Renew. Restore. Rejoice. A SafeHouse Ministries Podcast

Turning to Drugs to Cover the Pain: Rape, Abuse, Manipulation, Shame, Guilt, and Emptiness--Shannon Cook's Story (Part 1)

• Phil Shuler • Season 2 • Episode 52

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Shannon shares it all, she opens up about being raped at age 14 and about the trajectory of tragedy her life took from that point on.  She shares about multiple abusive and failed relationships, severe drug addiction, and how she came to the place where she felt that suicide was the answer.  But God had other plans for Shannon!!!!!

Shannon exposes so many of the lies our Enemy (Satan) uses to lead us into darkness and try to trap us there forever.  Too many of us follow those lies on a path that leads only to heartache and sorrow.  Listen to Shannon's story and take courage to reject the lies and seek out the truth God wants us to know instead.

This episode takes you through Shannon's life all the way up till she was released from jail in 2011 and meets "the devil in blue jeans".

Shannon:

I was begging God to let me die.

Phil:

Wow.

Shannon:

Begging him to let me die because the life I was living was just, I couldn't do it no more. And so death was my only way out. Wow. Matter of fact, I was plotting my death but God her intervened.

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:

Hello and welcome to the Safe House Ministries podcast for today. I'm very excited to have Shannon with me this morning. Shannon, what is your last name again? Clark. Clark Shannon Clark. Yes. Shannon again was someone recommended to me by one of my colleagues and I hear that she has really an incredible testimony a lot of crazy things in her past, but amazing things that the Lord has done to bring her to where she is today. So Shannon, I'm so glad to have you this morning. I'm

Shannon:

so glad to be here.

Phil:

Yeah. Shannon, I would love to ask you the same question I ask everybody else when we get started. If there was one word that would best describe you, what would that word be?

Shannon:

Overcomer.

Phil:

That's a great word. So what do you mean when you say that?

Shannon:

Came, I saw I conquered.

Phil:

Yeah. You sound like Julius Caesar. Are you familiar with that quote? Yes. Of Julius Caesar?

Shannon:

Yes. But, through heartache and trials rock bottom.

Phil:

Yeah.

Shannon:

To be able to pull yourself up, I'm gonna get emotional. To really hit your rock bottom, that death is your last option. I was begging God to let me die.

Phil:

Wow.

Shannon:

Begging him to let me die because the life I was living was just, I couldn't do it no more. And so death was my only way out. Wow. Matter of fact, I was plotting my death but God her intervened. Wow. It starts out where, we grow up not choosing our future or the life that we're living. We have so much expectations for where we wanna go in life. Getting married, having kids, having a beautiful life. I did succeed in that, but throughout my whole life, there's been trauma or addiction or inadequacy from getting in relationships and, having bad relationships.

Phil:

Yeah.

Shannon:

People beating on you.

Phil:

Wow. Overcomer is a great word. Yes. Are you familiar with the song by Mandisa Overcomer?

Shannon:

I'm not sure. I'm sure I've heard it.

Phil:

Good song. You should look it up. Yeah, I will. Definitely. But we know that through Jesus, we are overcomers.

Shannon:

Yes.

Phil:

So much

Shannon:

more than an overcomer.

Phil:

Amen. Shannon, just take us back to the beginning, like, where did you grow up and what was your home life like as a child?

Shannon:

I, between my mother and father, I had the same parents, same siblings altogether, didn't have a broken home or anything like that, but there was brokenness in the home. Oh, things weren't always perfect, the struggles, the tension, the stress, you got a mother and a father and you're raising four children that sometimes aren't always the best children.

Phil:

Where'd you fall in the mix? Older, younger? I'm

Shannon:

the baby of four.

Phil:

Okay.

Shannon:

Okay. I come four years later after my middle sister. But I had a good childhood. I was a happy child. I don't remember lacking anything as far as, I don't remember going hungry or anything like that, or their struggles. But we were a product of alcoholism and drug addiction. Not immediate family, but through aunts and uncles, grandparents. So it was subjected to a lot of dysfunction.

Phil:

So you hanging out with that extended family, you saw a lot of alcohol, drug addiction, just a lot of dark things that you were exposed to.

Shannon:

Yes. Things that I thought was normal life, you know what I'm saying? I thought that's just normal. That's how people act or that's just the things they do because it becomes acceptable in society that's a lifestyle.

Phil:

Wow.

Shannon:

And then when you're not, you're not raised any better. I know in my immediate family, no drinking, no drugs or anything like that. We don't choose what we do. It just happens. You know what I'm saying? I don't come out saying, oh, I want to grow up and be an addict. But that's exactly what happened.

Phil:

Yeah. We not

Shannon:

always,

Phil:

we begin to take steps in a certain direction and we just continue that path and it leads us where we never would've imagined.

Shannon:

Yes. Yes. To a road of destruction by making poor choices in relationships.

Phil:

So you had a stable family. Yes. You said there was brokenness inside your home, and now you, some of that I assume was the aunts and uncles and that, but was there brokenness, like in your immediate family, like with your siblings and your parents?

Shannon:

Yes. Like my mother, being brought up a product of alcoholism and pill popping. Not with her herself, but with her parents.

Phil:

Yeah.

Shannon:

So we adapt and we adjust and we might not have the right behavior as far as addressing things correctly, you know what I'm saying? But your parents do the best they can in the situation at hand. And I don't pass judgment on that. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I thank God for the struggles. I thank God for the victory.

Phil:

Yeah.

Shannon:

Things are what they are. They come from beginning of time with Adam and Eve.

Phil:

Yeah.

Shannon:

It is what it is. Sin

Phil:

is messed up. A lot of things.

Shannon:

A lot of things. Yeah. But how we choose to address it is Yeah. Totally different.

Phil:

Were you guys brought up in church or not really?

Shannon:

Yes, my mother got saved. She was saved when I was a year old. Wow. And had been living her life for Christ ever since. Wow. She'll be 75. She'll be 80 in July, two days after I've turned 55.

Phil:

Yeah.

Shannon:

But brought up in church. But even in church there was some legalism that had come into play. I call it turn to burn. Hell, fire brimstone. You're going to hell for every little thing you do.

Phil:

Yeah.

Shannon:

And I say that and it sounds so bad. It's so cliche, but it's not. The foundation was there, the teaching was there, the knowledge was there. Had I known who God truly was, that forgiven God, that loving God he's not that vengeful God, come as you are, he cleans you up. But I always thought no matter what I did, I was going to hell.

Phil:

Wow. My

Shannon:

whole life being brought up and I was raised in church. But I see things differently now. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. But I think my views with thinking, oh, it's too hard being a Christian. I can't live like this. It's like I spent every minute of the day. Did I do something wrong? Did I chew me, get wrong? Did I say something wrong? Did I, for fear of going to hell my whole childhood?

Phil:

Wow.

Shannon:

I thought I was gonna go to hell.

Phil:

And what city did you grow up in?

Shannon:

In Columbus, Georgia.

Phil:

Okay.

Shannon:

Born and raised here. Matter of fact, I, living with my mom at this current moment, just staying with her, helping her out. I'm at the Grace House majority of the time, but I go over there and I'm helping her. But it's the only house I've ever known. I was born while at that house, wow.

Phil:

Now I assume you're probably, are you at a different church now than what you were when you growing up?

Shannon:

I

Phil:

go to Evangel Church. Really? I just talked to the pastor there this morning.

Shannon:

I love evangel, you talking about some faith-filled saints that have held me so high with prayer. Wow. The past six years. That's the only way I've made it through. I love that with being uplifted. They're a big supporter of the safe housing place. They are.

Phil:

The, and I am continuing to learn more and more about the far reaching impact of Evangel Church in our community. And I love it. I just learned that Crosspoint is a church plant from Evangel Temple many years ago.

Shannon:

Yes. Yes. They're, that's awesome. They're amazing. They, the time that they dedicate to helping ladies and helping just people, individual, you know what I'm saying? The growth, the spiritual aspect of it. They came and did a function, a Mother's Day luncheon this past Saturday over there and did like a tea party and the hats and for those ladies, and it was beautiful. Oh my gosh. It was so amazing. And I'm thinking, wow, you know the love, yeah. The love of Christ. And you see the love of Christ in these ladies that come. But Cascade Hills also came and planted a garden yeah. Friday night. Awesome. And did a Bible study, and I believe a couple of'em came to Christ. That's awesome. Stood up and made that bold, sense of faith that Wow. And that's what it's about.

Phil:

Praise the Lord.

Shannon:

Do you love the Lord enough to stand up and say, Hey, I choose you.

Phil:

Yeah. That's so awesome. At SafeHouse Ministries we love and we help anybody Yes. With no conditions. Like we don't, you don't have to do any certain things. You don't have to go to devotions, you don't have to go to church services. We just love you anyways. We want you to get to know Jesus. We want you to be saved, but we'll love you and help you regardless. Yes. Just like Jesus. Yes. Jesus healed and loved and just, everybody that he was around, whether they received his truth or not, he hoped they would. And I think it's, Neil Richardson has a quote that he says sometimes that safe House Ministries doesn't exist to make people's trip to hell more comfortable. So we want to help them in this world, but we realize that if they get all the help and have a good life in this world, but fail to receive Jesus, to be able to enter into the kingdom eternally, it doesn't do him really much of any good.

Shannon:

And the way I say it, one of my favorite phrases, I said, God wants persistence, not perfection. He does continuous growth. Generous growth. He. He does the perfecting. Yeah. It's not us that do the perfect, that we do the perfecting, but he does the perfecting, come as you are. Where we mess up so much is we think that we have to be this perfect model individual to enter into the house of the Lord. And that's not

Phil:

it's only Jesus.

Shannon:

Only Jesus.

Phil:

It's, yeah. It's oh, praise the Lord too. We don't realize it like we think sometimes. We think we can just earn our way there, maybe by doing good works and getting better and I heard a preacher explain it so well the other day. He said, it's two ISIS terrorists that are just on a mission of evil to to, to do murder and harm. And, but they're sitting somewhere hiding out in a mission and their two buddies and one of'em forgot their lunch and one brought their lunch and he is oh man, here, let me share my lunch with you and help you out. Which is a good work, a kind work, but it's worthless in the midst of their total evil agenda. And that's like us, like we are wretched sinners regardless. And even all the little good things that we think we do that's, like Isaiah said, they're filthy racks. It's meaningless. Wow. So you grew up here in Columbus. Went to a church that sadly emphasized too much of the legalism and condemnation and. Forgot to emphasize the grace and love of Jesus. Exactly. So where did things start going wrong for you, like your teenage years? Like how, just continue the story on

Shannon:

it started hanging out and not having respect or love for myself. Okay. Being raped at 14. Wow. That's,

Phil:

wow. I'm so sorry. That is

Shannon:

Wow. And for the longest time I thought I, it was my fault, you know what I'm saying? But the, as I grew no means no.

Phil:

Yeah. Were you were at a someone's house or with a

Shannon:

friend? And I think some drama went on with at home, and I left and in rage of anger,

Phil:

running away or running away from

Shannon:

the house, just was leaving, the situation. But I remember going off with it that one of my best friends she was with her boyfriend and her older brother and there was some drinking involved and everything else. And so you get a little bit incoherent. And next thing situation arises to where. It's done and over, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. But I thought had I not been drinking, it wouldn't have been my fault. But still, I know now no means no. Yeah. But I don't let that trauma define God has a way of intervening. And I will say the person that done it now was sitting in prison on a life sentence for murder.

Phil:

Wow.

Shannon:

Just seeing that in the media,

Phil:

they continued on in a path of darkness.

Shannon:

Yes. Yes. A path of darkness. Wow.

Phil:

How did that impact you? And from there, did you start to just

Shannon:

drift away? Yeah. Yes. I drifted away. I ended up as years passed, not having respect for myself and I get involved with this guy that he was, the meanest thing wasn't in the beginning, the first three months he, oh, I thought he truly loved me. But he beat ended, started hitting on me, beat on me, like I was a grown man. Wow.

Phil:

How old were you at that point?

Shannon:

I was probably 16. Wow. Probably 16. So had you

Phil:

totally left home at that point? No, I was still at home. Okay.

Shannon:

We tend to block things out. I remember he'd bring me home and I'd be so beat up on black eyes. Just what did your,

Phil:

how'd your parents respond to that?

Shannon:

What's so crazy, and I hate to even say this, but my mother, but I don't remember, I must have blocked it out, but apparently he brought me home one too many times. She had chased him down with his car, with her car just to make a point, you know what I'm saying? And I think ended up trap trapping him at somebody's house. I don't recall it.'cause we put on blinders, we blocked things out. But even though your parents are always going to fight for you or come to your rescue but I didn't see things that way. He had me in such a bondage that it took my mother take me to Atlanta and drop me off at my aunt's so I could get away from him. I had a nervous breakdown. Wow.

Phil:

what do you think just drew you into that relationship?

Shannon:

kept me in the relationship.

Phil:

Yeah. What and what drew you into it?

Shannon:

because the devil is so cunning with his tactics, the, yeah. The, what's the word I'm trying to say? The charisma aspect of it. Yeah. Here you have this guy and he's paying you this attention and it's great for three months. And the wooing and the, just the finesse of a relationship, the enticement to get you drawn in. And like I said, the first three months was great. And then after that the control of it he would dictate everything in my life, push me away from my family, push me away from my cousins, push me away. But I couldn't have any friends, it was all about him. Where are you at constantly. And then if I spoke up or I'd done something, that's when he started hitting on me. He was just, I don't know, broken himself. But I see that now he come from a broken home. He come from an alcoholic father. And he was the same char characteristics as his father, but he, but I don't hold any. Hatred toward that. I don't, things are what they are. My views on life are just so different now. Yeah. But I did get away from him.

Phil:

With your aunt in Atlanta?

Shannon:

With my aunt in Atlanta. You were how

Phil:

old at that time?

Shannon:

Oh, probably 17. Okay. Like I said, my mother, she was adamant and she was getting me out of that relationship, but during that relationship he had beaten me up so bad, got me pregnant, I knew, didn't know what to do, you know what I'm saying?

Phil:

So you're pregnant 17 at your aunt's house?

Shannon:

Yes. Pregnant, 17, this before I went to my aunt's. Okay. I ended up, he beat me up so bad and left me for dead. I was hemorrhaging. Oh wow. And it was a matter of, we tried to have the baby or it killing the baby, killing me, killing us both and all that. But and I chose, to let them go ahead and take the baby. I was so messed up. Wow. And I lived with that guilt and shame. That's where I think a lot of my heartache come from. I lived with that guilt and shame that what if things would've been different? Had I had that child.

Phil:

How far along in the pregnancy were you?

Shannon:

I was probably about three, four months. Okay. But I was young. I was so like, so messed up really internally. Yeah. It was really doctor's recommendation, that they thought what was best and then I made a choice. Yeah. I think if I had of been closer with God, maybe I would've made different decisions, but I can't, decisions or decisions are passed, grow and I learn from that decision, that choice. Yeah.

Phil:

It's you're are talking about something that is a huge situation, issue, cultural battle in our society today.

Shannon:

Yes, very much

Phil:

and the, the good news is that baby's in heaven.

Shannon:

Yes.

Phil:

And so I have a child in heaven as well, but there are so many young girls, teenage girls, that organizations like Planned Parenthood or just trying to coerce and get doctors to persuade them to just. To terminate, just get rid of these babies. To terminate, just terminate. And kill the babies. And you don't need to raise this baby. It's too much. And, but they don't realize. And I think you have expressed how that affects you.

Shannon:

Yes.

Phil:

When it just it, it affects you deeply. It's hard.

Shannon:

And I do, and I believe that was the beginning of just not knowing my self worth Yeah. My value. I think I've held that grief for so long and I think that trickled on and made the choices that I made, made it just compounded everything. Yes. Yes. Definitely. Wow. Because I dealt with that. I didn't deal with that for so long. That we stuff it. Yeah. We have a lot of people that are stuffers. We stuff everything. Instead of voicing everything now I voice everything. I'm an open book and I will not stuff anything ever again. If it bothers me, I'll bring it to surface. I bet I pray about it before I do. Yeah. There's a right way and a wrong way to handle and address situations. And I have to ask the Holy Spirit really to guide me and everything that I do. Yeah.'Cause I never wanna walk in the flesh. I always wanna walk so obedient and so close to God that. I know my path is straight. I know that there's no doubt in my mind that I'm on the right road, yeah. He didn't say it would be easy, that never road is not easy, but it's so rewarding in the end. Yeah. But yeah. Dealing with him, that situation and growing out of that, and I got through that. And then about 1920 I met my husband.

Phil:

Yeah.

Shannon:

Yes. Now

Phil:

you, did you graduate high school? I graduated high school. Okay.

Shannon:

With my class, it was by the grace of God.'Cause I was still involved with him at the beginning of my school year.

Phil:

That bad relationship.

Shannon:

Yes. I was still involved in that bad relationship. Even when

Phil:

you went to Atlanta, was there still a connection?

Shannon:

No.

Phil:

Okay. So that was, it was totally done then.

Shannon:

Yes. Totally done. I just yeah, the mental aspect, but it took that my mother taking me and leaving me to get me out of this area. Yeah, separation. Sometimes you have to depart and separate from one another. And that's what it took.

Phil:

And were you drinking or anything at that point?

Shannon:

Drinking drugging all of that. Still smoking pot cocaine just

Phil:

at 17. It just As a teenager?

Shannon:

Yes, as a teenager, and the party life. But it wasn't, it was recreational. It wasn't the deep bondage then. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. You know how teenagers do and they just party recreational. And it was that it wasn't all the time or anything, but the relationship addiction in itself.

Phil:

Now, which relationship? That the bad relationship. Okay.

Shannon:

I'm an addict, but my problem is I was a love seeker. I think that was my first addiction to a relationship or to a man or to somebody needing me. To me, that was my first addiction. I did dope to cope for sexual immorality or not having the proper love. So I started incorporating the drug aspect into my life because I wasn't getting fulfilled in that need and that love. Yeah. Or having somebody to care. But yes, I did graduate high school. I worked, and I stayed sober, probably recreational parties and everything. But as a couple of years passed, like I said, I did meet my husband.

Phil:

How'd you guys meet?

Shannon:

I actually met him when I was dating a guy that was Wow. Not so good. He was a friends friend of his, family. Yeah. Real good friends with my the guy that was very abusive. My husband was friends with his sister. Okay. So years had passed and we just run about you. I you were still

Phil:

in Atlanta in this I was back in Columbus. You had come to Columbus? Yes.

Shannon:

I had come back to Columbus. And my husband's best friend was actually dating my cousin. That's how I got into a relationship Okay. With my husband. And it was a good marriage. Yeah, it was a good marriage. I was with him almost 20 years.

Phil:

Wow.

Shannon:

But things weren't always great, he chose to work a lot. He was never home, so therefore, here I go, needing that love or needing that compassion or needing somebody to woo me. Yeah. It just wasn't there like it needed to be. Work was more important. I felt like work was more important to him

Phil:

Yeah.

Shannon:

Than the family,

Phil:

did you go outside and seek that with other men then while you were married?

Shannon:

I did because he wasn't home. I did wrong. You know what I'm saying? He was never there. But yes, I did go seek that with other men

Phil:

throughout the whole time.

Shannon:

The first seven years of our marriage was great. We had our daughter about four years later. When I was 25. I was getting ready to turn 26 and had beautiful baby girl, but he was still working all the time. He was not there all the time. And I just lonely. And so you start searching for somebody to fulfill that need. And it wasn't trying to have a relationship with one person besides him. It was, I was just trying to have fulfillment besides him. I needed somebody to just fill a void. Was it wrong? And I knew it was wrong. But me doing that, here comes the guilt and the shame and the drugs because I couldn't cope with why am I acting this way? Why am I doing these things? Why am I sleeping around on my husband? So I started doing dope, so I wouldn't feel nothing.

Phil:

Wow. As a way to just escape the guilt. Yes.

Shannon:

To escape the guilt. And, not a little drugs, I'm talking about full throttle. Wasn't paying my house payment, wasn't paying rent, wasn't paying anything. I lost my house, my car. But my husband still stood by me and I would stayed sober and this is probably after seven years and then I stayed sober probably about six more years. And my family trying to do right, begging God to take the taste of dope outta my mouth when it should have been begging God to take that taste of a relationship or a man outta my mouth, so here I go, stay sober another six years and just fast forward, was your

Phil:

husband ever involved with the drugs or he,

Shannon:

in the beginning, yes. Up until, I want to say maybe for the first 10 years we recreational smoke pot, done this, that, the other, yeah.

Phil:

But he never got into the cocaine or

Shannon:

he did a little bit recreational? Yes.

Phil:

Okay.

Shannon:

Now I ended up getting arrested in 2000, no, in 1999. I was married in 92, was arrested in 1999. Okay. This was your first arrest fir I was arrested when I was younger, but that was dismissed. Hanging out with the wrong people at the wrong time. Yeah. They charged me, but they ended up dismissing that case'cause I had no knowledge of what went on. The drug charges and how, my first arrest was 1999. My daughter was three years old. I was on cocaine so bad selling it. Oh wow. Selling it. I remember, a lot of guilt too. I remember up on night sleep all day here I have a 2-year-old, a 3-year-old, and to forget to feed my child and wake up. And your daughter is getting into your stuff. You don't know if she's been into the cocaine. You don't know if she's what she's into. I wasn't a being a good mother because I was broken. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I did the best I could. At the situation at hand, I remember going on drug runs and I'd leave her with just anyone to make a drug run. It took me a long time before I could ever even say that. And I forget, forgot to feed my daughter, or I would leave her with anybody or all four a fix, and that's what it was. All four are high. All four. I call it people pleaing. I sold dope. It was like, oh, look, Shannon, here's the one that, she's got it all. She's got the dope, she's got the money, she's got the, it's an illusion. It's a bad illusion. But that, so I was arrested. Somebody set me up. In 1999, and I stayed sober probably seven years after that.

Phil:

Wow. That was a shock and maybe a wake up call of some type.

Shannon:

It was but I was still, I started sleeping around again and not handling things right. Then here comes back the drugs again.'cause the guilt, the shame. Ugh. Then I was arrested in 2007, stayed sober. My husband still stuck by me. He was a good man. He was a good man. He really, he is a good man, but I still wasn't getting something that I needed from him, and I didn't know how, when I should have rested in, finding God's love instead of an individual's love. Yeah. And then in 2010 was my final breaking straw.

Phil:

Wow. You just in quick passing dropped a huge piece of wisdom. That. You're just seeking fulfillment and love. Fulfillment. Yes. And acceptance. And, but you're looking for a human to give you that.

Shannon:

And that's never going to happen. I don't care if it's your husband or a loved one or a mother or father. There's nothing but the grace of God and the love that he gives that can totally fulfill everything in you beyond recognition. Wow. I was looking, seeking for it in people.

Phil:

So you, your second arrest was when?

Shannon:

My first arrest was 1999. My second arrest was 2007, my third arrest 2010.

Phil:

Wow.

Shannon:

2010. No, matter of fact, 2010 wasn't an arrest. I remember sitting, I was started back on dope from 2007 to 2010. Started back on dope, but I remember sitting on the bed with a gun in my hand fixing and blow my brains out.

Phil:

Wow.

Shannon:

And God let me see myself laying off the bed and my daughter walking in and finding me.

Phil:

And that shook you. And you're like, I can't do that.

Shannon:

I made a call to my friend and I said, I'm strung out. I'm on dope. I don't know what else to do. I called 9 1 1 and that's where my husband was working at the time for the EMS.

Phil:

Really?

Shannon:

But he was not on shift that duty. I think he was working somewhere else but his friends and the humiliation. But they never treated me with disrespect or anything. They come and picked me up and I said, I want to die. I want to die. But I went into rehab then and I'm glad I went to the Bradley Center'cause my mental debil, my mental capacity was just, it was shot. But when I went to the Bradley Center, and I'm glad I was there because that's when my husband said, it's over. I'm done. And I knew he meant it, but I went into a rehab down in Florida and I stayed good there for the timeframe that I was there, but never truly finding what's broken. So when I come out, that was 2010, I come out and just speed up with where everything totally took a turn for the worst. When I come out, it was 2011 and I met the devil in blue jeans.

And that's the end of part one of Shannon's incredible story. So many things to ponder and think about. One thing I wanna point out and just ask you to really consider, Shannon talked about the underlying root addiction that she had that led to all the other addictions just as a way of trying to escape and to mask, and that was her root addiction of seeking companionship, love, fulfillment from men. And There are many other people out there I know, maybe some that are listening to this podcast who are struggling with that, who are struggling with an addiction, a need to be, wanted to be loved, to be touched, to be fulfilled, and they're trying to fill a void with a man. Or maybe it's a man trying to fill a void with women. And it will never happen. And then the guilt sets in. Then other addictions come into play, the drugs and other things to try to mask the pain and the disappointment and the heartache and the sorrow, and it just spirals and gets worse and worse and worse. Shannon said at the end of this podcast episode that she met the devil in BlueJean, and next week she'll explain exactly why she made that statement. You do not want to miss next week. It's gonna be really, really good. It. Shannon will continue her story and she will also tell you about the turn about what God did, how God intervened, and the miracle of transformation that took place when God finally stepped in and got a hold of her heart. So we will be back next week and we look forward to being with you then. God bless you.

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.