My name is Suzanna, and I’m a believer who struggles with opiate addiction. I accepted Christ into my heart when I was 19 years old, but I did not fully commit every area of my life to His control. I was still trying to live life based off the world’s standards, and at 25 years old I began to use prescription pain pills as a way to mask unwanted feelings. At 30 years old, after hitting my rock bottom, I decided to get help on my own, but I still felt something was missing. I was clean from opiates for 5 months when I joined Celebrate Recovery, and the first night I attended was when my true recovery started. The lesson that night was about committing your whole will to Christ’s care and control after accepting him into your heart.

That night while sitting in the first pew of the Old Sanctuary, I said a prayer and submitted everything to Christ’s care and control. I was afraid I would be expected to change all the hurts, habits, and hang-ups I had all at once, but God knows what each of us needs when we need it. Little by little he revealed to me hurts I just let build up over the years, and as I confessed I was powerless to change them by myself my wounds began to heal. I began to live one day at a time by the truth of God’s word, by His promises, seeing the world as Jesus would see it and not as I would. When I allowed Him to, God has made these incredible changes in me and every day I am still changing. Not because of anything I have done, but because of what Jesus Christ has done for all of us. In Jeremiah 29:11, God’s word says, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” The Lord my rock and my strong tower has given me a great hope, a beautiful future and a family in Jesus Christ and that family is Celebrate Recovery. Thank you.