BEFORE & AFTER

Hey, guys. Welcome to Celebrate Recovery, the best place to be on a Tuesday night. Amen. How many of y'all are excited to be in God's house? Yes. Amen. Awesome. Awesome. If this is your very first time, my name is Kat. Hey, guys. I'm a grateful believer in Jesus Christ, and I celebrate recovery from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and I still struggle. Sometimes I struggle with fear and anxiety, but I'm so thankful that I have got a safe place to take off the mask and to say, you know what? Today, I'm not okay. Right? So I'm thankful for the accountability. Can I tell you, I look around this room, and I'm so excited at all the beautiful faces that I see. Y'all, I'm telling you, I could get used to this. I'm just saying. Anyways. All right. So really quick, if this is your very first time, we are a 12-step faith-based program. What that means is we only have one higher power, and that's Jesus Christ. Amen? Amen. All right. Really quick, if you have little people, and you want them to not be here in this room with you, we have our children's ministry over in room D, over here, if you want to take your children. If not, they're welcome to stay with us. I am going to forewarn you, we have a very interesting testimony tonight. So I don't know if, is it good for little ears to hear it? Probably not. Okay. All right. I'm just so excited, y'all. We have Dave and Anita Dugan with us tonight, right? So I hope y'all came expecting. How many of y'all saw the promo on Facebook, social media? How many of y'all saw it? How many of y'all actually read the little article that I had put in the promo? No one read it? Was that not amazing? Now, what year was that? Was that like late 60s, early 70s? 1975. Can I just tell that part? Because I'm just like wowed by that. 1975, and this lovely lady, whom I thought was just a quaint little church lady, was arrested for smuggling $3.75 million worth of marijuana. That's what we're talking about. In 1975, y'all. 1975. She a hustler. She a hustler. So I can't wait to hear the rest of the story. So I hope y'all came expecting. So really quick, we do respect your confidentiality and anonymity. So if you see some folks walking around taking your pictures, because you know what? Y'all are the living proof that recovery is possible. And if you'll allow us, we want to be able to share that with Blount County. And so we do like to post pictures on social media. But if you don't, how can I say this? If you don't want your business on Front Street, we absolutely respect that. Just let us know and we would happily delete the pictures. Except for this group right here. That's what I'm talking about. And there's a group back there too. I see you ladies over there. And I'm just, I'm just going to give a shout out. Those are our

girls from Blount County Jail. Can I tell you? Oh, they make me so happy. Awesome people. Anyways, also another thing I want to remind y'all. How many of y'all are aware that we are a smoke-free, tobacco-free campus? About two of you. Okay. So let's talk about that really quick. So our church, our leadership is so kind that they let us smoke and they let us vape on Tuesday nights. We get it. And there's actually a bucket right under the awning that y'all are welcome to use. But I'm going to ask that if you come on campus any other day, I'm going to ask that you not smoke or vape on this campus. Okay, guys? Is that an amen? Yes? Okay, cool. All right. So we are going to open in prayer in just a moment. And then we're going to have some amazing, amazing worship. And then I cannot wait for our speaker. So let's be about our father's business. Y'all want to rise? I know for some of y'all that's triggering. I get it. I know. Are we ready? So together we start with whose father? Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For that is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen. Y'all are welcome to have a seat for 2.5 seconds. So really quick, tonight is our second week of our forgiveness series. How many of y'all were here for that last week? Yes. So we'll have that after large group in the sanctuary right over here. Okay. So what does that mean for the rest of us, y'all? What happens at 8.15? Yes. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Oh, actually no. Katie said you can stay here. but you'll just be in the forgiveness class. Yes, that's how that works. Okay, so please stay, we'd love to have you. I heard last week we got a lot of positive feedback. People really, really liked it. So, all right, and then also, tis the season, it's 5K. Y'all look like, especially this group right here, like a bunch of runners. Right, a bunch of runners. So we got a 5K going on March 28th,

and you can use your high-fangled phone there to shoot that QR code, and we would love for you to register, or if you're like, man, I'm not a runner, that's okay, you can walk. We'll even let you crawl without judgment, without judgment, or you can also volunteer, because we also need volunteers. So, will you please join us? We want to bring awareness to recovery in Blount County. You know, there are resources available. There's no reason why someone shouldn't be able to recover and heal, amen? All right, so I'll expect to see you all there. No pressure. Does peer pressure still work when you're 55? All right, so really quick, who's gonna help me with my 12 steps? I got Joseph. And who? Gage. Yeah, I couldn't read the writing. Must be a doctor wrote that. Do me a favor and grab that other mic for me. How you doing? I'm good, how you doing? All right. Hey, I think it's already on. You sure? Okay, is this on?

Start talking. So, this is the 12 Steps with the Biblical Comparisons. Oh, I'm Joseph with Epperson Ministries. And I'm Gage with Epperson Ministries as well. All right, so we're gonna do the 12 Steps with the Biblical Comparisons, and step one is we admitted we were powerless over our addiction and the compulsive behavior, and that our lives had become unmanageable. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7, 18. Number two, step two, we came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to our sanity. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to to fulfill his good purpose, Philippians 2, 13. Step three, we made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and prosper worship, Romans 12, one. Step four, we made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. And now, our Lord has tested us. Let us return to the Lord. Let our temptations be forfeited. Step five, we admitted to God, to ourselves,

and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other, and that you may be healed. James 5, 16. Amen. We were, step six, we were entirely ready to remove, to have God remove all these defects of character. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up, James 4, 10. Step seven, we humbly asked him to remove all our shortcomings. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from John 1, 9. Step eight, we made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Do to others as you would have them do to you, Luke 6, 31. Amen. Okay, step nine, we made direct amends to such people whenever possible, and accept one to do so would injure them or others. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, you leave your gift at the altar. First, go to your brother and then come and offer your gift, Matthew 5, 23 through 24. Step 10, we continue to take personal inventory and we were wrong, promptly admitted it. So if you think you are standing firm, be careful, don't fall.

First Corinthians 10, 12. Step 11, we sought through prayer and meditation to approve our conscious contact with God, praying only for the knowledge of his will for us and power to carry on. Carry it out. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Galatians 3, 16. Step 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all of our affairs. Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore the person gently and watch yourself, you'll be tempted. Galatians 6, 1. Hey, everybody. I'm gonna do something different because even though I may be older, I'm still a hippie. I just kind of clean up good for my husband because he's so square. But anyhow, my name is Anita. Hi, guys. I have been straight and sober for 50 years. Woo! Let me say that again because every time I come to Celebrate Recovery, I want every chip there is. Five-O, 50 years.

Okay? And the thing I wanna say, because I'm sitting here because I just got over the flu and I just kind of wanna be comfortable and have a conversation. But I wanna tell you all something. I have been crying all day. And I'm gonna explain to you why just real quick before I tell you about myself. I've done a lot of these. I've gone out of the country. I've spoken to women, like lots of women, about Jesus and their broken hearts and being healed from an addiction, child abuse, disappointment, rejection. But this is my dream, sitting with people who are like me. I may not look a lot like you, but I have more in common with you than anywhere else I've ever preached. And I wanna thank you for honoring me. I really wanna thank you for that. All these wonderful young men and beautiful women, my heart is just full of love and compassion right now. And I wrote this down because I was crying this morning and I thought, Jesus was talking to me and I was asking him real quick, Jesus, what can I tell all these wonderful people about how much I love you, how much I love you, Jesus? And I'm gonna just read this

because I wrote it down and spoke it into my phone and I was crying while I was writing it. So this is why I wanna tell you this and I wanna make it very clear with all of you what this is really about tonight. It's the most wonderful thing that has ever happened in my life. Besides my children, my grandchildren and my husband, it is the number one most wonderful thing that has ever happened in my life. Jesus is my best friend. And you all listen to this because it's important that you know this about yourself. Jesus is our best friend. He's our best friend. This is more important even than a testimony. He is my redeemer. He is my savior. He is my salvation. And that is the only reason I'm alive and able to sit here. I would stand but I have the flu, so I'm sitting. To tell you why I'm alive. And that's something you need to hold on to even if you fail, even if you fall, even if you go back a little and you're discouraged, just remember from whence you came and who rescued you. And that's Jesus. So she, Kat told you that I got arrested, we used to call it busted, in 1975. And she was here all looking at me like, oh my God.

God, that's really a long time ago. How old is this lady? Last week, I turned 79 years old. And I'm not ashamed to tell you that I run hard radically after Jesus. And I will continue doing that until my last breath. And oh, what a reward after that, right? Wow. So in 1975, I lived in Miami. And in case y'all haven't told yet, I'm Jewish. I was raised in a Jewish home in Miami, Florida. But now, I'm a Jew that loves Jesus, okay? And I got involved with a very large Colombian drug ring. And we were smuggling drugs from the Bahamas to Miami, flying planes, sailboats, bead boats, so on and so forth. I know that's hard to believe. I can't even believe it. You know, I'm sitting here and thinking, oh my God, this is a true story. This is like a true story. And the reason I got involved is I was a single mom and a drug addict, okay? And I had to have those drugs to save my own life because I was broken being divorced with two children, a single mom. I know it's an excuse, but when you're a drug addict, you wanna be on your drugs. So I moved into this house in Coconut Grove, Florida, with a bunch of smugglers and my children, which by the way, the Lord has forgiven me.

But at that time, that was really stupid. And we got involved in a big haul that was out of the coast of Mississippi. And we all went, we took speedboats, trucks, a bunch of us. We went to Mississippi and we unloaded a freighter of $3.7 million worth of marijuana off the coast of Mississippi. What we didn't know is it was a sting operation. And they had surveillance. I don't think they had drones back then, but they had surveillance watching us unload the bales of marijuana off the freighter into speedboats, into trucks in Mississippi. They were watching us. And they had all of this pictures. They were just taking pictures everywhere. I know you all have different stories. Some are really worse than mine. But if you boil it down, it's still pain. It's still getting busted. It's still being a drug addict. You know, no, I didn't lose my kids. You know, thank God. There were many times I could have because I was suicidal. I tried to take my life five times growing up as a girl. So they all got away. There were five of them that got away. And my boss threw me the keys to her Cadillac, gave me $4,500 and said, go to Alabama.

So dummy me, I dumped all the marijuana, got rid of the amphetamines, got in her car, barefoot, just socks, with $4,500 in my sock, and headed towards Alabama in her car. So guess who they arrested? They arrested her, me. But they arrested me under her name and threw me in jail. Okay, so I'm gonna fast forward to today. Okay, so I'm gonna fast forward because, you know, we have time limit here and I can come back and it is a long story. But I'm in jail. My poor Jewish dad's crying. He comes to save me. And oh my God, there was a bondsman that flew in. You know where that bondsman came from. He came from Columbia. Because my dad, who has scrap metal business in Miami, got a call from the drug lords in Columbia and they told him that if I talked, he was gonna find me with a ball and chain in the bottom of the Miami River. So, I really was frightened, and when they came, you know, the bondsman came with an airplane and my dad said, oh, we'll just, he'll take us home. I said, no, we're not going home with him, because I wouldn't get home, would I? No, I wouldn't make it home at all, no one would ever see me again, or my dad. So I said, we're going to the airport. We got on a plane. And this part I don't understand.

This is the odd part. I had the fake passports from my boss and her boyfriend. I drove to the bank, got in the safety deposit box, got their fake passports, got to them. They gave me more marijuana and money, and the DEA agents or the federal agents never even followed me. So I wrapped the kids up, and my ex-husband called me from Gatlinburg, he had already heard about it, it was in Rolling Stones magazine and on the news, and he said to me, I need to come to Gatlinburg. So I thought, this is a really good opportunity, I'll come to Gatlinburg and I'll drop the kids off. To be honest with you, I was probably going to kill myself. I was afraid they were going to kill the kids. When you get a threat like that, you're afraid for your children, right? So I went to Gatlinburg, because I knew the children had been there for the summer, and I met Dave. He led me to the Lord in less than 24 hours, and we got married in four months, we've been married 50 years. I fast forward through all that, but the beautiful part about it is, and I can tell by the clock I have time. When I met Dave, I hated him, I hated Dave Dugan. The children had flown into the Bahamas for the summer, they had been in Gatlinburg, they both got saved. I opened up the suitcase and it was full of Bibles and Jesus stuff. I went to the ocean, I was not cursing God, because I always loved God as a Jewish girl. I loved God. He was my friend. That's why I guess it was so easy to fall in love with Jesus, I guess. But I threw those books in the ocean, I cursed my ex-husband, I said, what the heck? I used worse words than that, but I'll be kind. And they talked about David, David, David, David, oh, the shepherd and pastor David.

David, David, David, oh, my God. By the time I got to Gatlinburg, I hated him, and I had not even met him yet. I mean, I'm sitting in my ex-husband's house, he pulls up, first day, and the kids squeal and they go running to him and they're picking him up and twirling him around. Mark was eight, Jenny was going to be five, okay, they were little, okay. David, David, oh, my God. So my ex-husband's wife asked if he could take me to the mall the next day, it was day after Christmas, to buy the children coats because I'm from Miami and it was snowing, you know, in Gatlinburg. He said, well, I guess I'll take her. I thought, oh, my God, I have to get in the car with Andy and Mayberry. I don't even know, you young people, if you know who Andy and Mayberry is. Holy cow, his shirts were buttoned up to here, he had a little white Chevy Nova, I mean, he was so square, and he had a little Bible in his back pocket, and of course, look at me, I'm a drug addict, why am I judging him? I mean, I got so high to get in that car with that man, to go over the mountains to Maryville on top of it, Andy and Mayberry, Maryville, did you get it? Oh, my God, help me, Jesus, right? I guess the little Jew's coming at me right now, but I'm being very transparent and honest with you, I was ticked off. So, we went and got the coats, you know, and that was nice, and I saw over in Midland, I don't know if you all are familiar with Midland, there used to be a Christian bookstore there, okay, we're winning profits there, okay. And I didn't know, I just knew I threw the kids' things away, okay, I did not know I was being set up, okay, I was like in another world, to be honest, okay, and I won't go to the part in the car, anyone used to talk to the rabbits, and prayed in the mountains, and all that, I won't do it, okay, so, and that's in the car when I'm not saved yet. And I'm thinking, what have I gotten myself into? All right, so I'm trying, I'm doing a rabbit trail here, but it's a joke.

Anyway, I said, I wanna go in that store. I need to buy a book for the kids. And I bought a living Bible. Okay, so we're in the car, we're coming back, and I'm flipping through the Bible. I'm going, what is this, what is this, what is this? And you know how God highlights things to you? Well, he can do it when you're not saved, too. Trust me, he'll highlight the word of God to you, where it's just for you, and he'll pierce your heart, and you'll know that it's for you and nobody else. I said, what is this word, grace? What's grace? I mean, I was very bitter and hid, I was broken, you know? So, I mean, I was kind of rough, I was rough. And I said, what's grace? Is this like you sign a contract and then you can change your mind in 24 hours? I mean, I was a salesman, that's what, you understand that when you sign a contract to buy a car or whatever? And I know the little green light went on in him, you know, he said, oh, well, that's about the grace of God. I said, I don't know what that is. He said, forgiveness. And I looked at him and I said, nobody, nobody could ever forgive me, not even my parents for what I've done, nobody. And it's so real right now because of the way God touched my heart through this.

And Dave said to me, oh, but I knew somebody who will and already has. And I said, who? I mean, this, you know, when you're Jewish, you don't, you know, it's Moses, you know? I don't even know if any of you even understand that. I said, who? He said, Jesus, Jesus. That's all I had to say. Something hit me like a fireball in my heart. It's trembling all over. Y'all know what that is? You remember the ones that have been saved, the ones that are clean, the ones that are struggling. It's Jesus. We know that, don't we? Other people may be in front of us, they don't understand, but we understand, and we're never gonna let it go. So we go back to my ex-husband's house, nobody's there, the children are with my ex-husband doing something, and Dave said to me, would you like to receive, would you like to ask Jesus into your heart? I didn't even know what that meant. I didn't know about heaven, I didn't know anything. I just knew I was desperate, and I needed something to give me life. And I said, well, I have one question, which now the Lord's healed me of this. I wasn't very smart in school.

So I said, plus, I have a sense of humor, okay, as you can't tell already. I said, do I have to take a test? Because if I have to take a test, I'm gonna fail. Not knowing, we're tested every day, right? Every day, we're tested, and I was still a drug addict. Okay, I still had my marijuana. I mean, I brought it with me, and my amphetamines. I brought that with me. And I said, yes, and we prayed the salvation prayer together and before my kids, my ex-husband, his wife even came home, I knew the Lord. I mean, yes, I had to go to Mississippi four times in a year, seven, oh, well, how many? Seven times, I was re-arrested because they realized they had the wrong lady. So they had to re-arrest me under three names, Anita Prince, Anita Holtzman, and an alias. I'm telling you, I could be dead right now. I could be dead or serving time, 15 years. I was up for 15 years. And there, again, I have to tell you this, one little thing about scriptures, because I was so excited about knowing Jesus, there was no containing me. Y'all remember that? Are all of you still there, or do you need to ask the Lord to give you your first love back? Huh, huh? Do you remember that?

I'm asking a question now. I'm challenging you to give your life back to Jesus or fall back in love with him like you never have before. Never. ever. So, like I said, you know, I didn't know the word at all. And this is, this is kind of humorous, really. Dave had worked for the phone company then. And he'd climb poles and then come see me. And it was really quite romantic, to be honest. It really was. But I had never read the word. I didn't know the difference between Old and New Testament. I really didn't know anything. And Lord gave me, oh, thank you. How did you know? I have my voice, though. This is, this is quite interesting, really, to be honest. I'm alone and the Lord spoke to me before I even began to read the Bible. Okay. And Dave came, David came to my visit. And I said to him, oh, Jesus told me that if I hide his word in my heart, that I would never sit against him. And Dave said, Nita, that is Psalm 19, that is Psalm 119, 11, excuse me, Psalm 11911. So I looked it up. I marked it. This I marked in 1975. Okay. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you, oh Lord. So, you see, God could speak to you, the very word of God, without you even knowing the Bible. When you're desperate, when you're desperate, he can do that. Okay, so time goes by. David, who worked for the phone company, drove me to Mississippi seven times in one year. What a guy, huh? Seven times in one year. He drove me. He watched me get rearrested. He watched the federal agents put me back in a car and drive all the way to Biloxi, was it? Jackson, Mississippi. He followed it. He saw them rearrest me, reprint me, interrogate, the DE agent and a fed agent were in that car interrogating me. I was in the backseat the entire time, and I never said a word. I never opened my mouth because they wanted to find my boss. Obviously, you know, they wanted to know about the drug ring in Bogota, which, you know, I don't know if you follow the news. In the past few years, some of those guys got busted and killed, and I knew who they were. My foot's racking, racking because I'm so nervous telling you all this. I just, you know, it really isn't about me, okay? It's about being rescued in the midst of our sin and brokenness and addiction. That's what it's about. That's why I was so excited to come here and be with you all. You all who I'm like, believe it or not. Yeah, I clean up good, like I said, but that's not who I really am. I'm a child of the God. I'm a child of God. He loves me. He's preparing all of us to be

brides, men and women. We are going to be his bride. So anyway, I get this attorney, Crocker Jack attorney from Miami, and Mississippi did not like him at all. He was the biggest drug dealer and what do you call it? A defense attorney you could get in Miami. Do not confess. You're not guilty. Do not confess. I've got this. And everywhere we went, those judges were like, oh my God, I'm in trouble. And finally Dave, he's a good old boy, said, honey, we got to get a different attorney. We got to get someone from Mississippi that wears suspenders, wears boots. So we got rid of Ray and we hired this. Okay, now I got to tell you this. My boss, who was so afraid that I was going to talk, she paid for the bail. My bail was 150 grand. And she's the one who sent Ray Sandstrom. But we traded over to this wonderful attorney, you know, and he said to me, Anita, you got to plead guilty. You have to plead guilty. Now there were five of us. Okay. And I found out that Some of these people I lived with were escaped prisoners from, wanted by the law. One was a murderer. One was a rapist. I cannot believe I even lived with them, okay? So here's the other scripture, and then I'm gonna wind it up. When he told me Ray was gone, I don't remember the name of that other attorney, but he sure was a godsend, let me tell you. He was a godsend. I cried out to God, and I said, Lord, if I plead guilty, I'm gonna go to prison. Well, we already sat at a table with all the DEA agents, and all they did was open a briefcase, slide all those photographs all the way across the table, and there I was in every picture. So I mean, a picture speaks a thousand words, right? So by this time, Dave and I are married. Four months in, we're married,

and the Lord gives me this scripture. This is amazing. This is amazing. It was Psalm 25, 13. No, I'm sorry. 26 one, vindicate me, O Lord, for I have led a blameless life. I have turned to you, Lord, without wavering. Test me, O Lord, and try me. Examine my heart and my mind, for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in you. I do not sit with the deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites. It was obvious that the Lord wanted me to throw myself at the mercy of the court, because he promised me if I pleaded guilty, he was gonna vindicate me. It's easy for me to say now, I mean, I still went through the, oh my God, I'm gonna go to prison, my kids, you know. But I did, I did not go to prison. And the attorney who did not know that scripture, he told the judge, your honor, she has thrown herself, she's throwing herself on the mercy of the court. She does not interact with any of these people ever again. She has embraced Christianity. She has embraced Christianity to the fullest, and married a wonderful man.

Please, your honor, have mercy on her. All of them went to prison but me. All of them went to prison but me. It took a long time, though, healing, because in my heart, I was still in prison. You know, I would cry, I was afraid, I kept looking out the door, thinking they were gonna come get me. Any of you understand that? You understand that, that fear? You're still living in it. How do I get free from it? Well, you know, Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted. He came to set the captives free. That's who he is. And we're all captives. And he wants to heal us. And we can, like Kat said, she still has days. You know, I mean, I've had the flu for four days. I didn't even know if I was gonna be able to pull this off. I didn't have a voice, and listen, I have a voice. I have a voice. I have a voice. I have a voice. I have a voice. I have a voice. I have a voice. I have a voice. I have a voice. All right, so I'm gonna, can I shift gears a little bit?

All right, so he ain't coming up here. But Dave Dugan is an amazing man of God. He has been my friend. He adopted the children. He's the best dad. And they're all grown now, we have grandchildren. He's the best dad, and everybody loves Papa Dave. Everybody loves Papa Dave. So he ain't gonna come up, so I'm gonna tell you about him. We were married five and a half years. Yeah, I think it was done with probation then, five years in. I'm still have a, what do you call it? Huh? Yeah, I was still on probation, okay. So we got hurt by a church. Who's been church hurt? Church hurt. Yeah, you turned off. You blame your alcoholism and your drugs on church, right? But it's always been in there anyway. I know. Church hurt. So my wonderful husband. who was straight as an arrow, started drinking because he got hurt by the church. And it increased, and it increased, and it increased, and it increased, and he became an out-and-out alcoholic. 13 years, my husband, who I adore and love, was a drunk. Still climb the corporate ladder with the phone company,

but on the weekends, honey, my husband, he was a happy drunk, that's what was terrible. I mean, he didn't hit me or, he was a happy drunk, but he was out of it all the time. I mean, he really was, it was horrible for me. It was horrible for me, it really was. I had Christian women and pastors say, you need to leave him, what is your problem? He's demon-possessed, leave him, you have every right to leave him. And I loved, I loved, you know, this is what I felt. He fell in love with me and adopted my kids knowing I may go to prison. He fell in love with a drug addict, who, by the way, God healed me and delivered me right after I got saved, okay? So why was I gonna leave him? And this is what I would tell people. I know that someday God is gonna bring me back to the man I fell in love with, and I ain't going nowhere. And this Thanksgiving, it has been 26 years since I've been sober. And look at him now, I can't live with him, he's praise and tongues and all the time the house is blasting, he's Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I can't even hear what I'm listening to. He is a magnificent intercessor. He's just a great guy, you know? I'm more public, you know, I go talk to people everywhere I go and pray and prophesy.

This man, he's on his knees, crying out to Jesus. So he's the real deal if you want prayer. I mean, I'll pray for you too, but we pray good together. Okay, we do, we pray good together. I'm looking at the time right there. My husband's telling me I'm running out of time. So I guess I am done. I flushed all the marijuana down the toilet, little piece at a time, it took a couple hours. I held the toilet and prayed and cried, and that's how God delivered me. How that toilet did not get clogged up, I have no idea. And then one trip to Mississippi, I threw the amphetamines out the window. And I had a weight problem ever since, but that's okay. Anyway, so we're free, aren't we all? Are we free? Are we free? In Jesus' name, we're free! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! And the next step coming to mind is we don't ever judge a book by its cover, amen? You never know what lies beneath the cover. And you are such a blessing to so many of us, so thank you for your heart.