The Journey to Salvation
Real people sharing the stories of their journey to salvation in Jesus.
The Journey to Salvation
Episode 36 - Chelsea Eppes
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Listen in as Chelsea shares her journey to Jesus.
Hello, I'm Becky Dowd, and this is The Journey to Salvation. Join me as we walk alongside real people and hear the unique journeys that led them to faith in Jesus. Today my guest is Chelsea Epps. Hello, Chelsea. Hi, how are you, Miss Becky? I'm good. How are you doing? Good. Chelsea, I grew up uh with your mom. She and I are the same age and graduated from high school and had probably most of our classes together. So I've known her for a long time. I know your dad was a little bit older, but I knew him from high school too. And uh and I guess I've probably known you since you were born. Yeah. I didn't haven't known you well, but I just known kind of of you more. And so I'm anxious to get to know you a little bit better today. All right, I'm excited. Thank you for having me. Yes, thank you for coming. So listen, why don't you just give us a little information about your upbringing?
SPEAKER_00Um, so I was born here in Wynn, lived in Wynn my whole life. Um I went to church my whole life. My mom always took me to church. Um we were members of the First United Methodist Church here in Wynn and um went through confirmation, all the things um with church. I had really good parents. Um you still do. Yeah, oh yeah, absolutely. I have the best parents. I'm so thankful for them. Um around, I guess, junior high, high school, um, I was exposed to drugs because um I always thought, like, why did I ever start, you know, where was the culprit? But I've I was just exposed to them and started doing drinking and taking pills, and it just progressed from there, you know. Um, but I had a really good childhood, like I said, really good parents. I couldn't have asked for better parents.
SPEAKER_01So some of that drinking and drugs, was that just because of the friends you were hanging hanging around with or doing those things?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I guess so. I mean, yeah. I just just what we did, you know.
SPEAKER_01So did that last throughout high school?
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. Um I did gra I graduated high school. It wasn't like an all-the-time thing then. It was really more of like a weekend thing. Uh and then I graduated high school. I went to college for I don't know, maybe a half a sem or a year, maybe a couple semesters, and I just dropped out partying, you know. I just was I just like to party. Were you still living in Wynn at that time? Yeah, I still lived with my parents. And they they didn't really know, you know, what was going on. It took them a long time, anyways, to figure out that some I was really doing drugs. Right. So where does that lead you to? Uh so I mean, for years I just partied and did whatever I wanted. I would keep a job. I mean, um, I worked at the nursing home, Crest Park, for years. I loved working there. I love my little old people. I just could maintain, you know, and go to work every day. And so I worked there for a long time. Um, like I said, I absolutely loved it. I love caregiving. That's my thing. And um I did that for years. Um I mean, I went to jail the first time I went to jail, I was I think 18. What happened that led you to jail? Well, um, I got pulled over with some friends. We were all young, had alcohol in the car, and we were under 21. So we went to jail and it just kind of spiraled from then. I've been to jail numerous times. I got a DWI, I think, in 2013, in Fayetteville. Um, I mean, I've been to jail all over Arkansas for numerous things, you know, so it was just a never-ending cycle.
SPEAKER_01Did you ever want to stop doing those things, or was that something you just wanted to continue doing?
SPEAKER_00At that time, I mean, no, not really. I mean, I never I never really had a thought of wanting to quit until I think about 2015 or 2016, when the first time I went to any kind of rehab, um, I was in jail here in Wynne, and my mom was talking to someone trying to help me do something different, and um she told me she wasn't gonna get me out of jail unless I went to a rehab. Well, back then there wasn't any rehabs really around here anywhere. And so I went to Mirror Lake Recovery Center in Dixon, Tennessee. It was just like a 30-day program, you know. Um it it I did okay, I did good there, but thirty days is just not enough to do anything.
SPEAKER_01Right, to get away from Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00And well, I mean it's it takes a lot longer than thirty days after years of addiction to just say, Oh, okay, I'm good. No, it doesn't work like that.
SPEAKER_01So So then did you finally make it to a you said you spent several several different times in a rehab or that type of facility?
SPEAKER_00Yes, so um I had my my oldest son Samuel um in 2017. Um when I had him, I I didn't really do drugs when I was pregnant with him. I would like smoke weed or you know, I did take pills sometimes, which I know that's awful, but it is what it is. That's I was a drug addict. And um when I had him, um my I tested positive for benzos at the hospital, and so um DHS was there. I thought my mom was going to die. It was awful um but uh we made it through it. Somehow I got to keep him, and um I got pregnant not even six weeks. My kids are eleven months apart. Oh wow. Yeah, so um I was pregnant again when he was, I mean, he was a few months old, you know. And um I was at a really low point in my life at that time. Um their father was very abusive. Um I had gotten rid of him because I was not gonna get abused. I did not want my kids to grow up and think that that's okay for men to hit women and just verbal, I mean, any kind of abuse you could think of, he did it. And um, I don't want to like bash him or anything because he um has a mental illness. I mean, he when he's good, he's a really good person, he's a really good dad, but when he's not, he's not. And it's like he can't control it, you know, and so um I just had to get rid of him. And so here I was um with a newborn, pregnant again, with a whole house by myself, working a full-time job, and it was just a lot. And um, that was a really low point of my life. And so I did drugs with when I was pregnant with my with Spencer, my youngest son. And um you would think, since I had DHS at the hospital with Sammy, and that, you know, I was pregnant again, that I wouldn't do that again, but you know, I did.
SPEAKER_01And so you were still in your addiction, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so um had DHS at the hospital when I had Spencer, and um, I had postpartum really bad with him, thank God for my mother, because I mean I wouldn't even I didn't want to hold him. Like I was just so um shut off from it all, you know. Um and so um I had suicidal thoughts. I mean, I was really in a bad spot after I had um my youngest son. And um, so I mean, I would steal from my mom, steal her credit cards. I mean, I stole all kind of stuff from her, stole my grandma's pills, and God dressed her, so I loved her to death. Um but I was married. I loved her. Gosh, she was an angel. Yes, she was. And um, you know, I was just a drug addict, and that's what I did. I didn't do it like to harm them, you know. I just in my mind I thought, oh, well, it's fine. They mom's got enough money, it's not gonna hurt her, you know. And and it did when she was having to cancel her credit cards and get new ones because I done got the number out of her purse. I mean, that's just crazy, you know. Now, was she taking care of the boys at that time? She took them from me. Not at that time. She took them from me. Well, she came to my house and said, Look, you're either going to a long-term rehab or you're getting out of this house and I'm taking her kids. And she took my kids, and I don't know, a few days later, this was in 2019, so Sammy was a year old and Spencer was still little. Um, I got accepted into In His Wings. At that time, I mean, the only rehabs around anywhere around here that I knew of was Agopi House. And In His Wings was fairly new then. She opened in 2018, September, and I went in in March of 2019.
SPEAKER_01That's strange that there weren't any options back then, and today there are so many different places that you can go.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, it's awesome. There's tons of places now. So I went in there and it was it was kind of traumatic, you know, because I did love my children, you know what I mean? And they were babies, and um I hated to be away from them. I hated it. I would sit out there and cry every I mean for two weeks, probably every day. And was that a one-year program? It is a nine-month program. Nine month. Mm-hmm. And so, um, but I just went with it, you know, and that they would she'd bring them to see me and they'd cry, and it was just uh it was just awful, you know. But um I did good there. I thought, you know, sometimes you can go through the motions and just the seeds are planted, but it doesn't always take, you know, the first time, or sometimes even the second or third time. But you get those seeds planted and you can refer back to them later in life and say, oh yeah, you know, and so um I stayed there for eight months, and then I left, and it was just chaos and confusion after that. Um I went to jail here in Wim and my mom was done with me because she had my kids, you know, I had kids now. They always would bail me out of jail and you know, do whatever for me before, but they were like, uh uh. We got your kids.
SPEAKER_01They knew the kids were safe.
SPEAKER_00Well, they just they were their priority now, not me, you know, and so she left me there, didn't, wouldn't even answer the phone. And so, you know, that tough love is what really um changed my trajectory and was like, okay, you know, because I couldn't talk to my kids, she would put money on my books here and there, but it wasn't, I mean, they usually would just come get me out if they could. And so I stayed in jail here and win for about four months, and that was at the old jail, and it was not fun. It was like a dungeon in there, and so um stayed there for about four months, and I got out in August, and I had some pretty, you know, more serious charges than I'd ever had. I had um a residential burglary charge, and now that's a violent charge. And um now was it like did I burglarize anybody? No, but it's the charge that I had, and I had a friend in there that was with me, and so like when you go to court, when you get when you go to jail, if they keep pushing your court date, you're not getting out. And so I told her, I didn't know it was such a serious charge. And so I told her, I'm like, hey, I'll take the residential burglary charge if you get out, and then you come bomb me out because I was trying to get out of jail, you know. And so she because she was going to court before me somehow. But um, so I took the residential burglary charge, not even knowing, and she did, she came and got me out, so I mean, I guess I got something for it, you know.
SPEAKER_01You were desperate to get out of there. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00It was it's not a good place to be. Yeah. Um, so got out in August, and by October I was, because like I said, my parents wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't do anything for me. Um, I did have a car, and um by October I was pretty much homeless, um, sleeping in the car, you know, just craziness that was all by choice, you know, because I could have never had to do that. But um I've done a lot of things by choice and rebellion, you know, that um lived ways I never had to experience.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the consequences of your choices.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah. And just it's just craziness. But um October of 2020, so I was out a year from In His Wings. Um, I caught a bunch more felonies, about four more felonies, in Jonesboro and Craig Hitt County. Um, so I was in jail there about two weeks, and anybody that knows Jennifer, the director of In His Wings, she'll always answer jail calls. She she did then. And so I'm like, God, I gotta call somebody, you know, and so I'm like, let me just call Jen. So I called her, and um after about two weeks, she came and got me, and I went back to In His Wings in October of 2020, and I really haven't left since. I mean, I don't live there anymore, but um I did for a really long time. Um and that that time in 2020 when I was there, I was I just went all in. I didn't buck the system, I didn't I followed every rule, I really got close to God. Um that was where my breakthrough happened and um my life just changed and it's never been the same. So are you working there now? Yes, I've been working there since 2022. Okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So tell me about what their program is like there.
SPEAKER_00Um, well, we have lots of different programs. Um so the program I was in, um we um have teachers come out, do classes, we watch sermons, we'd go all over to church different churches and different events, and um, so I've seen all the things, any kind of denomination, any kind of anything that has to do with any kind of different churches, it's doesn't faze me because I've been to anything you can think of, which is good because when you start branching off into different things, you know, it's some of it's kind of scary, but um, you know, you get used to stuff and you see things and you see God move through people, right? And um, it's just amazing how that happens, you know. I mean, I've seen from being around things like that, um I've seen tons of things like mirror literal miracles, you know, and it's just like wow, like you know that's God. You it there it there's no other way, yeah. It it has to be, yeah. And so um it's just been a blessing. Um I lived there, so we had at that time, we had you stayed at the the main house um for about six months, and then we had what we called a step-down house, and it was in Gainesville, Arkansas, um, right past like right outside of Paragold. Okay. And um where you work and you know, you still do your meetings and stuff. I mean, we we we went to CR, there's something up there every night of the week, you know. And so we were always at some kind of meeting. Um, but we worked, and um I graduated in I think June or July of 2021, the nine-month program, and I stayed living there. I said, I'm not leaving because I I wasn't ready, you know, and I and I knew that, and I knew I couldn't come back to win. I knew everyone knows me here from any race, any co I mean, you know, and so I just knew that wasn't a good choice for me. And um you have to make decisions sometimes for your sobriety above all. Yes. And so I was still away from my kids. Um but I had to make that choice to be a present mother because I knew if I could I mean I could have came back here when I graduated and my parents would have helped me, I'm sure, you know. I just I just wanted to do something different, and I knew that the Lord was telling me not to come down here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah you might have gotten back in those same routines.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I'm sure of it. Eventually, I mean I'd only been clean, what, like a year then? Yeah. And so um I just didn't want to do that, and so I stayed there. I was a graduate, but I lived with the girls that were in step down, you know, for a year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I um worked different little jobs. Um, I did home health, finally got to do home health again, and um I really enjoyed that. Um and so then in 2022, I got um, I didn't really want to work it in his wings. The Lord just set that out. I mean, I did a lot of stuff for free, just I mean, with the ministry because serving, you know, I'd go help them clean or you know, take the girls' places with the other staff, Rachel. She was staff, my best friend. Um, but I did I wasn't on, I didn't get paid for anything. I just lived there and live the dream, you know. And so we have a partnership with um Arkansas Community Corrections, um, that the we house women coming from prison um at one of our locations, and they wanted me to uh work in the office. And I'm like, I've never worked in no office, like you know what I mean? Like I didn't know anything about it. I knew the girls because I would go over there, you know, and that wasn't a problem. I just never I didn't know I was just nervous about it, you know, and I thought, well Is this kind of like a halfway house? What was that? It's a it's a re-entry program. Okay. So um they come, they come straight to us from McPherson. Okay, and they're still technically inmates. Like if something happens, they just go straight back to prison. Okay. They don't go to jail or anything, they wear ankle monitors for um the whole time they're there. They're there with us for five months, and on their sixth month, we um they go out into their own housing. So they work while they're there. We do everything, you know, get them license, birth certificates, social, all their legal stuff taken care of. Um, and they work, go to classes, they go to um therapy at our counseling center, and um, they save their money. They pay rent too, but I mean they save enough money to be able to get their own apartment, buy their own car, sometimes up to six months car insurance paid, phone, you know, all the things. Right. Um, and so I do all the pay all that, you know, and so at the time I was just kind of like, oh gosh, you know, like I don't know how to build. Balance anything. Yeah, I mean, I didn't know how to do anything, you know? Yeah. And so I said, well, I guess I'll do it, you know? And um started that and moved out from Gainesville. Me and um the staff that lived there, my best friend that I was telling you about, Rachel, we got an apartment in Paragold right beside each other. Because at the time, all like the main ministry in his wings um was in Paragold. And so we got an apartment together right beside each other, and that was a really good choice, I think, um, being so close to a like-minded person, but not in the ministry, you know, and um because we like I said, we're right next door, but we go everywhere together, church, meetings, you know, all the things. And I think that built um a stronger, sober outside of a ministry foundation to be able to live on my own, you know, and not be still have that accountability. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01So um that all happened. Because eventually all all those ladies are gonna be leaving that place.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_01And they've got to learn how to make it in the real world.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And so um all that happened in March of 2022, and uh I just never left. And now it's like second nature. I mean, I can do all the things, anything they need to be done, I can do it, and and the Lord has equipped me for that because it's not easy. Um, we have to deal with a lot of things with people, and um, you know, your cup runs dry a lot, and um the Lord just continues to fill it up, you know. I mean, a lot of times, you know, people come through there and you pour everything into them and do absolutely everything to help them succeed, and then they get out and just throw it all away, and it's just like, oh, you know, and it it does, it it it gets you defeated sometimes, you know. Right.
SPEAKER_01And then you can kind of relate to those people though, because you sort of did that. Yeah, yeah. So I assume that it's you see people just like you coming through there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, oh yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure. And so um I know that the Lord and to be able to do it all, I mean, he and there's no other way I could do that. I know for a fact that um that is my calling because I I couldn't do it if it wasn't for him. And and there's been numerous times that he showed me, you know, I could be just real like defeated and a girl call me that hadn't been there in a couple years and just say, Hey, you know, I'm just so thankful for, you know, and just it's like a God wink, you know, like, hey, keep doing what you're doing, you know. Encouragement. Yeah. And so um I really enjoy what I get to do. I really enjoy the ladies. Um, you know, I would want someone to help help me like I was helped. And so um I just love every minute of it. And like I said, it's not always great, you know, but um it is, and especially when you see people succeed and you know, they get out of prison early. And so it's a blessing um for them in general, um, to get out early like that.
SPEAKER_01And so um and have a place to live that and taking care of those kind of things that probably they've never ever done, maybe in their whole life.
SPEAKER_00Some people have not, it still blows my mind sometimes. I'm like, you don't know how to I mean simple little things. And and so it's it's good to be able to teach people how to do things or you know, I still I have girls call me that are out and they're like, hey, what do I do about this? And I'm like, let me tell you, you know, and so you always need people to be able to help you with things. I mean, I have my mom, you know, but some people don't have a mom. Right. And so, you know, it's a blessing to be able to help other people because something simple like that may send them over the edge when I can just help them and save that, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, they've got somebody they know they can call.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and if I don't have an answer, I'll find it.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00So, um So how many inmates can you house there? We house 16 at my house. So um we and they send them as soon as they come, you know, as soon as we get a bed open. Um because um I think now we're there's not a lot of women's re-entry facilities in Arkansas. We're one of the only ones. Okay. And so they have a a dire need for that. Um does that seem to be a successful program? You know, um it is. If they work it, it really just depends on the person, whether they're wanting to do that or not. Uh-huh. Because like the difference in re-entry and like the regular treatment center where I went is we most of the people that come to the treatment center are broken, they're desperate, they're ready for a change because they make that choice on their own. The people who come from re-entry, they're just trying to get out of prison. You know, when you come and interview somebody and say, hey, I'm gonna send you this program and your TE date's not until 2028, and it's 2020, the beginning of 2027. Yeah, absolutely. Get me out of here. Yeah, you know. And so, um, but we do have some, I mean, very good, successful um rates. And even the ladies who sometimes aren't, they're still so thankful, and they, you know, tell me, you know, remind me what they learned or what they remember doing while they're there. And so the seeds are planted for sure, and they are taught how to live a different life. It's just a choice, just like it was a choice for me, you know, and I chose not to do it the first couple times, you know.
SPEAKER_01I mean so and that's what I see a lot or I've heard a lot is you know, some people just if they're really ready to make that change.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, they're not gonna make it until they're absolutely ready. Right. And and there's nothing you can do about it. Yeah, and it sucks.
SPEAKER_01Can't convince them otherwise.
SPEAKER_00Oh no. I mean, I've tried to help girls and I'm just like, oh, you just want to shake them. And I know people wanted to shake me too, you know, but um until they're ready to do something different, you can it's like beating a dead horse. And it's just crazy, you know, to think about it. But um that is a true statement.
SPEAKER_01Well, that sounds like you're just really being used. You said that you are a caregiver, and it seems like you're in the right spot to reach people for that or to be used in that way.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01But also, you know, to reach people for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, absolutely. The Lord has um I mean, He's just done so much for me um from where I was, you know, um, even with my children. Um, you know, I lived I'd been away from my children. It's been a a year next month since I got them back. So I'd been clean, I mean, I've been clean almost six years. So I had been clean five years and still didn't have my kids back. And it wasn't that like my mom wouldn't just didn't want to give them back, you know. I think they were just scared that it wasn't gonna work out, or I really don't know, or you know, they've had them since they were babies.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so that was a big change. I mean, you know, I don't think they just But you saw them. Did you see them every week? Yeah, they were um they came to my house uh or my apartment every weekend, or I was down here, you know. Um so I think that helped the transition. Um, but you know, people would always ask me, like, while I was helping other people get their kids back or, you know, helping people with their kids, um, people would always say, Well, you're just gonna have to get a lawyer, and or you just need to get a lawyer. And I just I didn't want to do that. I knew I knew that the Lord would would give me my children back when the time was right. Because that's what he, that's what he wants. He wants mothers to to have their kids and to be a mother. Like that's what how his design is. And so I knew I would just, you know, I would just say, you know, I just knew it. I just I didn't need to tell anybody. I just knew that the when the time was right. Because, you know, my job is a lot. It takes a lot of my time up. I mean, I was on the phone last night at nine o'clock about stuff. I mean, and so, you know, those first few years, maybe God was just save, you know, saving me from something that I don't know about and and getting me to where I am because um when it happened, it just happened. I mean, it was like bam, bam, bam, and I know that was him, you know, because that's how he wanted it. And it was easy. Um, they didn't have any issues. My mom um literally brought them in May of last year when school got out. And we just rolled on. And then I um my mom helped me get a house. I wanted to, I wanted a house for my kids to grow up in, you know, and so same house. I didn't want to be, you know, and I loved my little apartment though in Paragord. It was just the best little apartment, you know. We we just loved it there. But I knew I needed, if I was gonna be a mother, get my kids back, I knew I needed something bigger and you know, with a yard. I didn't have a yard there. And so um I found a little house, went and looked at it on Mother's Day. I mean, the Lord just w worked it out like I mean it's crazy whenever I sit and think about it or I tell somebody about it. Like it was just like bam, bam, bam, bam, and everything just lined up perfectly. And his timing was perfect. It was. And and and it's hard sometimes to wait, you know. Um, so that happened, got the kids back on in May of last year, moved at the end of June, and then, you know, it was summer, so I had them all summer while I worked. My uh best friend and my boss, Jennifer, helped me with them. She'd I'd take them to her house. Um, she babysit all the kids. Um, but it just it just never, it wasn't hard. It wasn't hard at all. And you think like all those big life changes at one time, you know, um would be, but it it was just a breeze, you know. And I know that the Lord did that for me. I know that because I waited on him, a lot of people wouldn't have done that. They would have just gone back and said, you know what, I'm not gonna do this. I ain't getting my kids back.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So because we're instant gratification people. We want it right then. I see people all the time. I need my kids back right now, and I'm like, it doesn't work like that, you know. And um he he he did it for me because I was, I did remain faithful, and um he remained faithful to me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, just waited on him to do that. Yeah, you know, and that's quite a story that you can share with those ladies that you come across because like you said, most of them want it to happen right then, but knowing that you're you can share your story and how God gave you that pay the patience to wait on his timing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And to um be away from them, you know, because a lot of girls will be like, oh well, I'm just gonna move back home, and I'm like, not a good choice, you know. And I tell them about, you know, how I mean I missed kindergarten for both of my kids. I didn't I've probably before they came back to live with me, maybe a handful of times, either drop them off at school or pick them up. Um, I wasn't able to come to a lot of their parties because I lived so, you know, um in Jonesboro. And so, you know, I missed a lot of those things when they were little. Um, but it was worth it, you know, I would rather miss it than have to be high and come in and out of their lives. And, you know, so now they know they have a stable mother and that I mean it's just me and them.
SPEAKER_01And so, um And your mom and dad were good to take them out when they knew that they were needed needed to be out of your house.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because they took very, very good care of them.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01How did they adjust to them not being there full time?
SPEAKER_00You know, I was really worried about that. Um I they adjusted better than I thought they would. But you know, my parents are older and and they they deserve Chelsea. Well, for for little boys, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01Like, and so um they're they're older to be to be parents. Parents, yes.
SPEAKER_00And my boys are wild, they're real close together and they're a lot sometimes, you know. And um, but they they transitioned better. My parents, I was more worried about them than the boys, yeah, because the boys, you know, had been around. I mean, they were with me every I mean every weekend. There wasn't very many times when they didn't unless I was doing something or my you know, there wasn't very much that they weren't with me. And I think that really helped their transition because they never really I mean they didn't skip a beat. They didn't skip a beat. I was so nervous about them going to a new school um and having to make new friends, you know, because Sammy had little friends that he was in school with since we school. And so um they just they never missed a beat.
SPEAKER_01And I guess their age probably made a big difference on them adjusting so well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, and that was another thing, you know. I kept telling my mom, mom, if you're gonna give them they're getting older, like, you know, we we're gonna have to do something soon. And um so it just worked out and we just did it. But yeah, my my dad's and my mom's enjoying retirement. My dad still works, but he probably won't ever stop doing something. Um but they're just living their life, you know, and so they were better than I thought, you know. So Chelsea, is there anything else you'd like to share? Um just for anybody that's listening, um if you're ever given the chance to really know the Lord and really have a personal relationship, whether it's in a program or in a prison cell or at your grandma's house, just really take the time um to get to know him because he can do anything. Um, he has just blessed me in such a way. I mean, I was a bottom of the barrel drug addict, and he has totally transformed my life. My life is a thousand times better than it was ten years ago, and it's only because of him. And if you just press in and really get close to him and just do the right thing, when nobody's looking, just do the right thing, help people, um, he will bless you. And he has blessed me, and I'm just so thankful for my life that I have today. It's only because of him.
SPEAKER_01Chelsea, do you have a verse that you really lean into that helps you?
SPEAKER_00Uh, yes, Romans 8 28. And it is God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. And I um am called to do what I do, and so um that verse has always been one of my favorites um to go by because he's called me. You know, it's good to know what your calling is, and I have without a doubt, I know what my calling is, and um it's to help other people through him.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for joining us today. New episodes release every Wednesday, so be sure to subscribe and get notified when a new episode is available. You can listen on the Journey to Salvation website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. So, where are you on your journey to salvation?
