Renew. Restore. Rejoice. A SafeHouse Ministries Podcast

Pregnant and Addicted to Meth at 17, Hired as a Corrections Officer in the County Jail at 18 -- Shelley Culpepper's Story Part 1

• Phil Shuler • Season 2 • Episode 57

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Shelley's life got off track as a young teenager when she began seeking the approval of others and hanging out with the wrong crowd.  By the age of 17 she was pregnant and addicted to methamphetamine.  Somehow, by the age of 18 she had gotten hired as a corrections officer in the county jail, where she was more comfortable with the inmates than she was with the other guards.  Things get crazier from there.

Shelley:

And I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about somebody who saved me,

Phil:

you know? Amen. That is so true. Yes, sir. Awesome.

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 this week's podcast for the Safe House Ministries podcast, renew, restore, and Rejoice. I've got Shelly Cole Pepper here today, and I'm excited to hear Shelly's story.

Shelley:

Thank you.

Phil:

And, uh, she's been texting me. She has been excited to, to share her story. And just the amazing things that God has done.

Shelley:

Yes.

Phil:

And so, Shelly, it's so good to have you.

Shelley:

Thank you so much. I've been waiting on this moment for a long time.

Phil:

Awesome. Yes, sir. I love when God does the miracle of transforming a life. Yes, sir. It's amazing. Yes, sir. Praise the Lord. Shelly, getting started, you know, the question I'm probably about to ask, if there was one word that would best describe you, what would that word be?

Shelley:

Willing is the one that I had several words, but the one that stood out to me in my journey is willing,

Phil:

willing. That sounds like there's a lot of meaning behind that. What do you mean? Explain that a little bit.

Shelley:

Well, um, for when I was, um, the verse that. Motivated me to once I, I don't even know where to start, so please forgive me, but the verse that penetrate, that embrace, that engraved in my heart is Luke 1433. Anyone who is not willing to surrender everything cannot be my disciple. And that is the my go-to verse when I wake up in the mornings, you know, Lord, how may I serve you today? What he endured and what he went for, went through and sacrificed for me. I'm Lord, allow me to be your willing, vessel willing. That is good.

Phil:

That is a word that needs to get into the hearts of a lot of, a lot of people. Yes, sir. A lot of people who claim to be Christians, but they're unwilling right to. Really do what God wants them to do.

Shelley:

And, you know, uh, it's a very humbling experience. You know, um, you can be, teachable was my other word.

Phil:

Hey, that's a good word too. But

Shelley:

you can be, um, uh, willing is, is definitely yeah. The word for me.

Phil:

Yeah. That's, you have to start from there. Yes. You absolutely have to start from there.

Shelley:

Yes. And as he wakes me up every day, and I don't know what the day, uh, has in store for me, but thank you Lord, for just ordering my steps, you know? And here I am, just a willing servant, you know? Awesome. And, um, Lord, just, um, let it be all of you and absolutely none of me, and, man, his goodness, you know, he, I don't deserve it, but he says I do. So that's what I'm gonna walk in every day, and that's what I want to just, um, encourage everybody. I'm sorry, I'm trying to, to get emotional, but it's hard.

none:

It's all,

Shelley:

um. And what he shows. No partiality. So what he did for me, he wants to do for all his children. Yeah. And that's how he said, I set you apart and I appointed you as a prophet to take over many nations, just one soul at a time. You love them right where they're at, and you en encourage'em and lift them up and um,

Phil:

yeah.

Shelley:

And uh, I can go on and on and on. Yeah. So you tell me when to shut up.

Phil:

So, I see you're wearing a Safe House Ministries hoodie there. Yes. Which is That color's great too. Yes. Um, and I know you are, working for and with Safe House Ministries just to really try to help others in so many ways to, to produce more of those transformed lives. Yes. I know you have a, a story that, uh, began a while back. Yes. And so I would love to just kinda start at the beginning.

Shelley:

Okay.

Phil:

And, uh, if you would share maybe. Growing up where you grew up and, uh, what home life was like in the early days for you?

Shelley:

Okay. So, um, my mom and dad, my dad is retired Air Force. Um, my mom and dad, they are still, I have an older sister. She's a four years older than me. And I was born in South Dakota, but we retired or we came back.'cause my dad's family was here in this town. My mom is from England. Wow. She still got her strong British accent, which that is awesome. Have you been to

Phil:

England?

Shelley:

Uh, I don't think so. Uh, whenever they got married at a young age, he got her out of there. okay. So, and she's been here ever since? She's been here ever since. All right. So we got here in 1989. Uh, my parents are still married after 55 years. That is awesome. That's really unheard of. You know, it is,

Phil:

uh, it is. Heartbreaking. Just tragedy that so many marriages fail. Yes. And just, it's sad that people today don't take it serious. Yes. I mean, it's it's supposed to be permanent. Yes. It's supposed to be forever. Yes. Jesus. Jesus said, what? Therefore, God has joined together. Let no man put us under. Yes. Two become one. And it's supposed to stay that way. Yes. So, praise the Lord. Yes. What an amazing testimony. Just in that. Yes. That's awesome.

Shelley:

And, it had an excellent home life. Uh, we went to church. My parents, they didn't, they don't fight a lot. Like my dad is the perfect example of what a man looks like. Wow. He is my hero. Wow, that's so amazing. And right now, he just, he's um, hopefully, uh, he's 76. Um. Um, right now, at this current moment he's fighting. So this is my chance, you know, I can't go back on my past and everything that I destroyed.'cause my dad, it didn't matter what I did. let me just back up. So where I turned left.

Phil:

so you, you did well growing up and like you were pretty good kid. Um,

Shelley:

I hung around the popular crowd in school. Yeah. I played in sports and things like that. I started experiment. It was my senior year in high school. Wow. Um, I got in with a different crowd and started experimenting. Then I got pregnant. Uh, I met, uh, my oldest daughter's dad and, um,

Phil:

so that's where things started to go the wrong direction. That's where things

Shelley:

started shifting.

Phil:

So

Shelley:

let's take a,

Phil:

a minute and. You shared that your parents have a great marriage. Yes. They were good parents.

Shelley:

Yes.

Phil:

I assume that they were, they kept you in church. They disciplined you when you got outta line. Yes. And, uh, there's, I think there's a lot of people that would love to just maybe learn some things if they could I'm a father. Yes. And, uh, I've got seven kids and, you know, sometimes you do the best you can to raise your kids. Absolutely. But when they grow up, they kind of begin to make their own decisions. Right. And they really are their own person. Right. And you can't, they, you just, they just make their own decisions. Right. So do you have any thoughts around maybe, I don't know, what, what parents can do or how parents maybe can try to protect against their kids going in that direction?

Shelley:

Well, um. What comes to mind is Proverbs 26 2, or is it 22 6? I think it's 26 2. Train'em up in the way that they should go. And when they get old, they will not depart from him all you. And it's a, and it's a surrender, a daily surrender. We have to surrender our children back to him because they belong to him first. Yeah, they do. You know, and, um, we, but he did say that he would help partnership with us in raising these childrens, you know, but he's, it's a daily surrender.

Phil:

So you, so I think it's preface 22 6 that train up a child in the way should go. And when he is old, you will not depart from it. So, so they trained you upright, you took a wrong turn and went in the wrong direction for many years, but you did eventually come back to the right path.

Shelley:

Yes. Praise the, praise the Lord. And that's the word and the power of our testimony. You know, he gives us free will. Yeah, but he's right there in the midst, you know, like in the last, like, like a rubber band. He's right there in the midst. And when we hit our lowest point we call on, there's nobody to call on but him, and he's been patiently waiting. He said, ask, knocking the door will be open, asking you shall receive. Yeah. Um, and that's just the part of the testimony, you know?

Phil:

So back in high school you were hanging out with, the wrong crowd, it sounds like. Right. Um, Jayton. So pick it up from there and just kind of share, you started down that wrong path, what that looked like.

Shelley:

Okay. So, um. I was gonna, uh, by this time I had already started experi experimenting with drugs. And, um,

Phil:

so this was like, would you go to friends' houses? Like would your parents, your parents kind of gave you freedom and you would just kind of go and was it at friends' houses? Was it at the school itself? No. Was it was

Shelley:

at friends' houses and I started skipping school and then, um, just hanging out and, um, just living on the wild side and like my parents were very we were very sheltered,

Phil:

yeah. Did your parents know at the time, like, um, or were you pretty good at hiding? That's pretty

Shelley:

good. Yeah, pretty good. At least I thought I was. but my parents you know, when I was delivered, that was one of the first things that I was delivered from, and that was noticed by other people as I quit lying. That was the first.

Phil:

So when, back when you were a teenager and starting into the world of darkness, you were, you lied, you were a good liar. Oh, yeah.

Shelley:

I've convinced myself, and that's how I became the world's dumbest criminal. Because I mean, if the sky is blue, wow, I, I just, and that's just the way, um, to manipulate, you know what I mean? And I got good, that's a powerful word. Good. I got good at it.

Phil:

So you, you said you li you began by lying to yourself.

Shelley:

Yes, absolutely. And I,

Phil:

I really believe that is the trap the enemy uses to get hold of so many people.

Shelley:

Yes.

Phil:

Because once you believe a lie yourself, you're, you are stuck in that quicksand. Yes. And it, it really takes the power of the Lord to get you outta that. And

Shelley:

we have to, we come against self, you know, the mind and the tongue is very powerful. And when you, you know, uh. Following the Lord. And, um, all you have to do is believe it, to receive it. So when you believe the lies of the enemy and it's just engraved in you and just drilled in you and then I was serving the devil for until recently, until,

Phil:

yeah. So as you got into the world of darkness, you were hiding it from your parents, hanging with the wrong people, starting to do drugs. What were the lies that you had taken and believed in your heart?

Shelley:

When I first started experimenting with crystal methamphetamines, I was, this was as a teenager. Yes. I lost 13 pounds in one week. And I thought, this is the diet I've been looking for. You know what I mean? Because there was something within me that I, I didn't, I wasn't. So that was the first lie from the enemy.

Phil:

The lie maybe like you didn't think you were good enough and you, you like Yeah. Or

Shelley:

need to lose weight to fit in, you know, just, I mean, as a kid, but to be

Phil:

accepted by others. Right,

Shelley:

And, um, and that's a very powerful thing to get ahold of you, you know what I mean? Yeah. And it took root on me. And then that was just, um, and then I just, I was introduced to a whole new world, you know, and I had to quit school because I was gonna fail anyway and they were gonna make me repeat. And I What year

Phil:

was that of school?

Shelley:

Um, 1990. I was supposed to graduate in 97.

Phil:

Was that your senior year or was that Yes, that was my senior year. That was your senior year? Yeah.

Shelley:

So I quit school. I found out I was pregnant anyway, so um, in February of 98, I went and got my GED.

Phil:

Now I assume that was also the result of just being over at friends' houses and Yeah. Just being out, I guess your parents just giving you that freedom and you

Shelley:

Yeah. And then, um, they just our children can do no wrong in our eyes, you know, and sometimes, well, they enabled me because they love me so much and they're not gonna turn their back on me and, you know, hurt people, hurt people, and we hurt the ones that we love the most, you know? Yeah. And it's very shameful, because. I watched my parents now struggling and they just love me through it all. They never gave up on me. Just like my heavenly father never leaves us, nor for stakes us. It doesn't matter what we do. Amen. We are his prize possessions. Yes. Amen. And thank you Lord for just pulling me out of that dark place when I just didn't have any hope. I, I'm, I thought I would be another statistic, but what he,

Phil:

so you, you were addicted to meth. You were pregnant. How did your parents respond? Like what, what happened? Well, I was

Shelley:

already pregnant, so there, um, you know, uh, at first my dad didn't want me to go through with it, um, with the pregnancy because he wanted me to have a better life, so I moved in with my daughter's dad and his mom.

Phil:

So you, your dad wanted you. to kill the baby, essentially. Yeah. And, but you wanted to have the baby.

Shelley:

Yeah.

Phil:

What, which, that was a good thing like that you heart. I didn't wanted to have you, like, it was a bad situation and it was out of order. But you, but life is precious. Yes. And you, it seems like you knew that. Um, and so you moved in with a friend, you

Shelley:

said, with her dad. And and my parents have always taken care of us and always had a nest for us, you know what I mean? And, um, we didn't want or need for anything, you know? Yeah. Um, and, uh, you and

Phil:

your older

Shelley:

sister. Okay. And, um, so, I was in love. I thought I was, you know what I mean? And then in the same, breath. I was stuck, and and just thinking, I'm supposed to be with her dad. We're supposed to, you know, because my parents are still married. This is what it's s even though we didn't do things right, the right way, you know,'cause my parents got married and then they conceived and, you know. So was

Phil:

the young boy serious about being a father at all? Um, or was he, how did he respond to that?

Shelley:

He was present for a little while, but then he got sent off to prison. Well, I mean, he stayed in and outta jail. Wow. Yeah. This definitely, I went out of character when I just got involved with the wrong crowd. He, yeah. Uh, because that wasn't who I was. I mean, I had, I had morals. Yeah. And, um, so just continue

Phil:

down that, that time period What did that darkness look like and what were the consequences? And did it, did you just kinda get deeper and deeper down into the darkness? Absolutely.

Shelley:

Okay. So

Phil:

staying with your friend.

Shelley:

Yes. Um, and as, okay, so I had my daughter, Shelby. Um, I was 17 and then I turned 18. He had been incarcerated in Russell County Jail for almost 10 months. So I took her, when I had her, I took her every week faithfully for about a year to see him in Russell County Jail. And when he got shipped off to prison, uh, Lieutenant Holland, I guess she saw something in me or she gave me a chance. So she hired me as a corrections officer at a young age. So were

Phil:

you still addicted to meth at this time?

Shelley:

Um, well, when I got pregnant, I, I. I let it go.

Phil:

So you stopped the meth, like you, you got clean, you got off all the drugs?

Shelley:

Yes.

Phil:

Okay. And then after you had Shelby, you stayed clean,

Shelley:

For a little while.

Phil:

Okay. So you were clean before you got hired as a corrections officer?

Shelley:

Yes. Okay. How old were you at that time? Um, 18 years old. Wow. Yeah. 18 years old and technically you're not supposed to be, um, you're supposed to be at least 21 to work in a place like that, but it was nothing but favorable. And this was at

Phil:

the Russell County Jail. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I, I would think, I've never worked in a jail, but I would think that with the darkness that is probably present.

Shelley:

Yeah. You

Phil:

have to be at a pretty stable place in your life to, to protect against that.

Shelley:

Yes.

Phil:

Wow. Okay. So, so, so you start as a corrections officer? Yes. At 18 years old.

Shelley:

Yes. And I was there for almost three years. Um, I lost my job'cause it was third shift

Phil:

as a corrections officer. Yeah. I

Shelley:

fell asleep in the female pod during third shift. Oh. And that's frowned upon, you know, so they let me go. Yeah. I would, I would imagine. Yep. Okay, so let me just fast forward. Uh, did that

Phil:

hit you hard? Like, did that send you back into maybe darkness like drugs or anything? Because, well, I was

Shelley:

still in the mix with that crowd, you know what I mean? So

Phil:

In the jail you were kind of connecting with the wrong Yeah. People and building relationships.

Shelley:

Yes. And and then I started believing the lies of the enemy. It gave me a it gave me a power. To have that much authority, especially at a young age. Yeah. And then I'm dabbling in all the,

Phil:

so you had started backing the drugs?

Shelley:

Yes.

Phil:

Meth or other things too? Meth.

Shelley:

Yeah, meth. Now, were you,

Phil:

were the people in the jail connecting you with others outside the jail that were the wrong crowd as well? Well, it, unfortunately

Shelley:

it's a very small town, so everybody knows everybody, you know? Yeah. And I actually knew more of the inmates that were in the jail, and, um, so I am connected better with the inmates than I did the people that I worked with. You know what I mean? And I just masked. Wow. I masked so much, you know. And, um,

Phil:

so, and you had mentioned you started believing in the lies of the enemy again. What were the lies this time?

Shelley:

Just how to mask it and just how to how to get over on people, how to how to. Because at this time I was pretty much I was hooked and I, and I didn't know how to, uh, how to let go. So the next step was to how to, um, just be good at what I did. You know what I mean? Yeah. And just mask it. So, man. Wow. Yeah.

Phil:

where were you living at this time?

Shelley:

We had our own apartment. Well, so when I gave birth to Shelby, I was on my own. He was locked up. He didn't get out until she was like maybe two or three. Okay. And we went back and forth trying to make it work, and then it was very abusive, very abusive relationship. Him and

none:

you.

Shelley:

Yeah. Uh, nothing compared to how I grew up. That's not how it's supposed to be.

Phil:

Yeah. You saw what a marriage is supposed to look like.

Shelley:

Absolutely. So, um, and I dealt with that for 17 years, on and off, back and forth. Wow. And, um,

Phil:

were you guys ever married or you just No. Okay.

Shelley:

No, he proposed one time, but, um, it, thank you Lord, it, it, um, I've never been married and so I, I witnessed that fairy tale stories, they do exist when they're ordained by the Lord. You know what I mean? Yeah. So if that's in my plans, I, I have no, but I, for the first time in my life, I'm content in my singleness. Jesus is more than enough. I don't have any room for any distractions other than trying to get me on the on, on the straight and narrow path, you know? And my kids just everything that the enemy stole from me, this is my time to get it back. That is, uh,

Phil:

that is a powerful word that you just spoke, that you, that. You alone with Jesus is enough,

Shelley:

is he's more than enough. I think,

Phil:

and I have heard on the podcast others have shared that one of the lies that they believe of the enemy is that they need to be with someone. Yeah. And there's this need, this dependency, this, that, and they, they feel like they just, they have to be with someone and, and inevitably they end up being with the wrong people. Yes. And it's just, it's disaster. But when you work on yourself first and Jesus is enough. Yes. And then I. Then he can make you who you need to be so that you'll be ready. Yes. If he wants you to, to have someone else to be with.

Shelley:

Well, the thing is, is, um, when, if and when he sends you someone, you have to be equally yoked or you already know. One's gonna pull the other backwards. Yeah. Iron sharpens iron as a friend. Sharpens a friend. I didn't learn this until recently, so, you know, um, Wow. But fast forward and I had another daughter uh, 13 years later. With the same, no. Okay. A different one.

Phil:

So you, so all of these years, you're. Addicted to drugs, to methamphetamine, just

Shelley:

when I get pregnant and this is the Lord blessing me and trying to get me to slow down and, this is my second or third or fourth chance at life. A chance to redeem myself and get it right. So while I was pregnant I did stop. And that was

Phil:

and what's this child's name?

Shelley:

Shiloh. Shiloh, yes. Okay, so I've got Shelly, Shelby, and Shiloh. So there's something in you

Phil:

that recognizes, I love this baby. And when you're pregnant, you stop the drugs. That's a beautiful thing. That's a wonderful thing. That's a, you know, in the midst of the darkness that you were wrapped up in, you, you at least had that connection with God to say, I gotta stop this right now.'cause I don't wanna harm the baby.

Shelley:

Well, you know what? I just told a lie. Um, because I'm getting ahead of myself. Okay. With Shiloh. I did as many drugs as I could through the first part of the pregnancy because I didn't, I, I didn't want I, you didn't want to be pregnant. I didn't wanna be pregnant. But then towards my second trimester, I stopped everything because I, she, I was gonna have her, you accepted it, so please forgive me for, um, for that. Um, that's a,

Phil:

that's, I think that's a common for many of us. Like we, we get in a situation that is our reality and we don't wanna accept it.

Shelley:

Yeah.

Phil:

So what, was there anything, just any crazy story or thing that you wanna share maybe before you got pregnant with Shiloh? Like during that time? Uh, you know, I know it was the drugs and bouncing around, but with the what Shelby's father? Yeah. Here and there. So, but was there anything like, were you selling drugs or,

Shelley:

um, we did a little bit of everything. And there was no limits. Like I went hard in the paint with everything that I did, you know, when I was drinking, it wasn't a 12 pack, I needed a keg, you know what I mean? And I was trying to outdo, you know what I mean? And that just goes back to the people pleasing, you know, and approval addiction and things like that. But I'm sure there

Phil:

was some blackouts after that, just like absolutely my life. You don't even remember. Like, you wake up and you don't know what happened. It's

Shelley:

a blur. But I do know in battling, um, with Shelby's dad on and off for 17 years, there's been girlfriends. I'm not gonna tell too much of his story, but because that's for him to tell. But, um, being very abusive, one of them didn't make it. You know what I mean? Wow. And that very well could have been me and Wow.

none:

Like, so was he arrested for?

Shelley:

No. Wow. Uh, they called it an overdose and closed the file. However, she did have bleeding on her brain and, uh, there was some, some marks and stuff like that. But that's something that that's gotta, that he's gotta deal with, you know? Wow. But that very well could, so the Lord protected you. Absolutely. And many situations. Um, I didn't think I was gonna come out alive, but, God,

Phil:

so there were, there were some scenarios where, like in the moment Yeah. Did you think that you might not live?

Shelley:

Yeah, absolutely. But by the grace of God and I just, um, I, um, my life is a blur really. All that really sticks out to me is, uh, I didn't start getting in trouble is when I started intravenously using, excuse me.

Phil:

Is when it got really crazy. This is

Shelley:

where the enemy is trying to deter me'cause trying to block me from this part of my testimony. But, um, yeah that was, um, nothing but the devil.

Phil:

So I, uh, I, I'm a little bit ignorant of that world. Not truly was, was it like snorting at first? Yes. And then, and then

Shelley:

smoking,

Phil:

then smoking, and then

Shelley:

smoking wasn't enough. So then taking it straight to your veins, that

Phil:

is when it gets crazy.

Shelley:

But thank, but God, once the Holy Spirit enters you, um, which I don't know at what point where I got saved. So once the Holy Spirit is in you, he doesn't leave you. So even in, in, uh, abusing my veins, he covered me and kept me from. Death,

Phil:

wow. So how old was Shelby at this time? And, and what was her life like during that period of time?

Shelley:

Um, well, thanks to my sister, uh, you know, me and my sister, we dabbled together for a little while. But she didn't do, she didn't do good with it. And so it was called at an early stage, um, she lost her kids and had to sign'em over to her other fa other side of the family. And so when that happened, that was her breakthrough and she got help immediately. She did a 360. Wow. And she fought for her kids and she chased after the Lord. And she has been walking with the Lord for 20 years now. Wow. So, mind you, and there was a lot of resentment throughout, um. Her life resent me because, uh, she didn't have her children, but she always, she took care of mine because I wasn't, I was present. So she was the stable Yes.

Phil:

Force in your, in Shelby's life For child's life. And my

Shelley:

raising my kids up in church. Wow. And we all live at my mom and dad's house, so we're a close knit family now, but my sister's always had my back and I'm forever grateful for that. What

Phil:

a blessing.

Shelley:

Yeah, my blessing. Um, wow. And, uh, breakthroughs came. So I didn't start getting in trouble with the legal, just doing stupid stuff. Counterfeit, making counterfeit checks, and I'm, I won't even get all that. Wow. But just, that

Phil:

was after you started the intravenous stuff, then you started getting really, and then

Shelley:

I got, um, hooked on this guy who had a passion for motorcycles, and that's what he did. Stole motorcycles. So then I start stealing motorcycles with him not even knowing how to ride one.

Phil:

Wow. So,

Shelley:

um, this was a different phase in my life, and this was like, I was 38 or 39, so, and this, uh,

Phil:

and so how old was Shelby at that time?

Shelley:

20, she's 27 now, so, um, um, in her teens.

Phil:

Okay. Was, and that, so that would've been maybe around the time Shiloh. Was Shiloh in the picture or, um, or very young at that, or not in the picture yet.

Shelley:

She was, um, she was young.

Phil:

Okay. So you, she

Shelley:

was young. So this was a different boyfriend and this was a phase.

Phil:

Counterfeit checks, stealing motorcycles. Yeah.

Shelley:

And just Wow. So getting right to it. Wow. That is, yeah. Yeah. And going from being a corrections officer to being an inmate.

Phil:

So did you, were you working also, like, did you have a job during this time or did you actually make money by criminal activity? Oh, well,

Shelley:

I always, even in my mess, I always worked and maintained a job. So when me and, uh, Shelby's dad were together, he was the one selling drugs, and it was my paychecks that were paying, uh, to replace them because he was, um, uh, hanging out with my friends, you know what I mean? Yeah. It was a vicious cycle. But I always worked, and I always made, I always had good jobs. I was blessed with good jobs. But I always, I couldn't keep'em because I would mess'em up. Because you were,

Phil:

you could hide it for a while. Yeah. But then the, they, you just couldn't hide it. Yes. Forever.

Shelley:

Yes. But my first, what sticks? I know we don't have much time, but on May 25th, 2019, I was I talked to my younger daughter on the phone and I told her I'll be home shortly. I was out partaking and doing dope with my buddies.

none:

She was at your sister's house or at your mom's house with your sister? She was

Shelley:

at home and I promised her she kept calling and I promised her, I'll be home shortly. I'll be home shortly. Well, anyway, I was intravenously using at that time. So I stopped and did a. Shot. And I was even dressed in army fatigue like I had on a camouflage tank top and leggings, you know, dressed for the occasion. But I went, did a shot and I was hanging out and never made it home. Uh, me and three other people went on a rampage and, um, stole a, went and stole a motorcycle and threw it in the back of my dad's truck.

Phil:

And your, of your dad, so now you're bringing your dad into this? Yeah.

Shelley:

I mean, there's, had

Phil:

you stolen his truck or were you borrowing his truck or, um, uh,

Shelley:

I borrowed his truck actually three weeks before that. My sister had a revelation from the Holy Spirit while she was in the shower. The Holy Spirit revealed that I was gonna take my dad's truck on a high speed chase and, and I was gonna wreck it. Wow. So she didn't know if that was something she just needed to pray about or to tell my dad not to let me use the truck.

And that is the end of part one of Shelly's story. You will hear about that high speed police chase through two states next week on the next part of Shelly's podcast. And you'll also hear about the hardship and tragedy that occurred in her daughter's life, uh, as her daughter began to follow in her mom's footsteps. Um, Shelly's story gets a little bit crazier. But do not worry because God does step in and do an amazing miracle of transformation. So look forward to hearing about that as well. God bless you this week. Thank you for being here with us, and we look forward to being back with you again next week.

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.