Part 1-Andrew "Drew" Reyes shares his life journey of addiction, homelessness, redemption and unexpected grace.

Andrew Reyes takes us on an unforgettable journey from childhood trauma to spiritual awakening on this deeply moving episode. Raised in a fractured home environment that stripped away his innocence early, Drew found temporary escape through breakdancing before substance use gradually took hold.

As we follow Drew's path, he candidly reveals how party drugs escalated to heroin addiction, leading to homelessness and a harrowing period on Los Angeles' infamous Skid Row. "It's like jail, but in the free world," he explains, painting a vivid picture of street life while battling addiction. Through his raw storytelling, we witness how repeated attempts at recovery were interrupted by relapses until a pivotal experience at a Christian discipleship home transformed his understanding of servant leadership and accountability.

The most remarkable turn in Drew's story comes when, while homeless, he's offered work helping construct what would become South Coast Behavioral Health treatment center. This "God incidence" leads to employment as a janitor – a role that blossoms into something far more significant as he discovers purpose in supporting others' recovery journeys. Just as his life stabilizes, Drew survives a catastrophic accident that leaves him in a month-long coma, creating an unexpected opportunity for family reconciliation when his recovery community rallies around him, showing his parents the profound changes in their son.

Drew's testimony exemplifies how recovery rarely follows a straight line, often involving setbacks and unexpected turns. His experience powerfully demonstrates that "connection is the opposite of addiction" – a truth he continues living today as he works his program with unwavering commitment.

 Have you witnessed how serving others can transform your own healing journey? Share your thoughts and subscribe to hear more life-changing stories of transformation.

Sharing our own journey's can be incredibly healing and incredibly helpful. You never know when someone might hear "that one little thing that sticks".

Contact Jo Summers, if you would like to share, I would love to listen.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:12

Good evening and welcome to Breakfast of Choices life stories of transformation from rock bottom to rock solid. I'm your host, jo Summers, and I'm here with my friend and guest tonight, andrew Reyes. In Oklahoma City, drew and I worked together at South Coast Behavioral Health for, I don't know, close to three, four months. Drew had a little something happen and I'm going to go ahead and let Drew tell his journey tonight of his life and his story and he'll kind of fill us in on what happened and where he's at today. Hey, drew, how are you?

Speaker 2: 1:47

Hey Jo, thank you, Thank you so much. Thank you, I'm doing, okay, I'm doing, you know, pushing through.

Speaker 1: 1:54

Yeah, you are Well. You certainly look really really good. You look well. I know it's been a really long few months for you and I'm really sorry about that and I miss the shit out of you it's you guys too oh, um, you know, yeah, I know, and I'll just let you go ahead and get started, drew, and just kind of tell your journey of where you've been and where you are today.

Speaker 2: 2:17

Okay, all right, so I guess you know I'll start when I was a kiddo. Yeah, so I grew up in a. I grew up with my dad raised me as a kid until I was about four. My mom kind of was like it was a really rough, toxic relationship with my dad and my mom. They split up and I want to say like a few years later he got married to my stepmom. So I was raised in that kind of like environment with the stepmom and my dad and stepbrothers and one brother, same mom, same dad. But you know, you can imagine I guess we argued a lot and it was just a lot of just just rough stuff that happened. I went through, you know, trauma that a lot of kids go through. You know not having my real mom in my life and things like that it was. It was hard as a kid growing up. There was a point where you know when you're a kid and you experience enough trauma, you don't have that childhood anymore Like it's. It wasn't, it wasn't there for me.

Speaker 1: 3:33

Kind of takes away your innocence, you know, takes away um your safety and your security.

Speaker 2: 3:39

Yeah, yeah so there was a time where it was too soon for me, but I had to be a kind of a grown-up on my own, yeah and yeah. But that was kind of like the first time the trauma was kind of introduced into my psyche. I guess you could say, yeah, yeah, so, yeah. So I got older, went to college, and I mean, went to college. Let's scroll back a little bit, andrew. I got older, went to middle school, high school. I was a class clown. I just wanted attention, you know.

Speaker 1: 4:10

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:11

I wanted to be the cool kid. I breakdanced in high school.

Speaker 1: 4:15

Did you really? Yeah, I didn'tanced in high school. Did you really? Yeah, I didn't know that. That's awesome, that's cool.

Speaker 2: 4:20

Yeah, I breakdanced. I breakdanced for a long time and you know breakdancing was super like. I think that's what kept me from going the wrong path when I was a kid, uh-huh. Yeah, because I would practice with my friends in high school every single day until we there'd be days where we'd be practicing until like four in the morning.

Speaker 2: 4:43

wow, we've got school the next day wow but we wanted to be good because we had we would go to competitions and oh, that's awesome, yeah, yeah. So I think that's what kept me off the streets, kept me from you know, because I guess, going through you know, experiencing that that uh like house or I don't know what you call it, but that environment, you know in the house, and things like, uh, you, you want to be a part of something.

Speaker 2: 5:13

You don't feel yeah, you don't feel like you're a part, right? Yeah, so a lot of friends of mine would join gangs or or, uh, you know they would do really crazy stupid things just to you know belong and then end up in prison for the rest of their life yeah, I know how it feels, yeah.

Speaker 2: 5:36

So yeah, so breakdancing was really awesome for me? Yeah, definitely. But yeah, so high school came along and you know, I wasn't interested in school, I couldn't catch on. It got to the point where the teachers were tired of me and they were discouraged and they were like you know, why don't you just drop out? Wow, just drop out. Wow. And not only my teachers, not only my teachers.

Speaker 2: 5:59

But you know, I got, I got it from other places, like my parents, my dad, my dad, and I think that that was a really hard part for me when I, when my dad was like it broke me to the core when I was a kid. I've I've grown from this, but when I heard it, I've seen my dad bust his butt our entire childhood. He worked at a meat packaging plant and he knew I mean, it was my fault, I was struggling in school, I didn't want to go to school. And he's like, why don't you just drop out and go work at IVP with me? And I'm like, dad, I've seen you come home tired and broken and you want me to do what you did, and it kind of hurt me. It kind of hurt me, but he wanted me to find something, he wanted me to grow up. He knew school wasn't working for me. He was trying to help, but it didn't feel that way at the moment.

Speaker 2: 7:10

Yeah, for sure, gosh, from what they were taught, from what I was taught, which I kind of picked up on when I was older and I'll get to that but, yeah, like I was resentful when I was a kid, you know, for bad parenting, things like that but as I grew older I knew if I would carry that with me, it wasn't going to serve me at all. So, yeah, I had to leave that, you know. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 7:37

So you do what you know, and when you know better, you do better. But if you never find out better, you don't do better. You know, amen, he did what he knew, right, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 7:48

Yeah, so, so, yeah, so that was kind of a. That was my childhood, right there. Okay, so, um, around high school, I'm wanting to fit in and there's these raves happening and my friends are partying. It's almost graduation time for us. I dropped out in the grade but I'm still hanging out with my friends from high school. They're partying and drinking.

Speaker 2: 8:08

So I start drinking, I start drinking, I go, start going to raves, start taking ecstasy, and that's where it started. That's where my, my addiction began. Was that part of my life? So, yeah, I went through that phase for shoot, like four years. It got to the point where I, okay, so I let go of those friends because they were in high school and they were ready to go to college. They graduated, but I got new friends. I started go clubbing things like that, you know, gained more friends. So I I, you know progressed it was just with ecstasy and alcohol to cocaine to, you know, uh, yeah, that's it. That's where it stopped at cocaine. Um, I guess I, I had a group of friends you know, I thought I did I you know that that were.

Speaker 2: 9:04

I mean we were all using and drinking, partying, but I belonged to something to.

Speaker 1: 9:10

I was cool yeah, right, right, right. You felt you felt like you were with your people. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2: 9:28

And don't get me wrong, those people were. We had some good times, but those types of friends didn't last forever, especially that lifestyle. It was over with, it was done with. It was, you know, get it together, get a job. During this time I had, I had a daughter with, with the woman and you know I couldn't stick around like I just couldn't.

Speaker 2: 9:46

I was too involved in partying and drinking. Yeah, I just couldn't stick around and yeah I would, I would try to reach out, but it was just real awkward and I don't know it was. It was it just it was rough. It was rough especially with the drugs, drugs and alcohol.

Speaker 1: 10:00

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:02

So yeah, so it was time for me to like get it together, get a job, things like that I moved on to once I got a job. You know, I guess my coworkers I started waiting tables, my coworkers were would take it, was it pills, hydrocodones, things like that? They're like your feet won't hurt, you can work longer, and I'm like you know, and so I'd be okay, let's do it. So I'd buy some and sure enough, yeah, I could work doubles for two weeks straight.

Speaker 1: 10:30

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:31

But then I realized I'm like after those two weeks were over, I still had no money because I was spending it on drugs.

Speaker 1: 10:38

Right, your feet weren't hurting.

Speaker 2: 10:40

But yeah, and I'm just like this isn't going to work and that's that's honestly, that's like I'm a really hard worker, but in my addiction that that was the cycle. Yeah. I went through, yeah, over and over, I ended up. I ended up learning how to bartend, and progressed. I went from those pills to heroin, and then that's where it got bad.

Speaker 1: 11:07

So you progressed directly from pills to heroin.

Speaker 2: 11:11

Yeah, yeah, because it was cheaper.

Speaker 1: 11:14

Cheaper, okay, okay, yeah, cheaper, absolutely Okay.

Speaker 2: 11:18

Yeah, um yeah, so I I. I went through that phase where there was those oxys and people were taking Oxycontins and things like that.

Speaker 1: 11:27

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 11:28

And then they I guess you know they changed the formula on them and the prices went way up high and I'm just like I can't do this. I got to, you know an idea. I'm like, okay, so I progressed to heroin and then I progressed to the needle and that began a long, long phase of my addiction. So at this time, right before I got addicted to heroin, I had a son, someone, and me and my daughter were kind of like, not talking, her mom wasn't getting in contact with me, things like that. And it was the same cycle, you know, just repetitive, repetitive with my son, same type of relationship. I noticed like these things were just happening. I didn't notice this till later on. But I'm just like, andrew, you're getting yourself into these like toxic relationships and you're repeating the cycle over and over but this was I.

Speaker 2: 12:25

I wasn't aware of that until later on, actually not too long ago, but so just kind of do. Uh, I'll go back to where I was. I was a yeah, addicted to heroin and bartending and I would make killer money. I would work. I worked at a nightclub that was really popular, um and um at the end of the night, all those ones four or five, 500 bucks would would pay my debt that I owed and what I'm buying for tomorrow or the next few days, whatever. That's how it was. That's the type of life I lived.

Speaker 2: 13:08

It got bad enough to where I started living in my car and I was sleeping in my car. I'm like I can do this, not bad. I had a decent car that would make it through the car. You know, I'm like I can do this, not bad. I had a decent car that would make it through the winter. Just sleep with the heater on, or in summertime I'd find somewhere cool or whatever, but yeah, but then it just got worse. It got worse from there A little. There was this small little phase after the I lost my bartending job at the nightclub. Phase after the I lost my bartending job at the nightclub. Um, I wasn't aware of withdrawals and get this out. Okay, I was like when you do that type of drug, you you think you're like like that people have withdrawals, I don't have, I don't have I was at the drugs.

Speaker 2: 13:53

Yeah, yeah, I always had the drugs I always have. I don drugs, I always have, I don't, I don't get them and this was like a two or three year like stint and uh, I lost my job and I couldn't afford to buy anymore, yeah and I started feeling them suckers like yeah yeah, and in a in amarillo, where I'm from, there's not really any resources when it comes to like rehabs or detox clinics, things like that.

Speaker 2: 14:21

I'd have to do a 5150. Wow, which is what I learned. Yeah, you know, you could just somebody told me, do a 5150. I'm like what's a 5150? And they explained to me you got to say you're suicidal, you got to have a plan and they, and then they'll accept you, and then, when they accept you, they'll detox you with medication and things like that. I got to the point where I'm just like really Like I got to do something and I would just wait it out, wait it out, and then you know what, maybe I should, maybe I should, and I would start to like convince myself that I'm going to, you know, hurt myself. And yeah, I would do a 5150 and get accepted again for like two weeks at the hospital and they'd boot me out and I'd go right back.

Speaker 1: 15:07

But they would detox you right.

Speaker 2: 15:08

Yeah, they detox me.

Speaker 1: 15:10

Okay.

Speaker 2: 15:11

And I'd go, but I didn't have any guidance after that. No one, no one told me about 12-step meetings or anything like that. It was just like in and out. I would see people come in at those detoxes and they'd come in with a book and they'd talk to people, but I wasn't aware of what they were doing. I was just trying to detox and get out, but not too long after I was, you know, tired of going to those places, because doing that you it, it breaks you, like I'm going to have to, I'm going to have to, like, say, suicidal, and I'm going to have to kind of believe it myself and I'm just like it breaks your spirit.

Speaker 1: 15:58

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 15:59

Yeah, like your moral identity basically.

Speaker 1: 16:02

Yeah, absolutely. Your authenticity is just. You're just shooting yourself in the foot. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 16:08

Yeah, so yeah, that was just the thing. And one time, going through withdrawals, I told a friend I need help. I don't want to do this, no more, I want help. Is there help? And she pointed me to a counselor and I sat with her for like 30 minutes and she says I can help you. And she sent me. She referred me to this rehab in Lubbock.

Speaker 2: 16:32

That was two hours away from Amarillo and boom, I went to my dad broken and I'm like dad. I told him what was happening and I slept at the house that night and I remember my dad dropping me off for this first time in rehab. First it was detox, it was a two-week detox and then, if you want, you can go to the rehab, which is 30 days after that. And I'm like I remember my dad dropping off that day and me crying like a baby. I'm just like I'm kind of scared. I don't know what this place is. The detox that I went to was really tricky. It was like a kind of like a house, almost. It was just weird and I'm like what the heck is this?

Speaker 1: 17:17

Where am I going, yeah?

Speaker 2: 17:21

But. But then I was curious. I got curious once I started to get better and, um, they started, you know, trying to get the time hey, go to the rehab for 30 days and graduate. And I'm like, okay, so I did. I went to the rehab, um, the rehab, um. And that's where, um 12 steps were introduced a, a, n, a. We would have speakers come in and share their story every day. We would have like a it was either an in-house meeting or or, uh, it would be a speaker, be, oh, and also they would take us to outside meetings, which is really cool. Yeah, it was pretty cool. Those were the times where we'd dress up. Also, we're all men. It was 30 or 40 guys in this place, so we all get fancy and we're like, oh, shoot, there's going to be girls at this meeting.

Speaker 1: 18:13

Yeah, thinking just what you're supposed to be thinking, right. When you're going out. You're already 13-stepping. You're not even sober yet.

Speaker 2: 18:27

Right, I got 10 days clean and I'm over here trying to pick up a girl. Luckily, I didn't hit any. You know, I didn't pick anyone up and I don't think I don't think it ever happened. You know it's it, but you looked good. I don't think it ever happened. You know it's it, but you looked good. Yeah, we tried, we tried, but no, I guess that was the first time where brotherhood and like this rivalry that we had and it was it was introduced and it was really special. It was really cool, especially the meeting aspect of it. So, yeah, I graduated 30 days.

Speaker 2: 18:54

Once I went home, I started going to meetings. I started, you know, I thought, okay, I'm doing meetings, but the thing is I wasn't working my steps. I was going to meetings. I kind of was doing what I was doing in the rehab, like you know, 13 stepping, you know. But yeah, I got a job and at another nightclub, yeah, so I started getting big money again. Then I met a woman while I was working there and as soon as I met this woman, I started, I started using again and it was rough, it's actually it was. It was amazing, you know, not the using part, but meeting this beautiful woman that I'm super in love with and don't know, it was pretty cool. You know, I've met an amazing, amazing woman and our chemistry was just perfect. We got along and we had jokes, I don't know. We were a good, good couple, but I had a drug addiction that I was trying to hide.

Speaker 1: 19:54

Okay, so she did not. You were trying to hide it.

Speaker 2: 19:58

Yeah, yeah, that's rough. Yeah, and sure enough, you know what's. What's kept in darkness will always be brought to the light, right?

Speaker 2: 20:06

always uh, yeah, yeah, definitely it wasn't. It wasn't even like two months, maybe, maybe two weeks, of us being together and she finds a syringe in the washing machine. She's like, what's this? I'm like, oh no, so yep, that's where, uh, that that went. But you know, I kept pushing and I kept trying. I think I might have gotten clean after that for a quick second, maybe not, I don't know, but we still talked um, she would't really like Al-Anon, or you know, she was like, oh, he does something.

Speaker 2: 20:42

But she wasn't you know, she was kind of naive and I was too. Like I was where we just both didn't know what we were getting into, especially getting into a relationship where, you know, all these red flags, yeah, so, yeah, so this happens, and two years of us being together, we had a daughter, we had a kiddo, and it was like, okay, you know, maybe maybe Andrew might get it together, maybe because maybe this kid's gonna, you know, maybe he might pick up some sense of responsibility and leave that stuff and take care of his daughter like he's supposed to. But, sure enough, that didn't. That wasn't enough for me and I'm, you know, I take accountability from. I try today to take accountability for my actions. Sure, and yeah, that's's something that I'm really trying to accept today. Yeah, I just didn't. I wasn't a dad like I should have been. There were stints in our relationship where I would be super clean and we were amazing. We started going to church and we got amazing, you know, we, we started going to church and we got married.

Speaker 2: 21:58

And then after that it would get good. I'd stop going to meetings or I'd stop working in the program and, bam, I'd be right back on it. Eventually we had another little girl. She was by this time. She was definitely aware of my all my what do you call it? My twitches, or character defects.

Speaker 2: 22:22

My character? Yeah, definitely, like she would know, like she could read me like a book. So there was no way, no single way, I could hide anything from this one. Yeah, yeah, so yeah, that's that's where that went. And eventually, bam, we ended up divorcing.

Speaker 1: 22:41

Looking back on that, Drew, are you a self-sabotager? When things get too good, do you sabotage yourself?

Speaker 2: 22:46

You know, I think I might have been. Yeah, I'm not today, yeah, yeah, but yeah, I think so.

Speaker 1: 22:56

Almost like you didn't feel deserving or feel like you were worthy or deserve it and right. You know what I mean. So it's easier to self-sabotage, right yeah, yeah than to take the good.

Speaker 2: 23:07

Yeah, I see it yeah, yeah, and a lot of times too, was it was pride. Pride would just seep in and I just started, started. You know I deserve a beer, yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:18

Reward. I deserve this reward because I've been good. I've been a good boy.

Speaker 2: 23:22

Yeah, it's not going to hurt me, I got this A beer turns into handcuffs Right and a two-year-long addiction to you heroin. But yeah, so, yeah, later on, you know we were married for seven years. Yeah, um, we ended up divorcing and I've been in this time. I've been to rehabs after rehab right before we had divorced, though, um, I went to a christian men's home. It was a six-month program and, and there are 60 guys in this home the way this home it was in Abilene, it was called the Rise Discipleship Home really good place. The way we would fund the home would be we would make these cool wooden crosses and we would go to all these cities and that's how know, would fundraise and feed everybody and that's that's. You know, every day, every week, it would be like 10 or 20 guys would have a different job, so it was like you're making crosses this week or you're, uh, working in the kitchen or you're fundraising it was kind of it wasn't a work camp but it was a.

Speaker 2: 24:33

It was definitely like it was super of. It wasn't a work camp, but it was. It was definitely like it was super fun for me. I loved it because you know they drop us off, it'd be like summertime and we didn't even care because you know anything was better than being inside the home, you know, cooped up all the time.

Speaker 1: 24:50

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:52

You know, when you start learning, you know the Bible and things like that. You've got a cross now and you're fundraising. You run into people and it was an opportunity to pray for these people or just fellowship and talk about God. It was super cool. Super cool, I learned. I learned what's that Rejection therapy?

Speaker 1: 25:13

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2: 25:16

So I got this, like you, you know, because before it was super hard, like I couldn't just go up to people and try to sell them something or you know, but it was.

Speaker 2: 25:25

It was really good for that aspect and it was good for my, my prayer life yeah like now today, I'm not ashamed or I'm not like shy to just go up to someone hey, let's pray together, or you know, and I think that's a really cool tool to have and that's something I got from that being in the home. Yeah, definitely, but there was this one thing Okay, so the men's home has discipline. There's room for compromise is the way it was explained to me. Okay, there's room, but if you compromise, if you mess up, break one of the rules, you'll be put on discipline and double discipline. The double discipline is you go outside and you scrub a brick with a toothbrush from six in the morning, 6.30 in the morning, to like 10 at night, oh goodness. You come in, you eat for 30 minutes and then you go back. You're by yourself for 30 minutes by yourself and then you go back out and you pick one brick and just scrub it with a toothbrush.

Speaker 1: 26:23

So one brick the whole time.

Speaker 2: 26:25

One brick, yeah. So I'm on fundraiser and you know we have to have an accountability partner right next to us the entire time, and we were really good with that, and that taught me something too. Once I graduated from the home, accountability was big, I think me. And you talked about this. I'm like can we imagine South Coast? Let's get it, let's get it under account, let's get it cleared.

Speaker 1: 26:51

Yeah, we got to get it cleared before we do that. We don't want to get in trouble.

Speaker 2: 26:54

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:54

Don't want double discipline.

Speaker 2: 26:56

Right. So now today, like that's really big for me. I always try to like, if I'm doing something that feels like you know, let's just get it clear. Let's get, you know, get under authority, yeah, get under authority, and then we're, we're good and that was really cool, like you know, a really cool tool. So, but going back, double discipline, so.

Speaker 2: 27:18

So we're on a fundraiser and I got to go to the restroom. Of course my partner can't come to the restroom with me, but I go in and right here on the little toilet paper thingy there's a cell phone and I'm like, oh cool, we've got a cell phone. So I sneak that sucker into the home and, sure enough, I can't have it on me. Like I just start feeling really convicted. I'm like, oh, I can't do this, I can't do it, I don't want this phone. So I give it away, I give it to somebody else. And the reason I gave it to this person I said I'm either going to throw it away or give it to somebody and he goes, I'll take it. It's because I knew if I wanted the phone back he would give it to me.

Speaker 2: 28:00

So a month goes by and these guys were on a fundraiser and somebody gets caught with a loan, and of course they point pointed to me. Andrew brought it in and I'm just like no, and sure enough, for for three days it was snowing outside. Joe, when you go into the home they're like just get seven pairs of clothes out of your property shirts, pants, whatever and that's all you need. And we would keep a clean little station. Seven pairs of clothes, socks and all that. But it was so cold outside there was snow on the ground. I would put all seven pairs of clothes on and I'd go out from 6.30 in the morning to 11 at night. Wow, and I'm just like what is this Like? Why? Why do I Like day two or day three? I mind you, I learned how to sleep on this wall. I would like prop myself with the toothbrush up against my chest and I would lock my legs and I would try to sleep.

Speaker 1: 29:07

Oh, my God.

Speaker 2: 29:08

Yeah, but, but yeah.

Speaker 1: 29:10

Is there anybody watching you?

Speaker 2: 29:11

Yeah, well, there's cameras and yeah, and there's cameras that were watching me doing it the entire time, and our home overseer would come out and he would encourage or pray, or you know, just kind of like tell me to push through, it'll be all right. And I'm like why do I got to be out here? Like when do I get off? And he said, when God talks to me and tells me to take you off the wall, and I'm like really that's crazy. Why does God tell you? But he walked away and I'm just like whatever. So, yeah, I almost left like three or four times during that time and I just I'm like, oh, but anyways, there's what.

Speaker 2: 29:47

The third day I'm out there scrubbing and I'm trying to be funny and kind of I guess I've got my toothbrush and there's a box of toothbrushes next to me because I went. I've gone through like three or four of them, but I'm I'm scrubbing this thing down to like a nub. I'm just trying to show them like this little two inch stick and I'm like I'm going to show these guys they can't break me, you know, they can't break me. And I'm, and I'm trying to make my toothbrush look cool and dag, and I make my toothbrush. Look cool and dag, and I'm like and I'm gonna put it in this box and they're gonna see it, and because I'm starting, I'm starting to get angry at this time, yeah, and, and as I'm doing it, I I hear myself. I thought it was myself, andrew. That's just pride. Why, andrew, why? Why do you need to do that? It's just pride, I'm just no, that's weird.

Speaker 2: 30:42

30 seconds later, I'm like you know what? That's not. That wasn't me saying that. I think that was God. God said that. So at that point, I've never heard God. I've never. I hear all this time like you know God speaks to me. You know God spoken to me, and I'm just like I want to. I want to hear God, you know, and like what does he sound? Like you know? And I think what I've learned is, you know, is when you kind of like take your emotion away, when you, when you remove your we think with our emotions usually and it gets us in trouble is when we think.

Speaker 1: 31:16

Absolutely. We're emotional people. You know, we're emotional beings and prideful.

Speaker 2: 31:30

And very prideful. Yeah, so here I am thinking with my emotions and my intellect kind of slips in and says that's pride, and I'm like, huh, and that's where I was. Like, you know, it's God. When you think with your intellect first rather than your emotions, you know, when you think with your intellect first rather than your emotions, you know and I'm just like, oh, but yeah, so, okay. So right after that I'm just having a conversation now with God. Things are going great, like my demeanor changes.

Speaker 2: 31:50

I start scrubbing, like you know, with kind of like this different like I don't know what it is Like. I've felt the voice of God, I've heard the voice of God. Now I'm kind of feeling good about this. I can hear God, I know what God sounds like, I want to hear more. So I start scrubbing, just scrubbing away, and I'm having this. I don't know this realization, this epiphany I promise you. 30 minutes later he's like hey, andrew, you're off the wall and I'm like there you go. So I go inside and once you're on double discipline, you get taken off and you're on just regular discipline.

Speaker 2: 32:28

For about a week I was on regular discipline and you know those guys that there was about four or five guys that got in trouble with the cell phone. Also, they were out there scrubbing too, but they were still out there at the home overseer. When you're on regular discipline you can't. Unless we have class, you can't be. You can't be sitting down. You got to be on your feet sweeping, vacuuming or something. But I was cool with that. I'm always like, as long as I'm not on that wall, cool.

Speaker 1: 32:51

That same brick, I'll vacuum anything.

Speaker 2: 32:53

Yeah, yeah. The home overseer says hey, andrew, will you go vacuum the office? And I'm like sure. So I'm in the office and I'm vacuuming and I'm watching the camera and I'm looking at the guys out there and I see it happen and I'm like, wow, I see the same thing happened to one of the guys and it happened to me, that happened to me, and he's, he's different. Now Something's different about the way the attitude change.

Speaker 1: 33:17

Yeah, you saw the switch. Yeah, the attitude change. Yeah, you saw the switch.

Speaker 2: 33:20

Yeah, so I go to my home overseer and I'm like God doesn't tell you nothing. He tells me when to get off the wall and you see it in our demeanor he goes Andrew, get out of the office, you're too smart for your own good. And I'm just like so yeah, like he just sees, like it wasn't when God tells him, it's when God tells us, yeah.

Speaker 1: 33:44

That's cool.

Speaker 2: 33:45

That's pretty cool though. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 33:48

That's actually pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 33:49

Yeah, so, so, yeah. So that kind of like ignited this fire in me where, you know, I just kind of wanted to know more about the Bible. I wanted to be obedient, I would. I would see the blessings of obedience. This home was kind of it's a six-month program, right.

Speaker 2: 34:06

So you would see, these, I guess these promises, whatever, like just happen, like come to fruition in the home, like okay, so when you came into the home and you were the first one, it was crazy. We would pray, we would pray for, like you know, some Jordans, and then somebody would donate Jordans and we're just like what the heck, how is this happening? But at the same time we would see somebody like I would start to pay attention to other guys, like certain behavior, especially the younger guys, and they'd wake up really prideful. They wouldn't want to talk to anybody, and I get it. You know, nobody likes some people don't like their mornings, but you would see that day progress in them and I'm just like that one verse that says the pride cometh before the fall Bam.

Speaker 2: 34:52

At the end of the day, they're on discipline or they're broken, something's happening, and you would see these, just all these things like the principles you know here in the Bible, but they would just happen and I'm sorry, wow, like this Bible thing is kind of real God. Okay, I'm on, I'm on board, because before I was kind of skeptical, I couldn't understand. I couldn't understand the Word of God. Yes, I was real skeptical but yeah, once I started seeing these things, I was like all these things, they happen.

Speaker 1: 35:27

You know you're right where you're meant to be. You start seeing all the God incidences I call them God incidences. You start seeing them line up, like you're saying right, and you can't deny that. I say this to the guys all the time Just watch, yeah, be aware and start watching. You know, after they see one or two, they're like what, what, what? You know you're like, just keep watching, pay attention, you're right where you need to be. That's why that's happening.

Speaker 2: 35:51

And then pretty soon.

Speaker 1: 35:52

It's like whoa. You know I love that. That's so, that's awesome.

Speaker 2: 35:56

I mean not only the good things too, but the bad things, yeah, for instance, like the phone, what's kept in darkness will always be brought to the light.

Speaker 1: 36:04

Yes, I was like.

Speaker 2: 36:05

I'm going to hide that phone, right, and I knew this verse. But sure enough, like I thought I was clear, A month goes by no problem.

Speaker 1: 36:15

And whatever's kept in darkness. No sorry, always comes to light right Always.

Speaker 2: 36:18

But yeah, definitely Comes to light right Always, but yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1: 36:20

Yeah, that was a six month program.

Speaker 2: 36:22

Yeah, all guys for six months, all guys, yeah, but you know, on fundraiser, we go out. Oh, we go to church on Sundays and yeah, on fundraisers we'd go, you know, city to city all over Texas.

Speaker 2: 36:36

Yeah it was super fun. We would just run into all kinds of different people and just fundraise these cool little crosses, so okay, so kind of like to fast forward or go back to where I graduated the home. I stayed clean for about a year or two. Yeah, it was rough. Once I got, once I slipped my wife. At the time she wasn't having it anymore, she's like I'm out, I'm like all right, cool, whatever. I accept that. So now this part is where my addiction because I got strung out again put me into this part where I started to become homeless, and this was a part where I didn't have a vehicle to sleep in.

Speaker 2: 37:18

After, not too long after this, that was a really hard time of my life. I was hopeless for a little bit. Before that forgot to mention, I tried to get clean at one of those rehabs during my relationship with my wife and I went to skid row. I actually I went to santa monica, california. I'm like california is more advanced in their addiction resources. I think I want to go there and get clean, so I went. It was winter break, my wife drops me off, the kids got to go to school on Monday, so I end up doing a 5150 over there. And then I'm like I'm just going to figure it out. And sure enough, it was straight from the hospital to Skid Row, to downtown Los Angeles, and I was on Skid Row for seven months.

Speaker 1: 38:09

And you had not been to California or Los Angeles before. And now, all of a sudden, you're on Skid Row in LA. From Texas and Oklahoma to LA, la, yeah, and you know why I went to Skid Row.

Speaker 2: 38:22

When I was younger, I watched this little documentary on MTV and it was like I'm high on Skid Row and I'm just like you know what, that's where it's at I'm going.

Speaker 1: 38:34

It's a pretty good culture shock right.

Speaker 2: 38:36

Yeah, yeah, it was crazy.

Speaker 1: 38:38

I'm actually from California, so I'm from San Diego. Okay, yeah, yeah, it was crazy. I'm actually from California, so I'm from San Diego. So I had the reverse culture shock right From there to some other states and then ending up here, right, so for you to go from here to there and then downtown LA, that had to be something else, right.

Speaker 2: 38:55

Definitely, definitely. I've been in county jail for tickets and stuff like that. Skid Row is like jail. It's like jail, but in the free world it even smells like jail.

Speaker 1: 39:06

All its own rules right. It's its own code.

Speaker 2: 39:10

Politics. You can't stand on a street corner If you've got somebody selling Brillo pads over here. I learned that pretty quick.

Speaker 1: 39:19

Yeah, you got John right. You got schooled on Skid Row.

Speaker 2: 39:25

Yeah, on Skid Row, I tried to. Well, of course, I got addicted to heroin and the way I found the heroin was there was a street it was a fourth in town just littered with syringes. Littered with syringes, the only street. And I'm just like, yep, this is where it's at, this is it. So the next morning, I think I slept and I had like $5 in my pocket.

Speaker 2: 39:49

I saw somebody doing that walk, dope, sick walk, and I'm like how much are you going to get? And he's like how much you got? I was like I got five and and I'm like we'll get a dime and we'll split it. Like, okay, cool and bam. So that started my skid row thing. Um, I started, uh, getting food stamps, selling them, and then, you know, doing the thing. That's how I funded my addiction.

Speaker 2: 40:20

It got to the point where I had to live downtown, but you had to, like, live under the certain politics, so the only way I could live there is I had to find the street where the Hispanics were, which was the heroin street, and they were gang related and they were like you can't stay with us here, but you can stay right. Like it was literally a driveway away and like you would be. You're considered a resident here and I'm like, okay, cool and, and yeah, I saw right there, I got a tent set up for seven months. I did that, yeah, yeah. But when I was ready to quit, oh, there was a needle exchange, harm reduction therapy I mean not their harm reduction clinics and things like that, oh my gosh, they're life-saving.

Speaker 1: 41:05

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 41:07

I thought this place was only a needle exchange. But I walk in one day and I'm like I need to get clean, I have to get clean, I can't do this anymore. They're like, oh, come on back, this needle exchange was also a suboxone clinic.

Speaker 1: 41:20

Wow, yeah, and I was like oh awesome, wow.

Speaker 2: 41:23

Yeah, they're like do you want to be on the long-term, you know, maintenance, or are you just trying to detox? And I'm like I just want to get off. I don't want to. No, I don't want another monkey on my back. So, yeah, so bam, I got off and then I started seeing these case workers walking, you know, through downtown. You see them all the time and and they, I went up to one and I'm like, hey, can y'all get me a bus ticket out of here? And yeah, sure enough, I got on this boxing two weeks later, got off, really easy, nice withdrawal, and it was a I didn't have to like do a 5150 or any of that.

Speaker 2: 41:55

Um uh, they bought me a bus ticket, shipped me back to Texas and yeah, that was. But that was my first time being homeless. So so when I went through my divorce kind of jumping around here, but I was homeless, but I ran into so many amazing, just beautiful, beautiful people. They just had a problem. They, they good, good people, but they made a bad choice one day and picked up drugs. But man, just the most amazing people, they were homeless. I really have a heart for the homeless people.

Speaker 1: 42:36

I think that's a really great lesson in humility and learning how to be humble and seeing a different way of life and realizing addiction gets anybody. It does not discriminate and it doesn't mean you're a bad person, right.

Speaker 2: 42:49

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 42:50

And so you got to learn that in real time.

Speaker 2: 42:52

Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. And being out there, you know God, there'd be times where I was scared, so scared.

Speaker 1: 43:02

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 43:02

God, there'd be times where I was scared, so scared, the nights that were so dark where you couldn't see the hand in front of your face and you're just scared.

Speaker 2: 43:10

But the only thing that would get me through was I know the sun's going to come up in the morning and that's where my hope would be the sun's going to come up and I'm going to feel better. So I'd push through those nights. I would meet these amazing people that we'd have these amazing conversations, very intellectual people, and then one day I'd walk up to them and I'd be like, hey, how's it going? And they were just lifeless and I'm just like what, what happened? And in one of those nights where you know was just so scared, just I couldn't see the hand in front of my face, I think it was that's where god kind of spoke to me and he's like this is what happens to those people.

Speaker 2: 43:50

Like you know, we get strung out on drugs and we go through a night like this and you have a choice to either hold on to hope or you can create this reality that you can kind of get stuck in, um, and if you, if you don't, you know, stay grounded and just kind of like, push through, um, we start to create these realities. So so that's that's where I, you know, cause I always ask the question like how does this happen overnight? You know, I would see these, you know, beautiful people have amazing conversations, and then all of a sudden they're, they're talking to themselves and just completely lost, and I'm just like that's where that I got my answer, I guess.

Speaker 1: 44:35

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 44:37

But yeah, it was, it was rough, so, so okay. So I start to you know, rough, so okay. So I start to run out of resources. I moved to Oklahoma City. I'm like I go to a church because I'm like I'm tired of this life, tired of being addicted, I want help. I walk into a church and I'm like, will you please get me a bus ticket out of here? And they're like the guy I don't know if he was expecting me or what, because the first thing that comes out of his mouth he goes where do you want to go? And he goes now go easy on me.

Speaker 2: 45:07

Now we don't have that much in the budget and I'm like I got a choice anywhere and here I was, on Skid Row. So I'm like man, I could, I could learn how to be homeless anywhere. If you can learn how to be homeless, you know, you can figure it out. Yeah, I don't want to go up anywhere north because it's going to get cold soon. Yeah, so, yeah. So I'm like you know what I got my parents, my parents had already moved from amarillo to oklahoma and I'm like you know, let's do oklahoma. I'm gonna move to oklahoma and bam, quickly picked up on the, the system. You know where the homeless would stay. I would start to stay at the night shelter, in the day shelter, um, and I kind of cycle. You know I do.

Speaker 2: 45:52

I went through that little thing for about two months. One day I'm at the day shelter and also, like I wasn't using, I was broke. So I was kind of found, kind of clean I was. I was trying to get resources. I was trying to get my food stamps and things like that. I wanted housing. That was my main goal. I wasn't trying to do recovery. If I had, if I had money in my pocket I probably would have done drugs, but but you were trying to do recovery If I had money in my pocket, I probably would have done drugs.

Speaker 2: 46:20

You were trying to do survival, yeah yeah. But I wanted to just try to get some housing. Eventually, if I keep working with this caseworker, I'll get housing. And also I wanted a job. I wanted to get a job but I was still kind of depressed and man, that lifestyle is hard on you.

Speaker 1: 46:36

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 46:40

You know you get kicked out of the shelter at six in the morning, seven in the morning, then you got to walk down like a mile or two to the day shelter, which was kind of rough too. Like you know, I'd sleep on the floor there. Well, about two weeks in plus they'd feed you breakfast, lunch, but two weeks in somebody walks in. And you know, lunch, but two weeks in somebody walks in. And something I learned in the men's home was if you serve it, the servant leadership was really big in that home. They taught us a lot about leadership.

Speaker 2: 47:05

Leadership was first, it was the Bible but secondary was leadership. And that was kind of the example that Jesus set. He was a servant leader. He came here to serve, not to be served. When you go into the home the first time, one of the first guys that come in they eat first, the older guys, you eat last, and that's the way it was set up. But that taught us that servant leadership to take care of the people under you. That not only taught me, it taught me what that does for my spirit, basically, because when I had an opportunity to serve man, it was just so. It built up my self-confidence. It gave me kind of like just a boost.

Speaker 1: 47:50

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 47:52

So at the day shelter, when we would have lunch and breakfast, I would walk to all the tables and when they were done I would pick up their plates because I've waited tables and I wouldn't approach people. But are you done with that? I'll throw your plate for you. And I did that and I think I think this is why the lady at the front desk she saw me doing it one day and that's maybe why she might have pointed me out but somebody walked in and said, hey, do you know anybody that would work today? And she pointed to me this gentleman was, uh, working at at the building that was about to become south coast okay he's like, hey, you want to work?

Speaker 2: 48:27

and I'm like, yeah, come on, you picked the right guy because I'm I'm ready, let's do this. So he takes me there and man, I'm like, working on this building, you know, just throwing it was, it was just like maintenance work Wasn't too bad.

Speaker 1: 48:40

But wait, I got to stop right here for a second. How crazy is that that he picked you up and he took you to a building that was about to be a treatment center. Right, that's one of those God incidences. You're right, that's crazy.

Speaker 2: 48:55

Yeah, definitely, definitely. So, yeah, I go to this building and I start to, like, you know, meet these awesome people, you know, and I'm just like, wow, they're all in recovery. And I'm like I know recovery, Like I've been there before, I've been to meetings, and this light bulb clicks, probably like they asked me to come back, because I bust my butt and I'm like I want them to ask me to come back and they, of course, they're like, hey, will you come back tomorrow? I'm like, yes, thank you. Um. So I come back and, uh, this light bulb clicks and I'm like you know what? I have an opportunity here. If I prove myself, just maybe, you know, I might get a job and and at the same time, I'll be surrounded with people in recovery, like my whole environment will change here. So, yeah, I did it. I did it.

Speaker 2: 49:43

I worked so hard trying to help put South Coast together. And October 1st, I'm like, okay, andrew, it's your last day. You might not work tomorrow, but God has brought you this far. At this time, I figured out what sober living was. I moved into a sober living house. I was like, wow, cool. So, yeah, I moved into a sober living house and I was paying rent. And God's brought you this far, andrew. So if things don't work out, if you don't get a job here at South Coast, god's not going to let you go. He's still going to take care of you. And sure enough, october 1st came. I thought it was going to be my last day, but they were like, hey, we still need things done. Will you stay for another week? And I'm like sure, during that week they gave me a position and I'm working with clients now, you know. Yeah, so my position is janitor. But it was way bigger than that, oh my God. So much bigger.

Speaker 1: 50:54

It was way bigger than that, oh my God, so much bigger, so much bigger than that.

Speaker 2: 50:58

So much bigger. Because, man, I guess what you get out of working at a treatment center is just, it's awesome when you get to see that light turn on in those people.

Speaker 1: 51:08

My favorite part. That's my favorite part.

Speaker 2: 51:11

Yeah, definitely, when they got that glow, you know, and you're starting to get it, and then they call you, like you know, a few months later and they just check in or you or you see them at a meeting. Yes, yes so encouraging so encouraging, yeah, and at the same time, you're not only it, it's, it's like you know it's. It's a reciprocal exchange of just, you know, recovery, you know, when you're just like you're feeding your recovery but you're also feeding someone else?

Speaker 1: 51:41

Yeah, 100%, and it's hard to explain to somebody if they've never experienced that you know just hard to explain. It's like finding your purpose right. Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2: 51:54

Doing what you're meant to be doing, yeah, well. So, yeah, yeah, I'm working there. October, january. You know, october, november, december, january happens. We had happy new year three days. Three days later, january 3rd, um I was in an accident. There was a meeting at the at south coast that was about to start at seven o'clock, and I wanted to go to it because it was our sober house, btr, and there was. Yeah, it was going to be there. Oh nice, you're wearing the shirt.

Speaker 1: 52:26

I am wearing the shirt, I am. I'm representing.

Speaker 2: 52:31

Blake Beckner.

Speaker 1: 52:33

Hi Blake.

Speaker 2: 52:38

Hey Blake. So yeah, they brought a meeting in that night and I want to energy drink. So I run across the street on my scooter and that's why you left.

Speaker 1: 52:49

You were getting an energy drink.

Speaker 2: 52:50

Yeah, yeah. And next thing, bam, I wake up and there's a police officer standing above me asking me these questions like what's going on? Things like this? And I'm just like, what, why are you asking me this question? I got to go to work, like I don't have time for this, and I'm trying to get up, I guess. And he goes no, stay there. We got to get you to be medical. And I'm just like, oh no, he breaks eye contact with me and looks at my leg while he says that and I'm just like, oh no, don't move, andrew, something's wrong with your leg. I'm like, oh great, great, so yeah, so I go to the hospital.

Speaker 2: 53:26

While I was in the emergency, I got this I need to call my parents, let them know what happened. I haven't talked to them the entire time here. When I got here, I stayed at my parents for two days, for one day on the weekend, and I didn't want to. You know, I had burned bridges with my parents so much that I don't want them to like they they weren't going to like accept me to stay at the house. I was there. Like you came here unannounced, like there's no way I'm staying with my parents. That's why I was homeless but I could. I figured it out, you know, uh, but yeah, anyways. So I get an accident.

Speaker 2: 54:01

I called my parents that night from the emergency room, barely awake, and they pick up and they come to the er. When they get there, they pick, get my cell phone from me and I'm like will you call my work? Will you call this person? I think it might have been blake beckner. Yeah, it was blake beckner. Will you call my work? Will you call this person? I think it might've been Blake Begner. Yeah, it was Blake Begner. Will you call my job? Call Blake Begner and call I don't know, call somebody else and let them know what happened, because those were my responsibilities.

Speaker 2: 54:24

I had to pay rent and I didn't want, you know, I had a curfew, you know things like that. So I wanted to make sure you know. Hey, andrew, can't come into work tomorrow, things like that. But after that that's the last thing I remember I would wake up at these little points in my hospital stay and they're like hey, andrew, we've got to do this, we're about to do surgery on this. And then one day I wake up and I look at my mom and she goes hey, andrew, you've been asleep for a month. They put you in a medically induced coma for about a month and a half and I'm just like I can't speak because, uh, um, I have a trachea, so I'm trying to mouth my words and I'm like how long?

Speaker 2: 55:09

I mean, I'm like what's today? And she goes a month and a half and I'm just like, but being not being out for that long, you just your mind is just crazy. It's very fuzzy, but they put my body back together 12 broken ribs fractured, fractured spine, broken wrist, I had an orbital fracture and my tibia and fibula fractured also. It broke the skin and, yeah, they put me together while I was asleep. So, yeah, also, I was aware of that and also had this trachea in my throat and the reason I was asleep for so long is because I acquired pneumonia while I was in the hospital. They also said you almost didn't make it. You almost didn't make it. You almost didn't make it. There was this 48 hours which were really, really intense. They're like, if Andrew doesn't change in the next 48 hours, we might have to have another conversation and that really like I'm like, wow, shoot, so yeah, so that happens.

Speaker 2: 56:19

Yeah, I woke up and I started to like try to like figure out you know, I can't remember the accident or things like that how long is my recovery time going to be? And I wanted to go back to work. I wanted to go work. You know it's January. It was middle of January. Yeah, it was February, middle of February. Yeah, At the same time, I think my parents and Blake Beckner had a conversation and they're like where, what do we do? You know, is he going to stay with us? My mom said, my stepmom said you know, you're going to stay, he's going to stay with us. You know, from the bridges that I've burned with my parents, all the you know, the things like that.

Speaker 2: 56:57

Never in my life would I ever think that I would be able to recover at my parents' house. Yeah, it's huge. And the reason because of this is because while I was asleep, my brothers from BTR would come up to the hospital. All the people that I networked that I met at my meetings, because I went to meetings every single day, not because I had to, it's just because I wanted to, because I was on fire for recovery.

Speaker 1: 57:21

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 57:22

So yeah, I went to meetings every day and they all came up and they kind of told my parents like Andrew, andrew is different. I mean, they didn't say he's different, they just said what Andrew has done for them. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 57:34

You know, they didn't say he's different.

Speaker 2: 57:35

They just said what andrew has done for them. Yeah, you know, yeah, and my parents were kind of taken back by this. They're like, wow, andrew really has changed. That's yeah, so, yeah. So since then, my stepmom has been so amazingly helpful. She's a nurse, wow yeah yeah, she helped me change my bandages. She's a nerd. How crazy is that? Yeah, she knew all the right questions to ask. You know, when I was being, like you know, discharged from the hospital at my appointments. She was so helpful, super, super helpful.

Speaker 1: 58:08

Yeah, yeah, that's God, that's God yeah.

Speaker 2: 58:13

Yeah, give me just shoot. So so, yeah, yeah, the accident happens. I, um, I, I've been at my parents house for up until now, you know, I had a couple, couple more surgeries. I still go to meetings every day. I got it in this time. I got an amazing sponsor. Before you know, the accident sponsor picks me up every day, well, half of the week, and we go to meetings. So, yeah, so really awesome sponsor. He's Okinawan. Yeah, he's half Japanese and I call him his name's James, but I call him my Mr Me.

Speaker 1: 58:50

That's awesome, that's cool yeah.

Speaker 2: 58:55

But yeah, that's my sponsor and if he tells me to paint the fence, I'm going to paint the fence.

Speaker 1: 59:01

Yeah, that's awesome Wax on wax off Doing the thing. That's so cool though.

Speaker 2: 59:10

So yeah, I've got an amazing sponsor that I work with and I work my steps with them and we talk, we process regularly. So yeah, I do that. I've had a couple of surgeries since then but I'm doing better, a whole lot better. I say I got about a month left, I guess.

Speaker 2: 59:32

One kind of last thing I want to touch on was in this entire time the hospital did a piece on my journey because I almost didn't make it. I read in that piece that I was trying to go back to work. You know, I was trying to get back up and this entire time since I've been in recovery from my accident, that's the thing I've wanted to do, like so much. Like I got to go back to work or I'm going to relapse. I tied my recovery. It was kind of I made, I made my job my higher power and I was like, if I lose my opportunity to go back to work, I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm so scared. I had to come to accept that fact. But you know, I know still, like today, like God's got me, no matter what.

Speaker 1: 1:00:22

I was just about to say the exact same thing. Through this whole thing with you. The God, incidences that have happened in your life are rolling one after another, truly, and we don't know why things happen the way they happen. None of us do, we can't say why that happened to you. You know what I mean, right in the height of where you were filling your mess into a message. You know what I mean, yeah, but I feel like it means because there's something more. There's something more you're supposed to do, and sometimes we just have to wait and see what. That is right, we have to be patient and let God work His miracles right, and I just feel that for you. I feel something happening for you, something big, something big.

Speaker 2: 1:01:06

Right Today I have the same feeling. I know God's got something big for me.

Speaker 1: 1:01:11

Yeah, I think so, I really do.

Speaker 2: 1:01:13

I share my story at meetings today. I get this encouraging feeling. It think so, I really do. I share my story at meetings today. I get this, you know, encouraging feeling, awesome.

Speaker 1: 1:01:18

I feel that you have to be removed from one thing sometimes to be put into another, and we don't know why, and we don't like it, we don't understand it. But that's faith, having faith, that's extreme faith, and I don't know, I can't explain it, andrew. I don't know, I can't explain it, andrew, I don't know. It's a feel.

Speaker 2: 1:01:35

It's a feel, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:01:36

Whatever that may be, maybe even something with the hospital, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 1:01:40

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:01:41

Something, something's happening.

Speaker 2: 1:01:43

But, yeah, definitely. So where I'm at right now, I'm still trying to, you know my leg's trying to get better still. I think I got about a month and I'll be able to walk on my leg without crutches or without, you know, any kind of resistance or anything like that. Yeah, but I'm doing good today I'm doing good and I'm still doing recovery. I'm actually about to go to a meeting I heard I heard him.

Speaker 1: 1:02:03

Yeah, that's great, though that's great, you know one thing real quick for you I see this in your whole story you are someone that has to stay connected.

Speaker 2: 1:02:11

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:02:12

And that's a huge thing in recovery. Connected, yeah, yeah, and that's a huge thing in recovery, right, staying connected, connection's the opposite of addiction and we have to stay connected right in our recovery. And that's played in your life's journey throughout the whole way, from as a child I needed to belong, till now, and I think that's extremely, extremely common. We all just want love, right. We all just want to be loved and belong.

Speaker 2: 1:02:32

Definitely.

Speaker 1: 1:02:33

Well, dude, you're definitely loved. So I thank you so much for coming on tonight and taking your time. I appreciate you, I'm grateful for you, and you were so much more than what your job title was. It barely had anything to do with your job, really, for real, and I just I know that there's something amazing about to happen for you. I feel it.

Speaker 2: 1:02:53

Thank you for having me, joe, this was awesome.

Speaker 1: 1:02:55

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 1:02:57

You said that about the title. There's this quote that I have this true leadership cannot be awarded, appointed or assigned. It comes only from influence and cannot be mandated. It must be earned. The only thing a title can buy is a little time, either to increase your level of influence with others or to undermine it. End quote John C Maxwell.

Speaker 1: 1:03:21

I love John Maxwell and I love that quote. It's a hundred percent fact and that's beautiful. You are a beautiful human. Your testimony is amazing and there's so much more to come.

Speaker 2: 1:03:31

Yeah, yes, thank you.

Speaker 1: 1:03:33

Thanks, big love, big respect. Same to you Right back at you All right, we'll talk.

Speaker 2: 1:03:37

Yeah, yeah, thank you. Thank you, big love, big respect. Same to you, right back at you.

Speaker 1: 1:03:38

All right, we'll talk, okay, bye. Thank you so much for listening tonight to Breakfast of Choices with my friend. What a great guy Really. Always there to offer support, always there to lift someone else up. I really appreciate that about Drew. Thank you for all of your support that you give. Drew and I were talking a little after the recording and something that I didn't mention was his ex-wife and his kids actually came to his bedside at the hospital while he was in a coma and that actually gave him the opportunity to have a new start in a relationship with them. And he also found out that she came to visit every weekend and sat next to him and prayed when he was asleep. He is so absolutely grateful for that. And something else we didn't mention is Drew's sober date. It's actually August 6th of 2024. And I am just so very proud of him. And again, thank you for listening.