Jamie Rich, leader of the Arron Lake Baptist Church Celebrate Recovery Program, continued to tell his story of hitting rock bottom. “By this time I had four DUIs, I was in and out of jail more times than I can even think of, totaled vehicles, almost killed people, I had lost my wife, I lost my kids from my addiction — just a total wreck. I was ready to end my own life.” He sought help through various venues; self-help groups, rehab centers, and psychologists.
None of it seemed to work. Then, one night in February Jamie had enough, making the fateful decision which would eventually lead him to the point of helping others going down the same road, and even some going down a different self-destructive path.
Though they were separated at the time, he called his wife, Amy, in his moment of desperation. “She said ‘I can’t help you, but I know someone who can, and His name is Jesus Christ.’ Life’s just never been the same since.” He still wondered, however, what made him go down the path he did, a need that would burn inside him until, at long last he utilized Step Study class, an innovative concept of Celebrate Recovery (CR), wherein one peels away the contrived layers under which they’ve buried the pain. “It forced me to do some steps to get to a point in my recovery that I understood why I turned to the drugs and alcohol. It was very exciting to me that I had some closure.”
Jamie and his wife, Amy, knew early on that they wanted to bring the benefits of CR to their home church and so began attending at Destiny Now on Owen Drive.
Amy, is a small group leader, as well as a training coach. A working mom of two teenage daughters, she is very active in her church. She originally became involved with CR because of Jamie. “He was jacked up,” she chuckled. “I was going to help him with his problems, but I quickly learned that I had my own problems.”
(to be continued)
