From Bondage to Grace: Hannah's Testimony (Part 2)

In Part 2 of Hannah's powerful testimony, Pastor Victoria and Hannah continue the conversation about what life looked like before Christ and the incredible faithfulness of God through it all.

Hannah shares the reality of living in addiction, manipulation, control, bondage, and even homelessness. Through every broken decision and every dark season, God's hand was still at work—even when she couldn't see it.

Pastor Victoria also opens up about the journey of praying for her prodigal daughter, refusing to give up hope, and trusting God to fulfill His promises. Together they discuss the power of persistent prayer, God's relentless pursuit of His children, and how redemption is always possible.

No matter how far you've wandered, this episode is a reminder that God never stops pursuing His sons and daughters. Your past does not disqualify you—Jesus is still in the business of rescuing, restoring, and redeeming lives.

Stay tuned for Part 3, where Hannah's story continues and you'll hear how God brought lasting freedom, healing, and restoration.

If this testimony encouraged you, be sure to like, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who needs hope today.

#BackwardsButRedeemed #Testimony #ProdigalSon #FreedomInChrist #AddictionRecovery #JesusChangesLives #ChristianPodcast #Redemption #Faith #Hope #Healing #Deliverance #PastorVictoria #GodRestores

Transcript

unknown 0:10

Hello everybody, welcome back to Back with Foot Routine.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

This is part two of um our story as a family, and then we're gonna transition today into Hannah's testimony. So we're just gonna jump right into it. Um and I'll kind of start us off and then kind of let Hannah go from there. Life had been pretty good. It was Hannah's senior year. Um that summer, the end of her junior year, Erin took a new job in Virginia. Me and the girls were still in Kentucky. Matea at this point had moved out and was in college. She in college at the time. She was out of the house. She was somewhere. She was either in Paducah or Bria, Kentucky. It was one of the two. Um and in that time frame, and I want you to be raw and honest in how you felt in that um with Aaron leaving and how our lives had changed. Because I don't want to say perfect, but it we had a pretty good life, um, up until all the changes. Not that it hasn't been good, but and that we're not getting back to kind of that momentum that we were in in that moment. Um, so Aaron left in April. I was traveling a lot to Virginia. He would come home once a month, and it was like he was here for five days, but two of those days was traveling. And then he'd get home and he'd sleep. And so we really all had two days with him. Um, which really probably affected her more than any of the other kids because they did do so much together. Um, and we went from him being at every game, every event, to it's her senior year, and he's having to rather pick and choose what games he comes home for, um, what were the most important games and all of the things. Um so I'll kind of let you you go from there. Like what what was it like for you when he first started coming up here?

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Oh um because like I don't know if I can do this.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

It's alright.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Because it was like we we had the family that we wanted for so long. Um like I said in the other one like we like we didn't we didn't have like a family and then Eric came in. We had like prank wars every day and we were like a family and then it was like he was gone, so it was like that family was gone and he was always up here and then when he was home he was sleeping and then he was tired and then he had to pack and he had to leave again. And so it just it was like everything that God had given us, he had just taken away because he needed to come up here to do something for God. And it was just really hard to understand why.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

But almost and I'm not speaking for her, but I feel like I can. And then he ripped part of it away. Um and it was hard to see in the moment why it had to happen. Um and there's still probably times for her and the girls it's still hard to understand um why why would you give us a dad that was so present in that moment and then move him away? Um and so because of that, what and I feel like out of what you just said you were angry with God. And do you think that that's what led into these next parts of your story?

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Yeah, because we all still even though like COVID was gone, and then the COVID happened, so we were in the house with each other like almost eight months straight. Like constantly, because somebody kept testing positive. So we were yeah, so we were stuck in the house for like literally eight months, I think, like with each other constantly. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

And so it was like there was a lot of bonding in that moment.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Yeah. And so it was just like, why would and we were still going to church and stuff like that, and Aaron, you know, firm believer in Jesus. Um so it's like, why would you give us such a good life? And then slowly it felt like it was slowly like just taking it away, piece by piece.

SPEAKER_02 5:41

So tell us kind of what what were some of the stuff you started to do?

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Um, well, first I was like, okay, I guess I gotta get a job 'cause ain't nobody home. What am I gonna do at home? Um so I got a job and then my mom and Kinley started going up there because um her school was like they went to a building but you could also do it like online kind of thing. And so they started going up there and then I was really just at the house by myself, like nothing to do. And at the time because all I did because at the time I was going to college too while in high school, so I really didn't hang out with them when school started.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

I stayed home more, but I had to go back to work at this time. Yeah. So I was working and they were actually used to me being home and not working as much.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

And so and so then I started working, met someone, friend, um, and then met that friend's family, and then it was like, then it was like, oh, we're all running around, being happy family.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

And so then it was like, yeah, and so fault of mine in this time. Um Aaron was gone. I was trying to not necessarily leave the house, but leave the house because he wasn't there. Um, so I had to if I could call him and help have him help make decisions, I would, but he wasn't there in that moment, no fault of his, but that's just kind of our situation at the time. And I was working, um, and then still trying to be at all of her events, and so I had kind of slapped on checking in who she was hanging out with. Um, and I don't even know really how I found out who who this person was. But anyways, I found out who it was. Um and I called Aaron and we set some guidelines and she was not a fan of those guidelines. And I went to see Aaron one weekend and she was supposed to be home. She was not home. Um, and that was kind of the beginning of the next two years of our life. Um and when we found out where she was, I think Aaron came back with me, didn't we? Or no. No, he came back after he was gonna come home. Yeah, we sent um Uncle Hoyt, which is Aaron's best friend, to find her and get her home. Um, I came back home and I just kind of laid out the guidelines, like these are the rules. You can't see this person, they're too old. Because she was 17 and he was 25 at the time. And I'm like, it's just not gonna happen. Like, if you're gonna live in this house, you can't do that. Um, so we started by taking the car, only other than like if she had to go to work and all the things, and so I wasn't traveling after that as much. I was trying to stay home um to make sure, but we could not follow those rules and so she decided to go live with her dad for a little bit and then I don't really from there you a lot of things happened in that time frame, just a lot. And she graduated high school early, yeah. Um, with she graduated her high school diploma and associates in science and associates in arts. And two associates. Um so we didn't make it all the way through that, which was like December of that year.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Well, it was because I was done with high I was done with high school my like sophomore junior year. So really I was just going to school to do my set work, yeah, set in class and do my college work so they could say that I was still at school. Um, so that school could say I was still at school. But I'm pretty sure I left and went to Indiana in before Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_02 10:17

October. Yeah, and October. So I'll kinda let you tell that part in your testimony, like what happened while you were in Indiana, how you got to South Dakota, and then what happened and then how you got to us. Yeah. Um you don't have to share what you go into.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

But um, yeah, so I was staying with my grandma. I think that lasted like a month and a half. Yeah. Um, but I mean, at the end of the day, they're my grandparents who are not really gonna tell me no. And uh also like I was already graduated with everything. Like nobody really had anything over me, like, on a sense of oh well you're not gonna finish school or you're not gonna like it didn't really matter. And which the family, the people that I was hanging out with, like his family, like they had a car. They could come and get me. Like it was there was nothing really anyone could do to really stop me from hanging out with the people I wanted to hang out with. Um, but then in like October, it was like after Christmas, or not after Christmas, after Halloween, and the person had gone to jail and got out of jail. He was like, let's just fresh start, let's go up to where up to where he knows. So we went up to Gary, Indiana, uh, in Lake Station. Um, we got a camper and we lived there for a little bit. And life was good for a little bit. Like, I mean I still finished school, like I came down for graduation in December.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

Um, but then I did at this point. She did tell me where she was leaving. Yeah. Um, she didn't just take off in the middle of the night and I didn't know. Um because at this point I had done everything I could, but like she said, she had already graduated. Um, my our only option in the state of Kentucky was to try to have her committed or put in jubilee. And I just couldn't do that. Um there's a lot of things going on in that moment. Um, and in that moment, thankfully, we had amazing pastors. Um I couldn't make some decisions, and I called Pastor Sue in. And she went and had a mama talk with Hannah. In a police interrogation room. Actually. But in that situation, do you think it was good to bring in an outside, someone that we both could trust?

SPEAKER_01 13:17

Yeah, because there was one other person that was on the outside, but they were full of lies. Um, we're not gonna get into that, but there are lies that got us put into the situation that we were in to begin with. So having someone that came in that you could she could tell if I if it was a lie or not. You know what I mean? So, like when she came in and she heard all the stuff the other person was saying, then she was like, that doesn't make any sense. And she sat down and talked with me. It wasn't it was a good talk, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um, so then he that person got jail and um they wanted to go back to Indiana, so we went up there, we got everything was good. And then when I came back down for my graduation, um, I came back and all of a sudden hell had broke loose in this camper. Um, drugs were involved, like uh there was abuse, there was like a bunch of stuff. And um then we ended up losing that camper because at the time I wasn't working, I was just going to school. Um, so I didn't have my own money to do anything. I didn't have my own car at the time, like because everything was good, so I didn't think like, oh I need to have my own money, and that's not the biggest mistake ever. Always have your own money. Um but yeah, so then like a bunch of stuff went on. We ended up moving in with some of his family, they were just as bad, like so there was a lot of drugs going on.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Yeah, um, there was a lot of mental, emotional, physical abuse, yeah um, and I was still having contact at this point in time with her every day. Um, because whether you would as this mama's heart, I knew I had to let her go through this, but I still for my heart and to be able to sleep at night needed to talk to her. Um and kind of what was your thoughts on our relationship in that time?

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Um, I mean, I feel like like yeah, I talked to my mom, but the person had the phone. He was controlling the phone. So it was like, yeah, I talked to my mom, but it was more like she was getting told all these things that were like crazy. That was towards the end, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, even the first time, like, would talk to my mom and be like, Oh, I want her out of this house, I want her out of this house, and then like we would plan for me to leave, and then they wouldn't take me to leave. So it was just like constant just craziness. Like, I was getting told one thing, she was getting told another, so when we talked, I'm like, What are you talking about? It's not what they said. And she's like, Yeah, that's what they said. I said, No, they didn't. So it was just a bunch of chaos.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

What were you feeling um like about your identity in that time?

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Um, I was like completely checked out because there was times where I would be like in a bedroom for three days with like didn't eat anything, didn't drink anything. So like my mental was so far gone. Like, I just wasn't even there. Like, I don't even know.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

So I just wasn't there. What because there was a break kind of in the middle of all this. Um, what was the first breaking point for you? Um, or how did you see yacht in the midst of that first part of this story?

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Um, well, so the people I was with were um involved in like witchcraft, stuff like that very much. And so there would be like times where they would try to like like they were one time they're like, oh come play this Ouija board. And I'm like, uh, I remember that's actually bad. I shouldn't do that. And so like for that, yes, like they like well okay, well you need to go on and like put me in the room for a little bit. It was like we're not talking to you, we're all gonna be mean to you. But it was like I still like at the end of the day, I was like, even though I didn't know God, I was like, Well, he's still here because he's not he is enough inside of me that I know I shouldn't be doing these things. Because if I would have went and did this that stuff, it would have been too far, you know.

SPEAKER_02 17:47

So in this situation, it was a good thing mom made you go to church. Yeah. Because even though you might not have been living how we would say she should have been, um you still knew who God was. Yeah. You still knew he was there protecting you and however he could. Um so that goes on for a while. Like I said, we're not gonna give the enemy glory. God was keeping her protected, he was allowing me and her to be able to still talk. Um some situations happened and she was ready to live. Um so we got her to my she wasn't ready to come home to mom or dad yet. She went to be with my brother, which was the next safest option for us. It was what um and her and my brother had always been close and she loves my brother, and so uh he agreed to let her come to South Dakota and you can kind of talk about that part of your life.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Um, so I would just I was there for about eight months, I'm pretty sure. Um, when I first got there, my uncles like just let me sort of hang out and like recuperate because they like saw me as a lot skinnedier than I am now. Um I had some bruises and yeah, and um mentally I was just like so checked out. Like you couldn't even have a conversation. Like if I had a conversation with someone and then they brung it up like five minutes later, I'd be like, What are you talking about? Like we did not talk about that. And so they I think I slept for like almost two weeks straight. Because before I like went there when you're in chaos like that and you're like scared on what's gonna happen next, you really don't sleep. And when you do sleep you're not sleeping. So they let me sleep basically like as long as I needed to. I slept for like two weeks and they would like bring me food and check on me like I'm okay. And then um and then I just sort of like was like, okay, well I need to get back in the groove of things. Um because then I like realized at the time I was like, Okay, well there's no way of coming back. Like that that is not gonna happen again, kind of thing, you know? And so I started working out, I started looking for jobs. The thing was I didn't have a car at the time. Um, but I started to work at this like hotel down the like down the way or whatever, my uncles would bring me and stuff like that, and I would save up money. And I was like, I got a car, started working at the CNA, I got my CNA license, started going back to nursing school. Um, yeah, South Dakota was a real good time. I yeah, I liked that.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

But then it shifted. Yeah. Um so eight months, like we were talking, um, she was doing good. Um, and I wasn't in this time pressing God on her. Um, I didn't feel I felt like in this moment, I just had to show her who he was. I couldn't be like, are you reading your Bible? Are you da-da I I couldn't be that in that moment. I had to just show her his love. And you know, God is also a disciplinary, but he is also a God of grace and mercy.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Well, and also the first time we were in Indiana, the first time we went to church, sat and they prayed that prayer that we all know, this isn't what you want from me. You know, take me out of it, and then not saying that he caused all the craziness to the extent that it was, but it definitely after that it was like, oh, I don't need to be here kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

Yeah, so um, and so I don't I because I don't know what led to the next part of the story, really.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

I let so my uncles again fell abandoned. That's a common um thing. this story. My uncles are leaving going to South or going to um Japan because they're in the military. So they were leaving going to Japan. I had the choice to go to Japan or to stay in South Dakota. I had a really good job in South Dakota. I couldn't continue nursing school in Japan because it's I would get a I would stay in Japan with my nursing degree um if I went there. And so I was like I would just stay back but I was like far away from everybody. Like South Dakota's pretty far from Virginia and Kentucky. That's like where my only family is so um but I got an apartment up there and literally this was the enemy plan tricks because I got my apartment, signed the lease or I didn't even sign the lease yet. I had just been told like I can move in and got the keys and then I get a call from the same person that had left eight months ago saying that they are back in Kentucky and they want to get on the plane a like a plane to come to where I was at. And I was like I didn't even talk to you in eight months what are you talking about? And the ticket had already been bought and it was like okay well I guess we're doing this again. It was like it was really weird because I had not talked to a person in like eight months. There was no connection or nothing.

SPEAKER_02 23:15

I don't even know why he was like oh yeah I'm just gonna buy this ticket and come to South Dakota and it's just gonna be perfect but you know and even though at that moment she wasn't necessarily back in a walk with God I believe the enemy knew she was headed that direction. Do you feel like?

SPEAKER_01 23:37

Yeah I mean honestly if I probably would have saved up some money in South Dakota and ended up coming back home because being so far away from everybody even though like I wasn't s I hadn't seen nobody besides my uncles in eight months. But at least I wasn't family. Then moving to Japan and me being like at that point it had been a year since you seen me family. Yeah. So with everybody being at least 20 hours away I probably would have saved up and came back.

SPEAKER_02 24:03

Um so you just gotta be aware um and this just comes with her not knowing her identity and and just feeling abandoned um especially if you felt it the majority of your life um and this is kind of one of those things that are a little generational yes she grew up with a mom and dad in the house for the majority of her life but I had felt abandoned for so long and even though we were in the same house it was pure chaos and she had lived in that and so to her I think she just needed someone and the enemy loves to place someone in our lives in a season where we need to be with just God to distract us because because first off he can't make us do anything he can only distract us and so he was doing his best to distract Hannah at this point in time and then I'll kind of let you go through the next year.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

No I mean sort of it was on and off. Um so I came up there life was good again I was still working at the CNA um that person had a good job like life was good and then all of a sudden every time I prayed this prayer I was like because I'm sitting there I'm like life is good and even though like I never had like yeah I went to church and stuff like that with my mom but I never had like a real relationship with God I always felt like okay I need God's approval kind of thing because it was like he approved my mom and um Aaron being together so that's important kind of thing. And so I said the prayer and then all of a sudden he lost his job. I lost my job for like a crazy reason. Like I had been scheduled to work overtime. I worked my overtime and they they let me off because I had worked like four 16 hour shifts so they told me not to come in on the scheduled day. Then they fired me for not showing up my first day ever not showing up in the eight months I'd worked there. So they fired me and I was like oh okay and then so the apartment that I lived in because South Dakota is expensive was like $1,100 a month for like a studio. So we ain't paying that we just got jobs. I have um a car at the time that got paid off before then because um hell damage it got totaled out and so we decided well let's just go on a road trip somewhere and we drove from South Dakota to Florida um overnight just for the heck of it not only to Florida like you went like or is this another oh this no this is the first time. We went down to Florida um we lived in Florida Florida was good did you the first time did you guys have an apartment in Florida? Mm-hmm okay um went down there life is good um and then when you date someone that does drugs they're always not always but if they haven't done the right work to get clean they're always gonna find a way no matter where they're at if they're where they're from if they're somewhere they've never been before they will find it yes and I just kind of want to tag on to that just when someone's getting clean changing locations might seem like the right thing to do but they're still going with themselves all you're doing is just changing the environment and they're gonna if they want to use again they're going to find the people to get them what they need. Um they have to have a complete heart change to to be clean and so um Florida was honestly probably the most dangerous we had been um so we had our own place lost it of course um started doing drugs again and then I mean once you do drugs you're around people that are not good people. And so you get yourself a bad situation and stuff. Um were you using at this time? Yeah. The first time I used it was the first time we were in Indiana. Okay. And then when South Dakota was good. What and this is how I knew God was there because I never got addicted to the stuff. Um I mean even out of the day like I it was simply um like a codependency thing like oh the person I'm with is doing this so I don't get left behind let me do this with them. She doesn't get a band addiction. Yeah. And so um yeah we started doing it we got around a bunch of people the first time in uh Florida wasn't like too bad and then I don't even remember how that time ended um I think oh yeah he thought there was an arrest warrant out for him for well I don't know we've been in a hotel for like a couple days but I have no idea and so he was back up the car like and took off to um back to Indiana and then we um lived in Indiana for a little bit um and then sadly I mean I still pray for all these people his family got him addicted. So when he goes around his family they're gonna feed him the drugs kind of thing. So we got up to Indiana they're feeding him even more drugs he's like out of it like you can't make any sense with him. You tell him the sky's blue he would be like no it's purple kind of thing. So like eventually it just got to the point um we got into an argument because he wanted to go live on a train and so his solution was to leave me at a gas station and um walk away and wander off and never come back. So then that time I went and I took my car and I drove back to Kentucky and I stayed with um my friend Ashley for I think maybe a week you know two weeks maybe that and then he would get better I went up there again and this is the time that we try to go to California I'm pretty sure but during that time do you feel like that was God giving you an out yeah God gave me many outs like I mean probably a million outs and then kind of in the next one we won't go into crazy details and we'll kind of get to the end but you traveled and you guys lived out of your car um there were days you guys didn't have gas money you didn't have food money but I one of probably the craziest incidents I remember because she called me like I said we still talked every day but up until towards the end there was a span but we'll get into that um she still called me but I remember she was like we were stuck at a gas station we didn't have money I had an eight and a pastor came in um Utah I don't remember that was in the Utah in Utah and um what it and gave you guys money yeah he um just started talking to us like we were sitting at the gas station and I had got out and he was like oh like are you okay or whatever I probably like a hot mess. I was living at my door and um like we had literally I think like three miles in our car. Um and then the other person got out and he just started talking to us and was like oh if you guys ever need a church or whatever gave us his card and then like he filled up the gas tank and gave us like I think 40 bucks or something like that. Um because we were going from we went in the bat and realized it's way too expensive to live over here. Um and then we were driving back up to South Dakota because where he used to work at he had one more check left that was just sitting there. So okay we can go get some money if we drive all the way up South Dakota. And then we got stuck halfway through with no money.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

So that goes on for some time. They end up back in Florida and that was just a real crazy deal in itself but there was a time frame in this um where I didn't hear from her um and there was a lot going on in that and during all of this I was still at home praying um I was still at home making sure I reached out to her answering phone calls um and our home was struggling with it. You know I had people outside the situation that didn't know everything telling me not to answer her phone calls to you know she's got to hit rock bottom and you know and there are some situations that maybe God tells you that um but in this situation by this point in my walk I knew the Holy Spirit's voice and I knew what he was telling me to do and he was telling me you still got to get a reward for her and I believe now I honestly believe if the Holy Spirit was like put answering her phone calls and don't talk to her it would have been hard but I would have done it. But I also like I said earlier God is a God of grace and mercy. He knew that my mama heart needed to hear her voice. He knew that even if it was chaos and I knew she was hurting and I knew if we face time and I could see a bruise that she thought maybe she had hit um that was gonna hurt but it would hurt worse for me not to hear her voice and know that she's okay. And so God really gave me that grace and that time and I had to lean on him every day. I got up extra early so I could pray just for her for a block of time. Like and that's what I did I went to war for her in that time. You know I still had my other prayers but I set a block of time that was only for her and I I battled for her I I stayed in battle during that timeframe and I didn't give up even though it felt like God wasn't hearing my prayers it felt I was like where are you at? I've been praying now for over a year I've been asking you to bring her home I've been asking you to save her from the situation why are things not changing I still had to stay consistent and even in that time there were moments I felt distanced from God but I had to stay consistent consistency in prayer sometimes is the most important thing because even though you might not feel it when you start praying and you start worshiping God in prayer faith starts to build it it starts to build you might not feel it in the moment but when but when you go back and look at it it was building me um and I I just wasn't going to give up you know we have to demonstrate what God does for us you know when we walk away from God he doesn't go knock down the door and pull us back in he knocks softly and I felt like that's what my prayers were doing for her it was knocking on her door and reminding him go knock on her door today go tell her you're still there all she's got to do is open the door and so if you're a mama a daddy and you have a child or a family member that's maybe wandering right now I want to encourage you keep pressing in keep praying even when you don't feel like it even when you're exhausted keep pressing in endurance is the key in this you've got to stay focused it can't consume you it can't consume everything but you gotta keep pressing in you know you keep battling but don't let it consume your life you still need to live life if you have other children you still need to be a part of their life and let them know they matter too if you're married you still need to be consistent in your marriage and communicate in your marriage because a lot of marriage struggles when their children walk away and it's because there's no communication you know thankfully me and Aaron I could walk in the room and just say hey I'm having a bad day and I need to cry and he would just let me cry and he could be like I'm having a bad day I I miss her I miss I don't know if we'll ever be back to what we were and that was his because he had never had girls until my girls and that was his part of it was I don't know if we'll ever be back there and so that is the mama part of this and we'll kind of jump to the last three months um it got really crazy we're not gonna go too crazy in depth but it got really crazy um and let's talk about when you decided to come home um I had to actually think about these things because the timeline like runs together um so so we were at Walmart but and at this point you guys were pretty much stealing to survive yeah and so we were at Walmart like he's being a jerk because he's on drugs and he was like you go in I'm gonna sit in the car and I took my keys because I'm like he's stolen my car before this has happened before.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

Because I'm taking my keys because you're not about to steal my car and leave me here because this is my car at the end of the day. And it just it got hairy. It got hairy. Yeah um so my window got broken he was gone I was like literally in Florida by myself for no phone no money for gas like didn't even have money um to put in the gas tank a homeless lady actually that was living in her storage unit came up to me and gave me five dollars to put in my gas tank and so um that way I got gas in my car and I drove to someone even though he's a bad person in society because he sold drugs and stuff. He was always like nice and stuff. He let me use his um phone and stuff to try to get a hold of people and um and then I got back a hold of the person that I was with and he told me where to come pick him up. So I went there um picked him up and then I just it was just like a switch in me it was like I'm done. I wanna go home. And like the times before it was like yeah I'm gonna leave but I'm not gonna go home because my mom and aunt are home.

SPEAKER_02 41:01

So I was just over and I would have been both my family so I literally just sat in the car and I said take me home I don't want to be here and I had like never actually I was never the one that was like I'm done I'm leaving kind of thing it was always like he would get too far out there and like just disappear and I was like no take me home like I really want to go home and so she called and she said hey I'm ready to come home and um I told Aaron and we were actually coming to Kentucky that weekend several of us and um Aaron you know in this situation Aaron that was the time and then I took off at noon because I was staying at meetings that afternoon and they were there too no yeah okay just kidding this happened multiple times so it's alright. And so Aaron was like you know we gotta make sure he said when it comes to addiction and these type of things he always had which he made the final decision anyways but this was a definitely only his decision um and he said we all want her home but we still have the kid at home because we still had Kimly at home and um he said and I can't have her to come home and let this affect you and her in this way. So we all met in Kentucky um and we went and Dairy Queen and sat down and had a talk and decided Aaron decided okay I think this could be it I I'm willing to give this a try and let her come home. So she stayed a few more days with her dad and her grandparents because she hadn't seen them either in in a long time and we all had agreed pretty much as a family that this is where she needed to be um and be with mom I think was kind of the underlying agreement in that so she came home um and the same rules applied as before when she left if you're at our home you go to church if you're at our home you gotta have a job if you're and I don't know that she necessarily was excited about all of that.

SPEAKER_01 43:58

I mean I didn't care about the the job part that didn't bother me but they've coming the church um and that was in the moment of starting this church that was in the moment of starting freedom fired church and um I was like great you're home you can help with media like you've done media you can help with media full circle if you watch part one it is a full circle um and so I'll kind of let you talk about like what was it like because it was a hard transition her coming home because things had changed yeah um even like when Aaron was in the picture like we played sports our younger sister really does not play sports it's really weird um she's not played sports and it was like my mom and Aaron were sitting on the couch watching their show and Kenley was like in the floor doing something I'm like why aren't we talking why aren't we like being quiet or whatever because like before Air left like we were constantly doing stuff talking like all this other stuff. So at first it was weird it was like y'all are completely different people. But then um we I got a job actually and I was working from like I would leave house at 5 a.m and come back at like six p.m.

SPEAKER_02 45:15

Yeah and so I would only see them at like dinner time sort of but so what was your um so how is this like starting the church and your walk with God and where does he have you now like you feel like you've learned your identity.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

Um yeah probably a little too much um but yeah so they started their church which is like my parents have to be involved I'm here what else do I have to do you know what I'm saying? Even after I moved out because once my older sister came back here too after she got done with um school she came to Virginia and I was like this house is not big enough for all of us I'm getting a new place so I got a place right up the street literally um and so even then I was I could have stayed home and not went to church but I got a one for and um I mean at first it was like it's my dad preaching like it's whatever it's my dad like at first I'm just like okay this is another errand talking for you. Like I've already heard this a million times. Um and so like at first like I was back there doing media because it was like getting me distracted or whatever and um I think like because y'all started in April we went down to North Georgia for your birthday um July Georgia yeah but in like July or something I was like okay let me go buy a Bible for some reason. What there this thing right here was 70 bucks crazy but I spent my 70 bucks on it and um best investment. Yeah and so then I like sort of started reading it and then I'm sorry. Yeah. Well because that like when you first like look at your it's a lot. It is a lot and as someone with dyslexia I very don't like reading. And so like I opened it and I'm like oh my god all these words like I what am I gonna do? And so I went down to Kentucky to see my family um like the beginning of July after I bought this and it sat in my backpack the whole trip and then um came back and I was like um one of our friends was like you want to do a Bible study and I was like yeah sure so we started a Bible study and I was like oh wait this stuff's like actually useful like you can apply this to your life and it works. It's crazy. And so then like I'm studying because I still go for dinner. It's cheaper. So my mom cooks really good dinner so I go there and eat it and um so I would just like I was sitting on the couch one day like going through Facebook and I saw the North Georgia revival and I was like oh I wanna go to that and then my mom's like actually I want to go there for my birthday because she always tells my ideas and so okay I'll let you tell your perspective of that story. I have an idea and so we go down in August and I'm like I've seen some stuff about it and I was like at first I was like I sort of want to go like by myself because like when you're with your parents it's like a little weird and so I was like okay whatever so we went and walked in was crying like a baby as you have seen already. Um I was crying ended up in the corner and then the lady you have to watch part one the lady that talked to me um in the interrogation room uh Pastor Sue she was there and so Aaron like walks me over to her and I see her start crying even more and she um tells me like he starts talking to me and like before this like mind I'm like okay yeah God's real but like how real you know and so um Pastor Sue talked to me about like she was talking to me about an oak tree and how you need to um like make sure you know you got good soil and all that kind of stuff and I'm listening to it and I'm okay. Well then I go sit down in my seat and I'm looking up there we're gonna worship I look up there and the guy that's preaching that night has an oak seed and an oak tree on the like pictures that he's talking about. So then he basically tells me her message that she just told me in my ear up on stage I'm like okay well maybe um I should listen. So then I got in the Water at North Roger Revival and that's when I in August and I was like oh yeah I need to get it together. This is for real. And so yeah then I started reading my Bible more and like actually caring about church and then um actually found out I love being a teacher. Would have never guessed that. No She was not our teacher that we had begged. Yeah. Um but yeah and then just slowly like doors started opening um started working with kids which never thought I would um and he found like a classroom that combines both other things I love like the medical side and the kids's all so you know and and all of this um it's been great as parents even though it was a struggle those years and just watching her have to go through this stuff God now gets to use it all for his glory and that's what we have to remember and I'm sure like in my story and yours there were points you thought you've messed it up too much.

SPEAKER_02 51:03

Like he's never gonna be able to use me. I've done too much wrong that's what I said in the court so but he can't because when you surrender to him and you repent and you let the Holy Spirit come in which is God you let him come in and live in you he will convict you to repent of those things and you will not want to do them anymore. And then it gets to be used for his glory because she will now be able to reach people that that I won't be able to reach she's gonna be able to connect with people that yes I can pray for you I can talk to you but I it's gonna be hard for me to connect and understand what you're going through when she can she can go and reach so many more people all just from her story and what she has experienced. And you know and I will kind of tell you if you've ever watched any of our services you know don't give up on praying for your kids um towards the end in January she came home towards the end of March in January um we went to women's conference Karen Wheaton was there and she gave this amazing word and got a book and I went home and read it and there was something she did um for her prodigal and it was she went and screamed at the door every day. God's like that's what you need to go do. You need to go yell for Hannah to come home every day. And I'm like we live in town like she lives out in the middle nowhere like that's a little bit different situation. Like she can go out in the woods and scream I live in town and he said do you want her to come home and I said yes he said then I need you to do this you've got to go out on your front porch and scream Hannah come home and sometimes God's gonna ask you to do some things that seem a little like you you're not gonna understand why you're doing them but if you know it's God obey he wasn't asking me to do anything crazy to go out and commit a sin obviously if that is what you're hearing don't do it. But if it lines up with the word and it's not you're not gonna be committing a sin do it I did it I went out for three months and screamed Hannah come home every morning multiple times. Sometimes I would scream it on my porch drop Kenley off at school and scream it the entire way to work because I wanted her to come home and in that obedience and part of my prayer at that time was God I need you to give her an I am moment she might not realize it in the moment that it's an I am moment with you but I need you to give her that I am moment where you sit down in front of her and I want her home and I believe that that's what happens but I had to also be obedient in this I'm not saying she couldn't have came home if I didn't do that. But maybe it would have taken another year so part of it is us as parents still being obedient even if we're not seeing the fruit of it in the moment still be obedient to what he's asking you to do to get your children help. And because I was obedient because she was obedient even when she didn't realize she was being obedient to him we are now where we are now you know she is highly involved in all of our outreach. When we have kids here she's highly involved um she's highly involved in one of the young ladies' lives here um at the church um if you've ever watched this online you see her she's a the most amazing praise and worship dancer her name's Lena and we have a beat love Lena but I also believe Lena has played a big part in Hannah's life just in the last few months of showing Hannah who Hannah is letting her understand her identity some more but we would have never got there if both of us wasn't obedient not at this rate um and we're gonna kind of end there. I think she's probably cried enough and I know we we went through a lot today but I felt it was important that you hear because you I don't know where you're at in your wandering child it may just be a child that's just wandering and maybe is questioning who God is at this moment. It may be a child that is using at this moment it may be a child that's living on the streets at this moment but hear me keep praying keep pressing into God he he's hearing you he wants to answer your prayers but it also relies on them you know we're praying the other person still has a decision to make in all of this we just keep pressing forward we just keep pressing that God softens their heart that God shows them who he really is so I want to encourage you today to keep pressing in whatever it is if you know someone who has a child that is a wanderer right now um I encourage you to send this podcast out um this is probably a little bit more of a serious podcast um for us but hear me keep pressing in to God and I just want to pray um before we before we go Father we thank you we thank you for being such a good daddy father and I pray that whoever needs to hear this hears this that if there's parents or even children with parents that have stepped away that this comforts them that this heal starts helping them see that you are listening to them you do hear them and you do want to help them so father I pray right now that everyone who's listening bless them and I pray that this video gives them peace in Jesus' mighty name we'll see you guys next week have a great day hey everyone so this conversation went a little longer than expected so we thought it was going to be a two part it's actually going to be a three part so I want to encourage you to hang on to your seats to get the end of the story next week come back so you can hear what God does in her life and where we are now hope you guys have a great week see you next week