"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."
--Zephaniah 3:17
A list of characters who played a role as vessels to allow us to end up where we are today:
Karen Hilborn--my high school dance coach and one of my best friend's now. I coached beside her for four years (two at the junior high level and two at the high school level). Karen coaches the Benton High School cheerleaders.
Holly Trantham--Karen Hilborn's close friend. Holly coached and taught alongside Karen for several years. She coached the Benton High School Pepsteppers. As the coach of the team, she hired me to choreograph routines. Holly and I were not close, but we were friends. I came into Holly's job and taught the same classes and coached the same team only four years after Holly and her family left Benton.
Kelly--Holly's best friend. I had no clue who Kelly was.
Bobby--Kelly's brother. I had no clue who Bobby was.
I think it is important to explain who the people are and what their connection was in the beginning so that you can understand the full story.
Last time I left you, we had had our "Intervention" with Todd. He was told he would go to a one year rehab in Russellville, AR. He only said yes so that we would get off his back. He wasn't excited and he wasn't really willing. The only thing he knew was that he had no other choice.
I remember when we were in the doctor's office like it was yesterday. When we left, I had the biggest sense of relief. I had told Todd what he would lose. I had told him I was tired of all the mess he was putting Beckett and me through. I had done my job. However, I was so nervous for this all to be pulled off. See, Todd was the master of all schemers. He will tell you that today even. He could con his way out or into any situation.
After we left the doctor's office, I just really needed to talk to someone. Someone I trusted and someone I knew would tell me the truth. I called Karen. She always will tell me what I NEED to hear, not necessarily what I WANT to hear. I told her about the "Intervention." I told her about Russellville. I told her about Todd's reaction. Everything. She already knew most of it, but by the end of the conversation, she was up to full speed. As we neared the end, Karen remembered a crazy story about addiction that Holly had once told her. She couldn't remember it all exactly, so she decided to call Holly.
Within minutes of getting off the phone with Karen, I was on the phone with Holly. I told Holly everything. I told her about Todd's addiction and how it was tearing our family apart. I told her how I was so tired of all the lies and manipulations. I told her I was ready for something to break, whether it be a good thing or a bad thing. Holly responded with one of the most hopeful stories I had heard in a long time. You see, when you are around the addiction lifestyle, you don't always hear hopeful stories. You hear of relapse. You hear of jail sentences. You hear of death. You rarely hear of freedom, redemption, and life. This was the kind of story Holly told me. She told me about her friend, Kelly, who had a brother, Bobby. Bobby had fallen into the same cycle of addiction that Todd was in. He tried different kinds of rehabs, leaving only to relapse and fail again. He had broken relationships and people's trust. And then, he hit rock bottom. When that happened, Kelly introduced Bobby to a ministry called Victory Temple Ministries. At Victory Temple, Bobby had found a relationship like no other. He found a relationship with God that changed his life forever. However, she warned me that Victory Temple was not like any other "rehab" or "institution" Todd had ever been too. There, he wouldn't be able to smoke (I thought, "Thank goodness."), take his depression or anxiety medications, talk on the phone, have random visits, etc. To me, that was awesome. I hated Todd smoking. I even made him change his clothes when he came in from smoking. I hated him taking medication. Not that I think anything is wrong with medication, but when you have to ration the medication for a 25 year old every day and just hope that he doesn't find where you hid it and take too many, it's not fun. And since I was so tired of dealing with our relationship, I didn't care about seeing or talking to him.
Holly got me pumped up. She's really good at that. After talking to her, I actually had a little hope that Todd would be able to change. Then, came the big task. I had to research the place for myself and I had to convince Todd's family that Victory Temple was the place we had been looking for the past couple of years. As we looked over the website for Victory Temple, we were a little hesitant. It seemed like an extremely radical place and honestly, I didn't know if Todd could handle it. When I say radical, I mean radical for God. Yes, we all had gone to church for our entire lives, but could Todd really be radical for God and could he really be radical enough to change forever?
To convince us all it was the place, we had to check a few references. Of course. Remember, we were the enablers and we had to do our job. Holly told me to call Bobby. When I did, I couldn't even believe the things that Holly had told me about his past life. He sounded like a man that really had it all together. His family had been restored. He loved God more than life itself and he even prayed for Todd and me over the phone. This was something I had never known to happen before. I actually felt that someone REALLY cared about Todd's well-being. After talking to him, I was convinced.
Todd's parents took a little more convincing. I remember running inside to their house, where Todd was passed out. It was actually the night I showed a video of a couple of posts ago. I was so excited and ready to go that night. Todd's dad decided to call the place. As he called, I looked it up on the internet and showed it to his mom. Steve, Todd's dad, talked to the home director. It's funny to think about the questions he asked them that night:
-Are you a cult?
-Do you speak in tongues?
-Can he smoke?
-Can he take his medicine?
-etc.
After about thirty minutes of talking to the home director, they cautiously agreed.
Todd woke up a few minutes later to find the computer screen directly in front of his face with Victory Temple Ministries website on the screen. Steve said, "Todd, this is where you are going in the morning. We are leaving at 6:00 am."
We left the next morning at 6:00. It was the most torturous ride ever. As you have read, Todd was as high as a kite. He was either talking our ear off or snoring really loud. Beckett was sitting in between us and he didn't pay him any attention. He had NO idea what was really going on. We had to stop every hour or so for him to smoke or "use the bathroom." It was tiring putting up with him like that.
When we got to the home, Bobby met us outside. He didn't seem anything like a drug addict. He was well dressed. He spoke clearly. He seemed genuine and acted as if he cared about Todd. He showed us the church and other facilities as Todd was getting "checked in." I say it like that because when we got back to the Men's Home (where Todd would be the next six months), Todd came straight up to me and very clearly stated, "They anointed me." I laughed and said, "Good. You need it."
Bobby prayed for us. Todd said his quick goodbyes and that was it. We left him.
I wanted you to know this complex web of past and present connections to know this: God was writing our story right in front of our eyes. If Kelly would not have been friends with Holly, Holly would never have known Bobby's story. If Karen wasn't friends with Holly, Karen would have never known Bobby's story. And most importantly for us, if Karen would not have known Bobby's story, Todd, Meagan, and Beckett McGuire would not be the family they are becoming today. This was only the beginning of journey with God through Victory Temple. We had no idea the things to come that God had already designed.
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