From a very early age, Bree’s life seemed to be defined by loss and heartache. When she was five years old, her grandfather passed away. As a young child, she understood that she could reach out to God for comfort during difficult times like this.
Her dad struggled with addiction, so the death of his father led to increased substance abuse. He couldn’t seem to get his life together, so eventually he and Bree’s mother divorced.
Bree was 12 years old when she started hanging out with the wrong crowd and smoking weed. By age 15, she had begun using methamphetamines. Then she started having trouble in school, and it wasn’t long before she began getting arrested repeatedly.
“I knew God was trying to get my attention those times I was sitting in jail and even in prison. I just didn’t want to hear it,” Bree said.
Her dad served 10 years in prison, and it was just two and a half years after his release that he passed away. That was another difficult loss for Bree to process. About three years ago, her mother passed away, too.
“That was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with,” Bree said. “She was my best friend, so when she died, I went completely off the deep end, doing all kinds of crazy things. Anything to keep my mind off of grieving her loss.”
That’s when she decided it was time to turn her life around. She was tired of always ending up in jail. Her family didn’t want anything to do with her. Nobody trusted her.
“When I was in jail, I decided to call Cherish, the director of the women’s program at 7 Springs, who I’ve been friends with since I was 12 years old. I told her I was tired of how I was living and needed to make a change.”
When Bree entered the recovery program at 7 Springs, she had a boyfriend whom she loved dearly. Her plan was to finish the program, marry her boyfriend and live a sober life. He had been struggling with addiction also, and on September 23, 2022, she received the call that he had overdosed and died.
“I knew that was the moment that would either make or break me. That’s when I fully decided to give my life and everything inside of me to God. It was the only time in my life that I figured out how to deal with loss the right way.”
Bree has been in the program for 18 months now, and she remains strong in her sobriety.
“I’m so close to God. I love Him with all of my heart. I know He loves me and He’ll never, ever give up on me. I used to get mad at him whenever I would suffer some sort of loss or heartbreak, wondering why he would allow me to go through that. But what I should have been doing was thanking him for keeping his hand on me and getting me through it. He never took his hand off of me. If he did, I wouldn’t be here. There’s no way.”
If you are ready to put an end to destructive cycles and develop a relationship with the God who comforts us in all our troubles, learn more about our programs.
Hear Bree’s full testimony:
