Restoring a Broken Heart, Part 2
If you have not read my blog post “Restoring a Broken Heart, Part 1,” please do so before reading the amazing conclusion to Stacy’s story.
Broken in a Million Pieces
After three consecutive days of excessive use of cocaine with Brad, Stacy knew she’d gone too far. Heart racing out of her chest to the point that it felt as though it was literally going to burst. Anxiety raging. Violent, uncontrollable rocking until she seized and lost consciousness. While blacked out, she remembered the love she felt from the Salvation Army volunteers who gave sack lunches to her family and shared Bible stories years ago. Those thoughts comforted her.
She cried out to God, “I don’t want to die like this. I don’t want to leave my daughter and my grand kids. God, you gotta help me.”
She finally said to Brad, “I did too much. I need help.”
Brad refused to call 9-1-1 because he was afraid the cops would come to the house. He knew what they would find and would arrest him. Taking her to the hospital himself meant he couldn’t finish the drugs they’d bought, so he refused to do anything. “He was so geeked up, he didn’t care if I lived or died as long as he could continue feeding his own habit,” Stacy remembers about that night. During a moment of clarity from God, Stacy drove herself to the Emergency Room.
The nurses treated her symptoms and literally saved her life. The doctor told Stacy the harsh news that she overdosed. This wasn’t news to her; rather, it confirmed what she already knew. Brad still refused to come to the hospital to be with her. So, with no other person to reach out to, Stacy called her mother.
When her mother finally arrived, the doctor discussed the seriousness of Stacy’s condition, telling her she needed to enroll in a drug rehab program immediately. Stacy’s mother responded, “Why do we have to do that? I’ll just take her home.”
Restoring a Broken Body
As much alcohol and drugs as Stacy put in her body over the course of thirty years, this overdose was Stacy’s rock bottom. Her body, her mind and her emotions couldn’t take any more abuse. After being released from the hospital, her mother dropped Stacy off at her house and left her in Brad’s care.
Instead of drug rehab, she slept. She slept away the majority of a month, unable to function for longer than an hour at a time. She experienced extreme exhaustion, fear from the uncertainty of her future, and depression. “I knew I was battling the enemy for my life,” she remembers.
During that month of hibernation, Stacy remarkably didn’t suffer the physical symptoms of withdrawal. Slowly, the toxins in her body began to release their death grip.
Restoring a Broken Spirit
She was free from the drugs, but not from Brad’s abuse. “The clearer my mind became, the more abusive Brad became,” Stacy remembers. She was no longer contributing money to feed his habit, which resulted in violence against her.
But, overcoming her addictions instilled a new confidence in her. She realized the broken spirit in her that gave permission to others to abuse, neglect and negatively influence her must be restored too. So, she kicked Brad out of her house and her life.
Crying out in the darkest moments of her overdose created a desire in Stacy to know more about God. She reached out to a local community of believers who welcomed her with open arms. A relationship with the God who loved her through all her messes took root in her broken heart. A deep healing began.
Restoring Broken Hearts
Stacy had experienced God’s love and was baptized just months after her overdose. Miles away in prison, Stacy’s daughter had her own encounter with God and was also baptized. She has since been released from prison. God is weaving a new story about her restoration.
After overcoming her addictions, Stacy desired reconciliation with her mother. Through counseling, Stacy has learned her mother loves her the only way she knows how, and she gives what she is capable of giving. Just recently, Stacy hugged her mother and didn’t experience the rejection from her that she has felt so many times before. Truly, forgiveness is the balm that heals.
Stacy is slowly experiencing restoration in the relationships with her daughter and her mother. As the breaking down part of relationships happens over time, so does the restoring part.
A ministry for others struggling with life (abuse, addictions, lack of education, joblessness, single parenting) was born on the one year anniversary of Stacy being clean and sober. She believes, “God doesn’t waste anything. If you are persistent, you can overcome. My past is not defining me. Instead, I can minister to women who have experienced difficult struggles. I want them to know they are not alone.”
Her ministry is aptly named Open Hearts, for Stacy’s broken heart experienced restoration and is now an open heart of service to others. To catch a glimpse of this powerful ministry, visit An Open Heart Ministry facebook page. In Stacy’s words: “Having an open heart gives you everything you need to overcome! WOO HOO!”
In a year and a half, 74 women have come to know God because of Stacy’s Open Heart ministry and her love for them. That number humbles me as I see firsthand how one overcomer can have such a HUGE impact on the kingdom.
Wow! There is so much to this story: the sad reality of a child slipping through the cracks, the downward spiral of desperation and the subsequent impact of hitting rock bottom only to discover that the boundless mercies of the Lord had indeed endured.
I was deeply moved by Stacy’s will to first survive and then to overcome, by the far reaching effect of, seemingly benign, acts of kindness toward a lonely little girl, by a group of Christians, and by the powerful cause and effect of one woman lifted from the ashes.
With God’s help, Stacy made some hard choices- the harder the choice, the higher she rises. What an inspiration to so many!
Stacy’s story demonstrates how God can change the direction of one life with his love. Even when you are at your lowest, he can reach down and pull you out of whatever circumstances you are in. All you have to do is cry out to him and let him take control of your life. Stacy is a beautiful example of this, and it is awesome to hear how she is using her life for God’s glory. She is a wonderful inspiration, and I hope she has all the love and happiness she so richly deserves.
Carol, Sandra and Kay ~
Stacy’s story is a perfect example of “it had to be God!” No one else deserves the credit or the glory for all of the wonderful things that have happened in her life. Thanks for your encouraging words!