender to the Lord and their walk of faith and their journey. But along the way they have used the gifts and talents and intelligence and like this person just really does have a lot of natural. I like to think I'm smart, but I know I'm not like, like there's some people that God has just given an abundance of greater talents and skills. And I see a similar life story in you. The person I'm thinking of is Neil Richardson, who started Safe House Ministries and now Safe House, helps. There's 200 people a night that are in one of the shelters that would be on the streets. And there's just so many people that come through the substance abuse treatment program and just the day center, hundreds of meals a day. Like it's a big deal. What the Lord has used Neil to build. And I don't know what he's got planned for you, but I think that you could do some really big things. of a caliber that might blow your mind. I don't know.

Lilian:

You'll be amazed before you're halfway through.

Phil:

I don't know. Do you have any vision of something you think? Or are you just you're enjoying victory and you want to just listen to the Lord and follow as he leads? And you don't know where that's going to go? Or do you have a, do you have a vision that you think right now?

Lilian:

So right now I am just. I'm just so happy in the moment, I'm going to be honest with you. That's great. That is

Phil:

really great.

Lilian:

As far as the vision for what's to come the sky really is the limit but I know that I can't keep what I, the only way for me to keep what I have is by giving it away. That's one reason why I was intent on coming here today, no matter what, because the things I've been through, I'm hoping will help the still sick and suffering. Or just, just as be a beacon of light for somebody, cause they say if you just help one so yeah, who knows what the future holds, but I'm excited to find out where he leads me.

Phil:

Yeah. So it's, I always love hearing when people share their stories and when they reflect back and when you hear the stories being told, so many points along the way where the hand of God was just there, the love of God was there. The providence of God was there and the guiding of God. Would you, as you think back, are there one or two points in your story where that was maybe not clear at that moment, but now you're like, I'm, that's so clear.

Lilian:

Yeah, absolutely. Um,, There were a few instances where I could have died and he kept me. I just thank God for him never taking his hand off me because the places that I was hanging out, the people that were around were very dangerous and had it not been for the Lord, where would I be? Truly, where would I be?

Phil:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The grace and love of God is just the most amazing thing.

Lilian:

Absolutely.

Phil:

Are you going to church anywhere right now?

Lilian:

Yes. I am attending OCC, Overcomers Community Church, and I haven't become a member yet, but I'm leaning towards it. I am, my kids are still affiliated with the church where I was baptized, that's Greater Monsign in Phoenix City. Okay. Which my pastor came out of. He's one of their disciples. Yeah, I thank God for it.

Phil:

That's awesome.

Lilian:

It is a great church.

Phil:

That's awesome. So your kids are over there. That's, man, that's, I'm excited. Thank you. I am, my heart is filled with joy at What the Lord has done in your life and where you're at.

Lilian:

I appreciate it. Thank you for this opportunity.

Phil:

Yeah. Any other last thoughts or comments that you would like to make?

Lilian:

Number one, don't pick up no matter what. Drugs and alcohol are not the answer to any problem. They're only going to make it worse. Lean not on your own understanding and when all else fails, fall down on your knees and pray. When all else fails, cause he's there.

Phil:

That's good. That's a good, that's a good word. Yeah. God loves us and he wants us to turn to him. It makes me think of the story in Luke where the prodigal son just left his dad, wanted the money, just blew it and craziness and then he found himself there with no money, no friends, no nothing, just at the pig trough, so hungry that he was. Eating the food for the pigs and he's what am I doing? Yeah But the father, you know Loved him unconditionally and never stopped loving him. And then the son, when he went back, he's I'm just going to ask my dad if I can be the servant and goes back and his dad's sees him down the road and his dad literally just runs and embraces him and they have a huge celebration. It's a beautiful story, but the story I think is more about the father than it is the son. Absolutely. Because the father is there. And he's, oh, he is there. So that, yeah, we just, when we come to that place, and we're broken, and we don't have anywhere to turn, he's there. Yeah. Awesome. Thank you again. You're welcome. Thank you

Lilian:

for inviting me. I appreciate it. Absolutely.

Phil:

Do you mind if I close us in a word of prayer?

Lilian:

Absolutely.

Phil:

Dear Lord, I thank you for your goodness. I thank you for what you've done in Lillian's life and just how you've brought her through Lord. I thank you for loving her and helping her to get to the place where she accepts your love and just. She is now on a path of renewal and restoration and joy, her relationship with her kids and just having her own place and a good job and just a hopeful future. Lord, I don't know what you have planned for her life, I know you've got big plans for her life. I pray that you would use her, I pray that you would keep her Lord, that you would keep her feet. Standing on the rock of Jesus, that you would keep her from hanging out or any friendships or any relationships with anybody that would not be good, that would try to lead her astray. Lord, the enemy wants to ruin all of us. The enemy never sleeps. He never stops. No matter how many years of sobriety or victory the enemy is always lurking, always looking for a way to destroy us, to drag us back down. And I pray that you would put a hedge about Lillian, and you would not let the enemy get through that hedge. That you would keep her, that you would help her to be surrendered. So fully to you, help her to hear your voice, Lord, to listen to what you would speak to her to follow the path that you have for her life, to do the things that you want her to do. Help her never to be lifted up with pride, but to stay in humility and to trust in you and depend on you and to follow you. Above all else, we love you and praise you. I pray you bless Lillian's children, Lord, all of them, Lord, guide their paths, bless their paths. Lord, thank you for the gifts and intelligence and abilities that you've given them, Lord. Protect them from wayward paths, protect them from the traps that the enemy would lay for them and keep them and their hearts and their minds and their lives. Looking to you, I pray in Jesus name, I pray his name. Amen. 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.

Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone)-2:

Thank you so much for being with us this week for the renew restore and rejoice podcast of safe house ministries, we pray that God will bless you this week. And we look forward to having you back with us again next week for a new episode.