Miracles In Abundance and the Goodness of God! Kier's Story (Part 2)

Keir shares some amazing miracles that God did on his road to recovery!  It is truly amazing to hear stories such as Keir's where you can see the hand of God at work all along the way, even when things look darkest.

Transcript

Phil Shuler: 0:00

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: 1:13

That went on, um, Lost Hope. And then did you lose connection with your kids at that point? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Again, they'd passed me walking on the road. I knew it was them'cause it was the cars that I got'em, and it was pretty embarrassing. Ugh. You know, it was pretty embarrassing. Did you find yourself trying to like hide and, uh, no. No, I didn't do any of that. There is a lot of isolation in addiction. Yeah. But as far as, uh, going from one place to the next, yeah. I mean, I wasn't hiding. Yeah. But like when you saw your kids, did you Yeah. Well, uh, they usually didn't. Stop or anything, they just, they ignored going, knew it was me, and they kept going. I'd see'em look in the rear view mirror and Wow. And just keep going. Several times I'd reach out to'em, the phone stopped. They, you know, they stop answering phones. I mean, you know, uh, that's what happens. Yeah. And I guess that would tend to drive you deeper into the drugs and the alcohol and it would, you know, uh, so you lose hope and then you lose your sense of direction and, uh, purpose then leaves. Yeah. And that's a, it's just a really, that's a really godawful feeling, you know, when that happens. Yeah. God has a way to make a way, you know? So it was about a year of over a year being home, a little over a year, just living in a tent on a bench, wherever you could just couch to couch scrounging food, wherever you could find it. That's right. Eating when I could, you know. So, um, did, so you never dove into any other serious kind of criminal things? No. Okay. No, I didn't Selling or anything like that? No. No. I didn't. Just broke into car deals to pay for your personal habit. Wow. That went on for a little over a year and, uh, I had a friend of mine, she was tired of me coming by her house, so she got me a motel room one night with this other guy, and, uh, it was rather late at night. I'd taken a shower, got outta the shower, and I knew in my heart something was either gonna happen something I had a real doomed feeling. For what it's worth, I, I hit my knees in that bathroom floor in a 20,$30 a night motel room, and I asked God to help me and sincerely meant it. Had you had a relationship with God at all before that? All my life I had church. So like you grew up in church? I'd went to church. I knew God, many, many a times. I called on him if he'd just get me out of this one, you know? Yeah. This one was a little different. I knew something was going on, something was going, I was going in a really bad direction and I knew something was coming to a head. Wow. So I got on my knees and I asked God to help me, whatever was going on, to help me, whatever he could do. And he did. I left the motel room within about eight. You didn't stay there that night? I did. I left the motel room to go up the street to get something to drink at the convenience store Before they closed. Yeah. And by the time I got to the convenience store, about eight, nine minutes later patrol car passed me and I heard the wheels turn around. The lights came on and I heard Keir Sutton Oh. Out the window. And it was a young man by the name of Noah Hart that I had sold a truck to earlier. This was the police officer, right? Yeah, it was his first automobile purchase. Wow. It was for me. He said, what are you doing? And he run my name and, uh, of course I, I think I was on probation for one of the DUIs and had a warrant out for my arrest. So within about 12, 15 minutes of praying, asking God to help me, I was in the back of a patrol car going to jail. Wow. God will help you. You may not like it, it may not be what kind of help you're wanting, but that was the exact turning point I got in the back of that patrol car, and I was relieved. I felt a sense of calmness come over me. I felt peace. Wow. I got to the jail. I, I didn't try to call nobody, you know? Uh, it was a probation warrant. So like for not showing up to meet your right. Pro probation officer. And, um, I sat in jail for a good while, like a, a few months. Wow, okay. It was where I needed, it was, that was God's help. Okay. That was, that was his direct his intervention and my, that, that was it, and I knew. Wow. So, so did, and did you start getting sober at that point in jail or, yes. So was there still access in jail? So, no, that not where I was at, no. And so when I was picked up, that was it. That was it. That was September 27th of 21. That was the last day you ever used? Yeah, that was it. Wow. September 27th of 21. A little after 11 o'clock that night, the store was fixing to close at 11. Yeah. And they had me still in the parking lot, cuffing me little after 11. Wow. So I, I figure once I got in that patrol car and woke up that next morning that, that was it. And, uh, so everything's went real well since then. Wow. Uh, I left, so a few months in the county jail. Right. And I left the county jail. My daughter picked me up. My oldest daughter, they did what they call a door to door. She was allowed to pick me up because her mama works for the adjacent county, My daughter walked me in that morning. It was a rainy Tuesday. Little after one o'clock starving. And, uh, she said, dad, if this don't work, don't call us. Wow. And she meant it. What she meant it, she hung out for about Oh my gosh. You know, she meant it. I was encouraged, It cleared a lot of things up for me. I knew where I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be at that moment. Yeah. And that I was gonna get this done. It was a nine to 12 month program. Yeah. I spent the first 90 days at the valley there on Second Avenue, which is a kind of a weeding out period to see if the guys are serious about starting a program that they then send you over to Hamilton, Georgia to the 118 acre farm at the men's Addiction and Recovery. Yeah. Up in Hamilton, uh, which, uh, I spent, uh, another nine, 10 months there. Came graduated there at, at second Avenue. Uh, we all graduated. I think there was seven of us that graduated that month. October 18th of uh, 22. Okay. I stayed for the third phase of the program, which is, was an additional three months out. At, in Hamilton? Uh, no, here in Columbus. Okay. So you leave Hamilton, you come back to the valley for three or up to three more months. Okay. Wow. Living like a work transition kind of thing, right? So getting all of your affairs in order. Got, went down to get my driver's license and uh, uh, me and a buddy catch'em, Stephanie's brother, and they told us no. So we got back to the valley that afternoon, you know, kind of rounds. Didn't give you a driver's license, neither one of us. And, uh, about a week went by and we both got a letter in the mail and I didn't have my glasses on. When I got my letter, I asked Catch'em to read it. He says, oh no, I'm not gonna read that. Oh no, it said that I was not even gonna be eligible for a license until 2031. Wow. Because of all the DUIs. All the different, the Oh, wow. Yeah. So I ended up writing letters to judges, asking for court appearances. They all were granted. So I got on a bus over here. Wow. Uh, Greyhound bus, uh, sometimes four or five in the morning, uh, over here off of St. St. Mary's, and went to different counties where I had holds on my license, things that I needed to take Keir of. Wow. Uh, one at a time. And, uh,'cause you had charges in so many different places. Different different things. Right. Different unpaid tickets, you know, failure to appear, stuff like that. Yeah. So I went to each one of the judges and, uh, kept a little file. Each one of them would thumb through that file. Did you have a lawyer that helped you sort through all of those things? And that's, that's what one of the judges said, you have no lawyer. And I said, you know, my only advocate here today is Jesus Christ. They looked at me like, what? Every one of them signed off on different things. Every single one of them took me a few months to get all that in order. Went back down to the DMV. Lo and behold they gave me a license. Wow. That's pretty miraculous. Within, within four, four months. Wow. Do you remember how many total judges that you had to go seat? Five. Five. Five different counties. And they all, every one of them, the very last one was, uh, getting signed off on a mandatory, and they don't Keir if you're 91 years old trying to get a license 30 years from now, a mandatory. Little deal where you blow in your, uh, I forget what that thing's called, but you have to blow in the for your car to start. okay. Yeah. I forgot what that's called. I didn't have a car, but he said, you know what, I, I, I believe in you. You've went to all of these different, you've and he signed off on it. So, uh, I have a, current valid driver license. Wow. Today, I'm, I'm gainfully employed. Uh, you know, outside. That's awesome. Sales representatives drive a company truck and, uh, do real well. So we left, uh, we left me and Ketchum both. So our time was up at the Valley Rescue Mission, and we went over to the Brita Life Christian Center, where we, we both stayed for another year. Kind of a training grounds you know, for discipleship, so that really worked out well. I met a bunch of neat people, Matthew, mark, Luke, John, Peter, all those guys. Yeah. The little studying. And, uh, so you were, you were committed to stay on the right path. Oh yeah. Just the, let's take a second. I want to bring back up the, the work that you did to go to all of those judges, just even in how to compile the documents. What did you need to do? Like you must have had to be organized and diligent. Everything. Um, a lot of forms to fill out. And so it speaks to, on the one hand, overcoming an obstacle by commitment. But on the other hand, it speaks to the grace of God that just'cause I don't know how likely it was that all of those judges would sign off, but that's, that, that was not gonna happen. That seems to get my advocate was Jesus Christ. Wow. In every venture. Wow. In the five different times that I had left and not, you know, I, I, I would, I would pray with my buddies, before I'd leave, I had a plan step by step until I made it back to Columbus On that same bus. I would go to Atlanta, get a transfer to wherever, whatever county I had to go to from, you know, the next bus to take me from Atlanta. So it was, it was, it, it step by step, I, there were steps that were commanded in front of me to go ahead and write those letters Yeah. To those judges. Get those court appearances approved. Yeah. And then there was direction that I had to follow. Were some of those multi-day trips that you had to take or did, were you able to Uh, two, two days? You know, at, at the most. Okay. I was, I'd come right back. Yeah. You know, but none of that, I, I couldn't have done any of that and even today, wow. so I got back to the church with a license. I'm living there. Several months goes by living at the church. At the church, right. In Bread of Life. That's correct. Over off of Oats, Manchester. Yeah. Up behind the Golden Donut. Is this, is this a kind of a strange one-off exception that they made to help you out? That's right. Pastor Skinner is wonderful. Wow. Love him to death. That's my pastor. Wow. So you're still there? No. Okay. So I have a son, I mentioned his name's Cross. Yeah. And I had put in through the United Way, I believe for housing and never heard anything back. You know what I mean? I just didn't, yeah. I didn't. And then, uh, I got a phone call one night that asked if I could come get my son in Athens, Georgia that he needed his mom couldn't handle him, dah, dah, dah, dah. She couldn't have him. So, so, so his mom was getting into stuff that. Whatever she had going on I needed to come get him. Wow. Okay. So I was like, of course you got Who called you? Was it like a, his mom? His mom. Oh she, okay. She wow. Time. So I got there custody and time. She was in a bad state. That's right. And, uh, said that I, I needed, if I could, so I went ahead and brought him back here To Columbus? Yeah. Uh, to the church. Uh, but where I was at like you mentioned a moment ago, you know, there was an exception for me in Ketchum to live there. But kids couldn't, you know? Yeah. This couldn't happen. So had a meeting the very next morning after I got back, late that night with my son, uh, with the pastor. Pastor explained, you know, Hey, look, I can give you about eight, nine days, wow. I'm like, wow. Yeah. So I left his office at the church and going across the parking lot to where I lived in one of the trailers. My phone rang, phone rang, and it was a safe house. Saying, saying that I needed to come down there and fill out some paperwork because they had a place for me ready. Wow. So at that moment in time, you Safe House Ministries reached out? Go figure. Wow. So set me, I, I went down and I met with Josh, filled out all the paperwork, and within that nine day period, I think it was about four or five days I was able to get the keys to my place where I live now. Me and my, my son both live now. Wow. How about that? That's pretty amazing. How about that? That's only if it was not for God. If it was not for God, it's every day I, I pay close attention to everything that goes on in my life and I can see the miracles that happen all day long. In my life and in other people's lives. Yeah. So, Josh, Josh, I, Stephanie after I met Ketchum. That's, wow. And I, and I've watched that miracle grow to where it's at right now in Stephanie's life. And from where she was to where she is right now. Yeah. And just, and I mean, lights, speed, you know, that's not explainable speed. Yeah. To helping other people do what she's doing right now. Oh. She's to helping this community is incredible. Yeah. She is just phenomenal for a few others that are helping so many people get off the streets and into housing. That's right. And who knows what else. Yeah. You know, so I was able to hang on to my son, which still lives with me. That's awesome. He's, you know, starting his third school year with me. He's 14. Wow. He's a, he's a little knucklehead. Is it a, do you have a. Custody arrangement? Or is it just kind of informal? Uh, it's informal. I have what they call physical custody of him. He's tough. Yeah. He's 14, so he's troubled in dealing with a lot in his own life, trying to Sure, sure. I never had him before. Yeah. You know, I never had him, but, uh, we're good. We're good now. Wow. Uh, he's obedient and, uh, he's working on things as we all are. Yeah. As we all are. Uh, go to a couple of different churches, the Bread of Life, and then, uh, Matt over, uh, at, uh, office 17th Avenue, uh, the Fort Church. Yeah. Oh yeah. They've got a lot of great things going on over there. That's awesome. And have visited quite a few others. I try to get involved in any events that I can. I try to, um. Remain involved with everything that's going on over the valley to get to meet all the new guys, find out where they're from, as they come and go to their graduation. You try to give back and help others in that way. You have to. Yeah. I can't keep anything if I don't give it away. Yeah. You know, I give thanks every morning for the roof that's over my head and to the Safe House Ministries and to everyone that was involved in helping me get where I needed to Exactly. At the right moment. Yeah. In my life and in my son's life. That's pretty amazing to make any of this possible. Yeah. Counting blessings. I mean, I don't know how many I've counted. I've marked them up. I God's good. He, he really is. And for the people that are, that are still struggling in this, and anybody who hears this, all you have to do is humbled yourself before the Lord. Ask him for help and he will help you. He hands down. I, I. We just went over a couple of things of the license things, the cord, you and, and direction. You know, he will give you direction in anything that you ask him for anything. It doesn't matter what it is. Ask for it. You'll see. He'll give you direction on it. Make sure that you, whatever direction he gives you stay on course. Follow those directions. Yeah. And one of the five ventures, I got a little off track. I wanna say my third or fourth time going to one of the courts. Yeah. And with the motel rooms and what have you. Nothing crazy. Uh, I just a little off course of what I originally asked for, got a little outta line the next morning when it was time for me to go back to Columbus. I knew that I had Al, I knew that The mistake that I had made the night before, not using or anything like that. Nothing like that. But I didn't, I felt didn't stay. On course the next morning when I woke up, I knew that I had made a mistake there on the way back home that day. Um, I had some trouble with transportation and was standing in East Point Atlanta with my bags and was unsure how I was gonna make it the rest of the way to Columbus. But there again, God made that way. Wow. He sure did. Never fails me. Never has, uh, never has taken, taken any chance. How did you get it back to Columbus? Um, an Uber was paid for by someone. Wow. A friend, a friend of mine. Right. And within minutes I was picked up, wow. But the dreadful feeling that I felt at that moment in East Point, Atlanta, just before sundown I, I knew that the direction that I was given. That was blessed before me. I had gotten outta line, I knew better, yeah. And so, uh, the correction, from that point forward, I, I kind of keep that instance in mind with everything that I'm doing today Wow. In my life, you know? And I try to keep that fresh in my mind. A lot of people that, that do make an effort to get clean or to get on the right track. Don't be discouraged. Life's tough. Life is tough. It's real. Yeah. We make mistakes, but God will put us right back on track. He'll bless us. He'll give us grace every time He will. Yeah. His love is never ending. It's constant. The peace that I have. I, I've had peace before and it's left. You know, growing up through all the, you know, my teens, my twenties, early thirties, uh, I've had, it's never stayed with me like it has now. It's not left yet. Yeah. You know, the piece that I've been given in everything that I do.

18:25

And that's gonna be the end of part two of Care story. Isn't God amazing in the way that he works? Miracles it. And I love the way that Care mentioned that when we humble ourselves. God helps us when we reach out, when we look to him, when we trust in him, he loves to help us. So next week we're gonna hear the, the final conclusion of care story. He's gonna share some key lessons that he learned along the way, and he's also gonna bring out some crazy stories that he has not yet shared. So you're gonna wanna be back next week. Thanks for being with us this week. God bless you, and we will see you next week.

06-21-23 SAFEHOUSE-CH2: 19:05

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: 19:43

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.