Hometown Madison - January & February 2017

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job or maybe they just need someone to talk to. Maybe they need to be at a different school. Maybe they just need proper support from their parents. Or maybe they just need to figure out what they like to do that makes them happy. Maybe they need to go to rehab or maybe they just need go to church more. The list of “maybes” can go on and on and on. So, what is the answer? Maybe you yourself have struggled with addiction or maybe you personally know of someone that has. If so, you know that trying to find the solution can be an endless maze of confusion that always brings you back to the beginning. Often, the one thing that may seem to work for a while one day, doesn’t. And the one struggling is back at it again as if they never stopped—and are probably getting worse. It’s as if they can’t see what they’re doing to themselves and the people around them and, if they can see, they don’t seem to care because they just keep doing it. It’s as if they’ve lost all care about life in general and no longer have any hopes or desires. All they seem to be concerned about is themselves and whatever substance it is that they are addicted to. If they actually cared about themselves and everyone else around them wouldn’t they just stop? Why do they keep doing this? I have one reason for writing this story. That one reason is to somehow grab someone’s attention that needs to hear this. Whether it’s the addicted or someone trying to help the addicted, here’s the point: I spent years “trying” to get sober. I tried so hard to get my life together and failed time after time, which only made things worse. I was furious at myself for continually failing—over and over and over again. Finally, two years ago, I found myself sitting in rehab for the fifth time. I was at a very rough place—a low-point in my life where I didn’t know what to do anymore. I was miserable and no longer cared about anything. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could even try. I was so low in life that I seriously considered becoming homeless and just doing drugs until I died. I hated myself. I was done. I made a call to my parents from rehab and they mentioned a place called Teen Challenge. They said it was different and that I should try it. I called another friend from rehab and, ironically, he mentioned this Teen Challenge place, too. He had heard about it on the radio. I had absolutely no desire to go but, for whatever reason, agreed to at least look into it. I wound up at Teen Challenge of the Dakotas in Brookings, South Dakota. It’s the best place I could’ve ever “wound up” and it was at just the right time. When I got there I was so broken and at such a bad place in my life that I was willing to listen to practically anything they had to say. This is when things changed. They told me that there was actually nothing wrong with me. They said I didn’t have any disorders like many doctors had told me. They taught me God’s word, inside and out. They showed me that all along I had been searching for God’s love and didn’t even realize it—I was just searching in the wrong places. I had fallen prey to believing the devil’s lies. I believed that drugs were the only thing I had to help me cope. I thought that without them I couldn’t make it and that nobody understood the things going on with me. Ended up that was all just a big lie. I had begun to rely on drugs in the same way I was supposed to be relying on God. The drugs may have helped me feel better for a while but they always ended up bringing disaster. God doesn’t do that. God always works for our good, but I didn’t know how to rely on Him. It didn’t make much sense to me. I literally had to be taught how to rely on God. Through scripture and through leaders teaching us by example, I learned to talk to God. I learned to read God’s word. And I 12 • Jan/Feb <strong>2017</strong>
learned that God has a love so deep for me that I can’t even understand it. I learned that by Jesus Christ dying on the cross for my sins, I’m forgiven of all the things that haunted me day and night, and I can be free from those chains. Not only can I be free from that life, but I can now live an awesome fulfilling life by trusting God and carrying out what He has planned for me. That doesn’t mean it’s easy—but it’s more than worth it. If I wanted to go back and start doing drugs right now, I could. But why would I? Why would I go back to something that creates a temporary feel-good and escape when God offers me a life from which I never want to escape or hide. If you are the one struggling with addiction or anything for that matter, God doesn’t care what you’ve done no matter how bad you may think it is. He just wants you to come to Him. He wants you to let Him change your life inside and out. He wants to give you a reason to live. The decision to put your trust in God, is completely up to you, but I can attest that it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. And it’s one that I’ll never regret. Praise God for grace. Closing from Dad . . . My wife Joni and I drove Ben to South Dakota. He was broken and facing multiple criminal charges. And as we pulled away, we were convinced we would never see him again this side of Heaven. He was tired, defeated, beaten, and had no desire to continue living. But God wasn’t done with Ben. Honestly, if we hadn’t actually lived our story, I wouldn’t believe it. Addiction is unbelievable. I began to journal one day simply as therapy, and 15 days later had written 67,000 words. It is our prayer that our story may serve as hope to those families entangled in addiction, and as a warning to parents of young children as they navigate raising Godly children in an ungodly world. (The paperback, Pride Aside, may be purchased at www.prideaside.org and on Amazon. Ebooks are available on Kindle, iBooks, and Nook.) <strong>Hometown</strong> madison • 13
Page 1 and 2: Volume 3 Number 1 Jan/feb 2017 All
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Page 6 and 7: A small building with a drive-thru
Page 8 and 9: Other formulas include Super Fuel,
Page 10 and 11: Addiction Lurking Ben Hutton’s St
Page 14 and 15: PROPERTIES • PAULA RICKS • PAUL
Page 16 and 17: HOPE Susan Marquez Some things happ
Page 18 and 19: 2 Goals I hope to reach this year 1
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Page 22 and 23: Although Lucky doesn’t have a mea
Page 24 and 25: 24 • Jan/Feb 2017 Loving when it
Page 26 and 27: Oh Happy Day Susan Marquez 26 • J
Page 28 and 29: and realized that I loved everythin
Page 30 and 31: Why take your business or your skil
Page 32 and 33: 32 • Jan/Feb 2017
Page 34 and 35: In 1981, Andrew Seago, at age four,
Page 36 and 37: We’ve Lost Over 482 lbs! “Healt
Page 38 and 39: serving our community Fire Marshal
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Page 42 and 43: “HE HAD BEEN ACTING A LITTLE FUNN
Page 44 and 45: FULL DIMENSIONAL STEREO See Light T
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Page 48 and 49: Thanks to our advertisers and reade
Page 50 and 51: The CHALKBOARD madison county Schoo
Page 58 and 59: Camille Anding The Time Coin Alonel
Page 60: Make a plan to ring in the New Year

Hometown Madison - January & February 2017

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