Welcome to Celebrating Life In Recover, 00:00:11.48\00:00:12.58 I Cheri your host and today we are going to look at 00:00:12.62\00:00:14.67 self-mutilation. It's a tough topic. 00:00:14.70\00:00:17.20 But you will be blessed so stay with us. 00:00:17.24\00:00:19.67 You will learn a lot about why people do what they do. 00:00:19.71\00:00:22.66 You know when I think about this show, I think about all 00:00:49.80\00:00:52.76 the different things we've covered. 00:00:52.79\00:00:54.09 This is going to be a tough topic for most people because 00:00:54.12\00:00:57.09 we do not want to think that the abuser becomes our self. 00:00:57.13\00:01:01.00 That we start out with all these traumas, all this stuff 00:01:01.04\00:01:04.88 and we become the one that hurts us the most. 00:01:04.92\00:01:07.78 We punish ourselves the most. 00:01:07.81\00:01:09.13 In this show we are going to talk about physical 00:01:09.16\00:01:12.08 punishment that people do and how God steps in and 00:01:12.11\00:01:14.99 just changes all that. 00:01:15.03\00:01:17.08 I don't care what your issue is, I don't care what your 00:01:17.12\00:01:20.53 addiction is, what things you lie to yourself about, 00:01:20.56\00:01:23.65 God is bigger than all of them, absolutely bigger 00:01:23.69\00:01:26.75 than all of them. 00:01:26.78\00:01:27.86 When I first got into recovery there were things that I 00:01:27.89\00:01:31.89 would remember and think I absolutely don't want to bring 00:01:31.92\00:01:35.30 this to God, I absolutely don't want to say this out loud. 00:01:35.33\00:01:39.06 I absolutely don't want to admit that this is part of who 00:01:39.10\00:01:42.79 I am and God says to me through the Holy Spirit, 00:01:42.83\00:01:45.57 just gently, Cheri put it on the table. 00:01:45.60\00:01:48.48 No, I can't do it I can't put it on the table. 00:01:48.51\00:01:52.56 He was like, put it on the table. 00:01:52.60\00:01:54.06 I would put it on the table with shaky hands thinking that 00:01:54.10\00:01:57.58 God is going to not like me after this. 00:01:57.62\00:01:59.91 He quickly cleared the table and set a banquet. 00:01:59.95\00:02:03.24 He said I love you, I forgive you for every single thing. 00:02:03.28\00:02:06.29 I forgive you for everything that has been done to you 00:02:06.32\00:02:09.30 and everything you did in response to that. 00:02:09.33\00:02:11.72 I forgive you for all the anger. 00:02:11.75\00:02:13.52 When I first read in the Bible from David, David is 00:02:13.55\00:02:17.04 talking to somebody about somebody and he says, 00:02:17.08\00:02:20.53 God I want you to bash their teeth in. 00:02:20.57\00:02:22.91 I'm thinking, did I just read that? 00:02:22.95\00:02:25.22 Shut up, this is too good because I have thought that. 00:02:25.26\00:02:28.50 He says I forgive you for every time you thought that. 00:02:28.54\00:02:31.75 It is so real and God is so real. 00:02:31.79\00:02:34.57 We are going to talk about some of that stuff today. 00:02:34.60\00:02:36.69 Our scripture text for this series is Psalm 51 00:02:36.72\00:02:39.41 and I love it. 00:02:39.45\00:02:40.65 I want to read this one and we will probably do different 00:02:40.68\00:02:43.98 parts of Psalm 51. 00:02:44.01\00:02:45.15 But this particular verse starts at how about 10. 00:02:45.19\00:02:49.27 "Create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a right 00:02:49.31\00:02:53.36 spirit in me. " A steadfast spirit. 00:02:53.40\00:02:56.19 I'm saying oh please because I am such a mess. 00:02:56.22\00:02:59.03 "Cast me not away from your presence and take not your 00:02:59.07\00:03:02.20 "Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your 00:03:02.23\00:03:05.94 "salvation and uphold me with your willing spirit then 00:03:05.98\00:03:09.38 "I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners shall be 00:03:09.42\00:03:12.79 "converted and returned to you. " 00:03:12.82\00:03:14.36 I think how absolutely cool is that, that God would come 00:03:14.39\00:03:19.27 up and teach me how to be right. 00:03:19.30\00:03:22.57 Teach me how to get all the junk out, to heal from all 00:03:22.61\00:03:26.96 that junk and then I get to say, wow, can I teach you what 00:03:26.99\00:03:31.31 I learned because it's so cool? 00:03:31.34\00:03:33.05 That is what we are going to cover today and I want to 00:03:33.08\00:03:35.07 introduce you to people at the café. 00:03:35.10\00:03:36.55 We have some incredible folks. 00:03:36.58\00:03:37.99 We've got Vicky Duffy and we are going to do an interview 00:03:38.03\00:03:41.50 today, Lisa, I hope we hear some of your testimony today. 00:03:41.53\00:03:44.97 Sharon, Helen, right? 00:03:45.00\00:03:47.41 Samantha and Steve, Samantha and Steve have a ministry 00:03:47.44\00:03:50.59 that we will cover on another show because it is awesome. 00:03:50.63\00:03:53.74 But today we're going to talk about self-mutilation. 00:03:53.78\00:03:56.35 I want to start by telling you, because when I talk about 00:03:56.39\00:04:00.39 different things, about self injury, self mutilation and 00:04:00.43\00:04:04.40 those things, I hear clinical descriptions of that. 00:04:04.43\00:04:09.00 Self-mutilation is when you scratch on yourself, cut on 00:04:09.04\00:04:13.57 yourself, burn yourself. 00:04:13.61\00:04:14.78 And those are the lighter self mutilations, although they 00:04:14.81\00:04:19.62 can get pretty heavy. 00:04:19.66\00:04:20.77 Major self mutilations you can pluck your eyes out, you can 00:04:20.81\00:04:23.70 mutilate yourself in your private areas, 00:04:23.73\00:04:26.39 so you can do all kinds of stuff. 00:04:26.42\00:04:27.62 Self-mutilation has all kinds of different 00:04:27.65\00:04:30.42 degrees in that. 00:04:30.46\00:04:32.06 Some people talk about suicide as self-mutilation, 00:04:32.10\00:04:34.44 it is not, that is beyond. 00:04:34.47\00:04:36.52 It is where you actually take yourself out. 00:04:36.55\00:04:38.45 Self-mutilation means I just want to stop hurting and I 00:04:38.49\00:04:41.60 think if I hurt my body I can stop. 00:04:41.63\00:04:43.71 So I'm going to tell you about a girl I know because 00:04:43.75\00:04:48.21 I want you to see it in the face of people, not in what 00:04:48.25\00:04:52.68 somebody says it is or isn't. 00:04:52.71\00:04:54.92 I met a kid and this kid came up to me, I'm doing a talk. 00:04:54.96\00:04:59.70 If I tell you on Mars you wouldn't believe me so let's say 00:04:59.73\00:05:04.44 LA, I'm doing a talk in LA at a treatment center. 00:05:04.48\00:05:08.31 This little girl comes up, she is 13 or 14 years old. 00:05:08.34\00:05:12.15 She is adorable, adorable and I can see by her bright 00:05:12.19\00:05:16.44 blue eyes, that inside this hard looking kid that 00:05:16.48\00:05:20.70 comes up is this child. 00:05:20.74\00:05:23.30 She has long blonde hair, she has black roots that are 00:05:23.34\00:05:27.06 showing about two to 3 inches in her hair is greasy. 00:05:27.10\00:05:30.75 She looks hard, she looks like somebody has really trashed 00:05:30.79\00:05:34.84 this kid, but in her eyes I see this little girl. 00:05:34.88\00:05:37.55 She is just this little girl and I had just got done 00:05:37.59\00:05:40.23 telling my testimony. 00:05:40.26\00:05:41.63 I'm a heroine addict, was homeless for 10 years, I was 00:05:41.66\00:05:44.97 bored to 14 and 16-year-old parents that had five kids 00:05:45.00\00:05:48.28 before they were 21 and the abuse was amazing. 00:05:48.31\00:05:50.91 I said amazing, the abuse was horrendous after I tell that 00:05:50.94\00:05:55.48 how I met God and how God steps in with His Holy Spirit 00:05:55.51\00:05:59.86 and just filled me up with the promise that He could bring 00:05:59.90\00:06:04.21 change into my life. 00:06:04.25\00:06:05.49 That He had a future and a plan for me that He did not 00:06:05.53\00:06:08.47 want me stuck there. 00:06:08.50\00:06:09.55 Now I travel all over the world and I love life, and I 00:06:09.59\00:06:12.50 laugh out loud and I'm married to this incredible guy and 00:06:12.54\00:06:15.15 I have a daughter that has never done drugs in her life. 00:06:15.19\00:06:18.37 Hello! Does anyone want to clap or say Amen to that? 00:06:18.40\00:06:21.54 How amazing is that? 00:06:21.58\00:06:24.60 So I was talking about that when this little kid comes up. 00:06:24.64\00:06:29.15 She says, Cheri I don't know how to not get high because 00:06:29.18\00:06:33.26 when I stop using drugs, when I stop cutting on myself, 00:06:33.30\00:06:37.35 when I stop doing this stuff the images that flood 00:06:37.38\00:06:40.49 my mind are unbelievable. 00:06:40.52\00:06:43.03 Most people know if you watched the series, my dad started 00:06:43.06\00:06:46.03 molesting me at birth and was caught the first time when 00:06:46.07\00:06:49.00 I was three months old. 00:06:49.04\00:06:50.33 I have her horrendous nightmares of some of the stuff that 00:06:50.37\00:06:53.63 happened to me as a child. 00:06:53.67\00:06:55.47 So I know what this kid is saying, I know exactly what 00:06:55.51\00:06:58.01 she is saying and so I said. 00:06:58.05\00:06:59.89 Then she said Cheri how do you get over these images? 00:06:59.93\00:07:03.85 How do you get over that junk? 00:07:03.88\00:07:05.60 I know there are things I could tell her that would do 00:07:05.64\00:07:10.09 that, hook up with the group, make sure you have somebody 00:07:10.13\00:07:14.55 you can talk to, get into therapy if you have to. 00:07:14.59\00:07:18.79 Because I'm thinking therapy, grab a friend that's really 00:07:18.83\00:07:22.60 insightful, get a pastor, get a church group because 00:07:22.64\00:07:25.50 sometimes therapists are a little goofy. 00:07:25.53\00:07:27.56 If you are a therapist, please take that in a nice way. 00:07:27.59\00:07:31.23 So just hook up with someone, but I didn't have a lot of 00:07:32.81\00:07:35.82 time to say that so what I said to her was, you know I 00:07:35.85\00:07:39.51 prayed like crazy and God gave me an image to look at. 00:07:39.55\00:07:43.18 Of myself how, He sees me, and you know what? 00:07:43.21\00:07:46.77 I am so beautiful in His eyes. 00:07:46.80\00:07:49.84 This child, I'm so pure and standing in the holy of 00:07:49.87\00:07:54.25 Holies, in the presence of His Father. 00:07:54.28\00:07:56.73 I have the right to be there because I am His child. 00:07:56.77\00:07:59.58 It is amazing, amazing. 00:07:59.61\00:08:01.73 So I said just ask Him to show you who you are in His 00:08:01.76\00:08:05.25 eyes and she says I can't. 00:08:05.28\00:08:10.40 She starts weeping. I said you can't, you can, you can. 00:08:10.43\00:08:15.05 I want to grab her and shake her and say I promise you 00:08:15.09\00:08:19.68 you can and He will listen. 00:08:19.71\00:08:21.99 I promise you He will listen because God is absolutely 00:08:22.03\00:08:25.25 crazy about us and He absolutely wants to heal you. 00:08:25.29\00:08:28.48 I know there is nothing you could have done. 00:08:28.51\00:08:30.82 I'm thinking at 14 there is nothing she could have done. 00:08:30.86\00:08:33.31 She's like I can't. I said, you can. 00:08:33.35\00:08:37.60 She said I can't and she cried really hard. 00:08:37.63\00:08:41.99 I said why can't you? She said I'm an atheist. 00:08:42.02\00:08:46.34 I said oh God doesn't care about that. 00:08:46.38\00:08:48.78 I watched the Holy Spirit just fill her up. 00:08:51.22\00:08:55.37 Every single thing about her change in that second. 00:08:55.40\00:08:58.23 God doesn't care about that, say whatever you want to say. 00:08:58.27\00:09:01.96 I'm an atheist, I am a cutter, I'm gay, I'm a murderer, 00:09:01.99\00:09:05.33 I'm what ever and God says, I don't care about all that. 00:09:05.36\00:09:08.66 I want to bring life to you, I want to heal you. 00:09:08.69\00:09:11.74 And absolutely, I don't care what anyone says that 00:09:11.78\00:09:14.79 is who God is, and if you don't believe it, 00:09:14.83\00:09:16.67 read the New Testament. 00:09:16.70\00:09:18.54 Read the New Testament, watch Jesus walk to every single 00:09:18.58\00:09:21.72 person, he walks to the Demoniac, the demoniac, talk 00:09:21.75\00:09:24.78 about a self-mutilator? Cutting on himself with stones. 00:09:24.82\00:09:27.81 Filled with a thousand demons. 00:09:27.85\00:09:29.21 Angry, killing people off, beating people up, 00:09:29.25\00:09:32.26 kicked out of town, crazy as anything and God walks up to 00:09:32.29\00:09:35.58 him and says there is a small part of this guy's heart 00:09:35.61\00:09:38.86 that wants to be well and God said, 00:09:38.89\00:09:40.24 I'm calling all the demons out of you, I'm going to give 00:09:40.27\00:09:43.65 you life and the guy wept and said, I want to go with You 00:09:43.69\00:09:47.03 now and God said no don't go with Me. 00:09:47.07\00:09:49.31 Go tell someone, and that's what Psalm says, 00:09:49.35\00:09:52.05 to go tell someone. 00:09:52.08\00:09:53.45 So this kid, I can't tell you her name, 00:09:53.49\00:09:56.19 let's pretend her name is Lindsay. 00:09:56.23\00:10:00.99 Lindsay, a little Caucasian girl, beautiful blue eyes, 00:10:01.03\00:10:05.49 14 years old and I find out her mother was a prostitute. 00:10:05.52\00:10:10.21 Right, so she was pulled around with all her moms gigs 00:10:10.25\00:10:14.90 when she was working, a working mom. 00:10:14.94\00:10:17.82 Her mom died of AIDS when Lindsay was two years old. 00:10:17.86\00:10:21.30 What they did with Lindsay after that, they put her in 00:10:21.33\00:10:24.92 child pornography because people had to make money. 00:10:24.96\00:10:28.45 So Lindsay was in child pornography from that time 00:10:28.48\00:10:31.90 until she was 14 years old when she was court appointed 00:10:31.93\00:10:35.50 to go into treatment, court appointed. 00:10:35.53\00:10:38.59 So I'm not going into depth about how injured this child 00:10:38.62\00:10:43.01 was, but she survived her stuff by cutting on herself, 00:10:43.04\00:10:47.75 by burning herself, by doing drugs, by disassociating. 00:10:47.79\00:10:52.46 She's survived her stuff by doing whatever she could to 00:10:52.50\00:10:57.13 get through the day and she got through the day. 00:10:57.17\00:10:59.75 Now at 14 years old she finally gets it, 00:10:59.78\00:11:03.57 that Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me. 00:11:03.61\00:11:07.33 He knows every movie I've been in, every sick thing that 00:11:07.37\00:11:12.29 I have done or had done to me, 00:11:12.32\00:11:14.84 He knows that and He loves me. 00:11:14.87\00:11:17.32 Somebody has to hear me, somebody has to hear me say it 00:11:17.35\00:11:21.70 doesn't matter to Him because He knows we are a mess. 00:11:21.73\00:11:24.90 The Bible says that the best of the best of us are like 00:11:24.94\00:11:27.98 filthy rags and I always want to say what that means. 00:11:28.01\00:11:31.12 But I'm told I cannot say that but it's filthy rags. 00:11:31.15\00:11:34.31 So the best of the best of us are like filthy rags and 00:11:34.35\00:11:37.48 God says I know all that and I want to step in. 00:11:37.51\00:11:40.77 But to step in with self mutilator's, with people 00:11:40.81\00:11:44.12 that have been trashed, and you know the most normal 00:11:44.16\00:11:47.69 people I know I can sit down with them and hear stories 00:11:47.73\00:11:51.43 that are horrendous, horrendous, and eating disorders. 00:11:51.46\00:11:55.12 You know that eating disorders is a form of self 00:11:55.16\00:11:57.09 mutilation and a lot of people will starve themselves. 00:11:57.13\00:12:00.83 I'm going to go back to talk about Lindsay. 00:12:00.86\00:12:04.38 I'll talk about her at the end of the show. 00:12:04.41\00:12:07.85 I would like to talk about the topic today of self 00:12:07.89\00:12:10.80 mutilation and I want to show you a graphic. 00:12:10.84\00:12:14.48 It's current trend right now that's called 00:12:14.51\00:12:18.09 scarification, that is where mutilator's literally cut 00:12:18.12\00:12:22.36 into the skin and carved in different shapes, different 00:12:22.40\00:12:26.50 designs and I would say when you cut in you are cutting 00:12:26.53\00:12:29.75 off a quarter of an inch of skin and going all through 00:12:29.78\00:12:32.96 those first layers and then let it heal. 00:12:33.00\00:12:35.53 It is amazing what people are doing right now. 00:12:35.56\00:12:37.91 I have met people that are tattooing, but tattooing 00:12:37.95\00:12:41.08 every part of their body. 00:12:41.11\00:12:42.59 I have met people that are piercing every part of their 00:12:42.62\00:12:46.83 body and a lot of people met tattoo Jim that I have worked 00:12:46.86\00:12:50.79 with and he had 15 facial piercings and tattoos all over 00:12:50.82\00:12:54.72 his body and that kind of stuff. 00:12:54.75\00:12:56.25 So I have met people that are really getting into some 00:12:56.28\00:12:59.92 really severe self injury. 00:12:59.96\00:13:02.70 What is interesting to me about self mutilation, and we 00:13:02.73\00:13:06.06 will talk a little about this, I'm finding out about self 00:13:06.10\00:13:09.39 mutilation is that when I cut on myself, when I take 00:13:09.43\00:13:14.16 something and cut or burn or some people break bones. 00:13:14.20\00:13:18.62 They literally will slam their body or head or what ever 00:13:18.66\00:13:23.04 into someplace until they break bones. 00:13:23.08\00:13:25.44 I worked with people that will literally jump up, I did 00:13:25.48\00:13:28.31 psych nursing for a while, I worked with people that would 00:13:28.34\00:13:31.40 literally jump up and slam their head into a table just to 00:13:31.44\00:13:34.46 get the release from the damage and pain they feel. 00:13:34.50\00:13:38.10 It's really intense stuff, but when that happens, when you 00:13:38.14\00:13:41.32 really injure yourself that much your body thinks it is 00:13:41.36\00:13:44.51 being killed, right? 00:13:44.54\00:13:45.96 Your body thinks oh, man something's happening? 00:13:45.99\00:13:48.52 So biochemically your body sends natural painkillers and to 00:13:48.55\00:13:53.28 keep you from going into shock and that stuff your body 00:13:53.31\00:13:57.01 will do whatever it takes to go to that area and calm you. 00:13:57.04\00:14:00.70 People get addicted to their own body chemistry. 00:14:00.74\00:14:04.56 Isn't that interesting? But like any addiction, 00:14:04.59\00:14:08.34 if I scratch myself and my body says man, I think this has 00:14:08.38\00:14:13.54 to be dealt with and sends me a chemical to do that, the 00:14:13.57\00:14:17.99 next time I scratch myself my body says oh no, she is just 00:14:18.03\00:14:22.41 doing that so then I have to cut more. 00:14:22.44\00:14:24.38 I had to do more intense, like any addiction I have 00:14:24.42\00:14:27.65 to do more and more intense. 00:14:27.69\00:14:28.96 My body will start to self medicate and I will get strung 00:14:29.00\00:14:32.83 out on my own chemicals. 00:14:32.87\00:14:35.85 How they are treating some self mutilation right now, which I 00:14:35.89\00:14:39.65 think is interesting, they are giving antagonist to opiates. 00:14:39.69\00:14:43.42 So they are giving them medication that will stop the 00:14:43.45\00:14:46.38 opiate affect in your body so that you don't get the 00:14:46.41\00:14:49.31 reinforcement for the drug when you cut. 00:14:49.34\00:14:52.35 Does that make sense? It's just crazy! 00:14:52.39\00:14:55.33 We are going to go ahead and take a break and when we come 00:14:55.37\00:14:58.46 back I am going to let you see what I am talking about in 00:14:58.49\00:15:01.27 that testimony of a friend of mine Vicky Duffy who wrote 00:15:01.30\00:15:04.35 a book called 'No More Pain', an unbelievable story. 00:15:04.38\00:15:07.86 Not so much Vicky's story, it's a story about God. 00:15:07.89\00:15:11.08 It really vindicates who God is in all of our lives. 00:15:11.11\00:15:14.26 So stay tuned, we will be right back. 00:15:14.30\00:15:15.82 Think you've seen it all? Think again. 00:15:22.36\00:15:25.72 Cheri Peters is back for a second season of 00:15:25.76\00:15:29.30 Celebrating Life In Recovery with more lives 00:15:29.34\00:15:32.84 more stories and more miracles. 00:15:32.88\00:15:35.69 Watch the shocking, inspiring, and the incredible. 00:15:35.73\00:15:39.61 Check your local listings to find out when 00:15:39.65\00:15:42.13 Celebrating Life In Recovery comes to you and get 00:15:42.17\00:15:45.77 ready for another dose of reality, Cheri style. 00:15:45.81\00:15:49.38 This is absolutely my favorite part of the show. 00:16:04.75\00:16:06.74 It shows how incredible God is, how cool He is, how much 00:16:06.77\00:16:10.89 He loves us, and I'm going to stop at that. 00:16:10.93\00:16:13.82 You just pay attention, you'll love this. 00:16:13.85\00:16:16.67 Vicky Duffy, I want to thank you for joining us on the 00:16:16.71\00:16:20.00 show and I want to say that the first time I met you, 00:16:20.04\00:16:23.30 I met you on my space. 00:16:23.34\00:16:25.51 A lot of people are not even going to know what that is. 00:16:25.55\00:16:29.43 I met you on the Internet and I loved you then and was 00:16:29.46\00:16:33.31 hoping you could be on the show, 00:16:33.34\00:16:34.71 so I am thrilled to have you here. 00:16:34.75\00:16:36.05 I'm thrilled to be here and I want to jump right into 00:16:36.08\00:16:39.47 things and you have mentioned the man who had the legion 00:16:39.50\00:16:42.85 of demons - the demoniac! - yes. 00:16:42.88\00:16:46.07 That was in the book of Mark. 00:16:46.10\00:16:49.22 I want to just backtrack because this part is so important 00:16:49.25\00:16:53.15 I wasn't brought up in church and didn't know anything 00:16:53.19\00:16:57.05 about the things of God. 00:16:57.09\00:16:58.66 I love when you say that so nicely, because you had such a 00:16:58.69\00:17:02.12 twisted testimony, and here like I wasn't in the church. 00:17:02.16\00:17:05.55 I'm thinking oh man, wait until they hear this. 00:17:05.58\00:17:08.23 So I had been given a Bible and will start off at that 00:17:08.27\00:17:13.27 point and when I got the Bible after about a month of 00:17:13.30\00:17:18.24 having it and letting it be a nice decorative piece on the 00:17:18.27\00:17:21.37 floor, - not even on the coffee table. 00:17:21.40\00:17:23.69 No, it didn't make the coffee table. 00:17:23.72\00:17:25.94 I picked it up and flipped the pages and said, 00:17:25.97\00:17:29.15 what is this? Mark, Psalms 00:17:29.18\00:17:31.75 I didn't understand how this book was formulated and it 00:17:31.78\00:17:35.23 has numbers all by these sentences. 00:17:35.27\00:17:37.20 I didn't get it, and said what is wrong with this thing? 00:17:37.24\00:17:40.69 - I just want to read it. - yeah 00:17:40.73\00:17:43.57 So I picked it up and it opened right up to what I know 00:17:43.61\00:17:46.65 now as the book of Mark chapter 5 and I proceeded to read 00:17:46.68\00:17:49.69 it, I became very angry and agitated. 00:17:49.72\00:17:52.41 It went into this one to two hour debate conversation 00:17:52.44\00:17:56.91 swearing session with God. 00:17:56.94\00:17:58.64 I know people will, ahh you swore at the Almighty God! 00:17:58.67\00:18:02.12 Yes I did, I was like hey this guy was cutting himself 00:18:02.16\00:18:05.58 night and day with stones. 00:18:05.61\00:18:07.64 Obviously very tormented and had a lot going on. 00:18:07.67\00:18:11.42 Then he goes up to Jesus and says, in so many words. 00:18:11.46\00:18:15.14 Who do you think you are a type of thing and Jesus healed 00:18:15.18\00:18:19.25 him and the man is in his right mind. 00:18:19.29\00:18:21.05 He says, I want to go with you Jesus. 00:18:21.09\00:18:22.78 He said no, you go and tell everybody on Decapolis, 00:18:22.82\00:18:25.78 which we know is 10 cities which is a lot of places. 00:18:25.82\00:18:28.71 Go tell everybody what I've done for you and how the Lord 00:18:28.75\00:18:31.53 had compassion on you. 00:18:31.56\00:18:32.75 So I was like, if you can do that for him, do it for me. 00:18:32.78\00:18:36.77 I take the Bible and I'm throwing it and I'm swearing and 00:18:36.81\00:18:40.17 said, this word and that word and every word imaginable 00:18:40.21\00:18:43.53 for an hour or two hours. 00:18:43.57\00:18:46.28 Because I wanted that, if You are real, if You are truly 00:18:46.32\00:18:50.16 real and a living God, the Jesus. 00:18:50.20\00:18:52.16 I didn't understand that He is the same as God, so I said 00:18:52.20\00:18:57.26 if You really heal and do what You said, I want it. 00:18:57.30\00:19:00.20 - I have to have it. - I did because I was a living 00:19:00.24\00:19:03.75 mess and I was at the brink of a point where I wasn't 00:19:03.78\00:19:07.26 going anywhere but down. 00:19:07.29\00:19:09.02 What is interesting to me for a lot of people in the book 00:19:09.05\00:19:12.02 of Mark when they talk about the demoniac and the guy 00:19:12.06\00:19:14.95 cutting on himself with stones, you say will say I don't 00:19:14.99\00:19:17.85 know if there are real people like that? 00:19:17.89\00:19:19.51 For somebody that is a cutter, somebody that is living 00:19:19.55\00:19:24.28 that demon possessed existence, you are saying I am him. 00:19:24.31\00:19:29.01 I am him and so you didn't start out with that. 00:19:29.04\00:19:32.21 Let's go back to your life. 00:19:32.24\00:19:35.70 How did you get into self mutilating? 00:19:35.74\00:19:40.07 Well have to go back to the beginning just basically mom 00:19:40.10\00:19:44.06 and dad met in high school, they were high school 00:19:44.09\00:19:46.12 sweethearts and they got married. 00:19:46.15\00:19:48.09 I was born after my brother and we are about 2 years apart 00:19:48.12\00:19:52.35 and mom developed alcoholism shortly after they got 00:19:52.39\00:19:58.88 divorced, mom and dad. 00:19:58.92\00:20:00.40 But before that, no alcoholism, no acting out as far as 00:20:00.43\00:20:06.16 the home was, it sounds like it was good. 00:20:06.19\00:20:08.37 Oh yeah we had a great little life, little quirky things 00:20:08.40\00:20:12.16 that kids do where I would be antsy three-year-old and 00:20:12.19\00:20:15.91 drink a bottle of aspirin because I was hungry. 00:20:15.95\00:20:18.16 I would fall down the steps, what we think are silly 00:20:18.20\00:20:21.08 things, they can't be serious but silly little things. 00:20:21.11\00:20:24.27 Like a very nice life, great mom and dad and had a great 00:20:24.31\00:20:27.43 house in the suburbs. 00:20:27.47\00:20:28.95 Dad, mom had a couple Mercedes and were doing very well 00:20:28.98\00:20:32.25 with dad being in college and so forth. 00:20:32.28\00:20:35.28 The marriage ended after seven years and mom developed 00:20:35.32\00:20:39.35 alcoholism, now she was drinking throughout the marriage 00:20:39.38\00:20:43.50 as was dad but developed the alcoholism and therefore 00:20:43.53\00:20:47.60 with that she didn't get custody of my brother and I. 00:20:47.64\00:20:51.87 I believe there was a question on who was going to get 00:20:51.91\00:20:56.10 custody and this and that. 00:20:56.14\00:20:57.72 Mom had my brother and I visit in Seaside Heights 00:20:57.75\00:21:01.19 New Jersey and we would visit down there. 00:21:01.23\00:21:03.74 As a mom was trying to gain custody of us kids I get lost. 00:21:03.77\00:21:09.03 I was missing for 12 hours, so here is mom trying to get 00:21:09.06\00:21:14.28 her life together and get her kids and I get lost. 00:21:14.31\00:21:17.24 She does get custody of us and within a few months, I was 00:21:17.28\00:21:21.22 about five years old and mom made some poor choices, 00:21:21.26\00:21:25.11 as we all have in life. 00:21:25.15\00:21:26.83 And she drinking it impaired her judgment and she invited 00:21:26.87\00:21:30.68 different people over to the house at different times to 00:21:30.72\00:21:34.50 drink or party or what have you. 00:21:34.53\00:21:36.02 On one particular evening this fella, who have become her 00:21:36.06\00:21:40.85 boyfriend, he went into my room and raped 00:21:40.88\00:21:44.94 me and molested me. 00:21:44.97\00:21:46.49 Some people talk about molest, you call it rape. 00:21:46.52\00:21:49.83 Well there is two types of things, molestation is 00:21:49.87\00:21:53.11 basically when you are touching and doing other things to 00:21:53.15\00:21:57.37 a person, rape is when you are actually having sexual, 00:21:57.41\00:22:01.60 forced sex, intercourse and I was five years old. 00:22:01.63\00:22:05.66 So both things had happened and I have to leave out a lot 00:22:05.69\00:22:09.11 of details for the sake of the audience. 00:22:09.15\00:22:11.10 You don't want to offend somebody but every single time 00:22:11.14\00:22:14.54 that I talk to somebody that is really lost in drug 00:22:14.58\00:22:17.64 addiction or a lot of different types of addictions 00:22:17.67\00:22:20.87 there is a really violent sexual crimes that have 00:22:20.91\00:22:23.60 happened to them, usually as a real little kid. 00:22:23.63\00:22:26.25 What you're saying is that with the alcoholism, and with 00:22:26.28\00:22:31.16 your mom's choices that you had a lot of sexualized 00:22:31.19\00:22:33.58 behavior around you anyway and then this rape. 00:22:33.62\00:22:36.73 Um Hum - then your whole world changed? 00:22:36.77\00:22:39.47 My whole world changed and I kept it a secret because 00:22:39.50\00:22:43.32 this man threatened me that he would end the lives of my 00:22:43.35\00:22:47.14 family members and pulled on a heartstring 00:22:47.17\00:22:49.68 of a five-year-old. 00:22:49.71\00:22:50.84 It even included the family dog. 00:22:50.88\00:22:52.39 Six months later mom gained sobriety and I told her. 00:22:52.43\00:22:58.39 I came forward and told her and she didn't press charges, 00:22:58.43\00:23:03.88 there are a lot of reasons why. 00:23:03.92\00:23:05.29 She tried, went to a police officer friend she knew and 00:23:05.33\00:23:09.63 tried to pursue a lot of different avenues of getting 00:23:09.66\00:23:13.17 this man tried and there were a lot of reasons. 00:23:13.20\00:23:16.63 He was connected with certain types of people that could 00:23:16.67\00:23:20.14 threaten her life and so forth so she decided back then, 00:23:20.18\00:23:23.62 how children were put on the stand, 00:23:23.65\00:23:26.79 she decided not to do that. 00:23:26.83\00:23:28.73 So as I got older I resented her for that. 00:23:28.77\00:23:31.74 Like where were you to protect your child. 00:23:31.78\00:23:34.68 It is bad enough you may this poor choice and so forth. 00:23:34.71\00:23:38.02 But right around then, 6, 7, 8 mom was beautiful. 00:23:38.05\00:23:42.64 She made Farrah Fawcett look like a common woman. 00:23:42.67\00:23:47.19 She was very physically beautiful and that was actually 00:23:47.22\00:23:50.41 her biggest flaw because she attracted every kind, every 00:23:50.44\00:23:54.06 sort of man who wasn't necessarily after her good heart 00:23:54.10\00:23:57.68 that was deep beneath the beautiful body. 00:23:57.72\00:23:59.60 She made a lot poor choices and I had not only looked up 00:23:59.64\00:24:04.53 to her and almost idolized her, but I wanted to be like 00:24:04.57\00:24:09.42 her and at the same time mom worked full time and 00:24:09.46\00:24:14.18 dad wasn't in the picture. 00:24:14.21\00:24:15.70 He was providing financially, he wasn't really in the 00:24:15.74\00:24:19.66 picture so I didn't have a male role model. 00:24:19.70\00:24:21.96 I had a brother who had turned into a bully, and he may 00:24:21.99\00:24:25.88 have been dealing with his own issues not having a father 00:24:25.91\00:24:29.77 around and what have you. 00:24:29.80\00:24:31.69 So I started getting beat up by my brother 00:24:31.73\00:24:35.73 and verbally bullied, verbally abused. 00:24:35.77\00:24:39.71 As life went on and I am 10 years old, as much as 00:24:39.74\00:24:44.83 I admired my mom and thought she was great, I developed 00:24:44.86\00:24:47.53 inside and I wanted to have my sex changed. 00:24:47.57\00:24:50.06 I wanted to actually be a boy. 00:24:50.09\00:24:51.77 - did you think that it was because I could protect 00:24:51.81\00:24:54.75 myself more, I wasn't as vulnerable, did you process 00:24:54.79\00:24:57.69 any of that at the time? 00:24:57.73\00:24:59.11 I'm not sure if I did at the time, or it was something 00:24:59.14\00:25:01.85 I realized later, I think part of me said if I am a boy 00:25:01.88\00:25:05.61 no one can hurt me because had I been a boy I could have 00:25:05.65\00:25:09.77 done a 1-2 punch to my brother and taking care of some 00:25:09.80\00:25:13.06 other people, not that violence is the way to settle 00:25:13.09\00:25:16.31 things but then going through it. 00:25:16.35\00:25:18.62 For somebody, what's interesting to me when I talk 00:25:18.66\00:25:22.54 with even little kids, they will see themselves as having 00:25:22.58\00:25:26.30 the ability to punch out an adult when it is ridiculous, 00:25:26.33\00:25:30.01 you were five, so a boy or girl you didn't have 00:25:30.05\00:25:33.97 the ability to stop that from happening. 00:25:34.01\00:25:36.31 It was somebody else's poor choice. - absolutely. 00:25:36.35\00:25:40.72 As years went on things changed with my brother. 00:25:40.76\00:25:45.06 Anyone who has been in domestic violence, or has someone 00:25:45.10\00:25:49.46 who has been able to beat them up, that person, 00:25:49.49\00:25:52.89 like myself, you're hit down day after day after day. 00:25:52.93\00:25:57.18 I got to the point where I just wanted to please him, 00:25:57.21\00:26:01.43 anything you want me to do I'll do. 00:26:01.46\00:26:03.08 If you want a sandwich, instead of throwing it on the floor, 00:26:03.12\00:26:04.42 shoving it in my face, shutting me in a closet and 00:26:04.45\00:26:06.74 doing things to me that are tormenting and torturing me 00:26:06.77\00:26:09.66 but making you happy, so now I will do everything I can 00:26:09.70\00:26:12.56 to please you and make you happy. 00:26:12.59\00:26:14.19 Anytime I did that it made it worse. 00:26:14.22\00:26:15.75 I have black eyes where he punched me, I took the brunt 00:26:15.78\00:26:19.35 of what ever anger he had. 00:26:19.39\00:26:21.14 Years of 11, 12 and 13 is when it went further and 00:26:21.17\00:26:28.11 he actually starting raping me and doing other things 00:26:28.14\00:26:35.05 to me by forcing me to do things. 00:26:35.08\00:26:36.75 He actually moved to live with my father at one point, 00:26:36.78\00:26:41.65 so it wasn't everyday from 11 to 13, which one time was 00:26:41.69\00:26:46.53 too much and should never happen to any person. 00:26:46.56\00:26:48.54 But what I'm saying is I don't want to give the 00:26:48.57\00:26:50.47 impression, I want to say it like it is not every single 00:26:50.51\00:26:53.26 day but there were times where it was everyday for a week 00:26:53.30\00:26:56.02 and sometimes it didn't happen at all. 00:26:56.05\00:26:59.20 When he moved, he moved away and moved back. 00:26:59.24\00:27:04.72 We would go away on vacation and no one was around and 00:27:04.76\00:27:08.91 that's when it would happen a lot. 00:27:08.95\00:27:10.33 What stopped it was I had my menstrual cycle and 00:27:10.37\00:27:15.61 that is actually how it stopped. 00:27:15.65\00:27:17.10 I remember being so thrilled, I knew enough that 00:27:17.13\00:27:20.86 something serious could happen there and it was 00:27:20.90\00:27:24.59 like I was empowered. 00:27:24.63\00:27:26.13 It was like you cannot ever touch me, I got in his face 00:27:26.16\00:27:28.74 and he continued to beat the daylights out of me. 00:27:28.77\00:27:32.88 He would do things to me in other ways but the sexual 00:27:32.91\00:27:36.99 abuse and the rapes had stopped. 00:27:37.02\00:27:38.95 At that point I'm 13 and I started looking more boyish, 00:27:38.99\00:27:43.60 even though I would at the same hand look pretty and 00:27:43.63\00:27:48.08 feminine I also developed this desire to be a boy 00:27:48.12\00:27:52.53 and go down that path. 00:27:52.56\00:27:55.46 For the next many years I have poor self-esteem and got 00:27:55.50\00:28:01.45 to the point where I didn't want to live. 00:28:01.48\00:28:04.19 The first time that I actually harmed myself when I was 00:28:04.22\00:28:08.51 eight years old, being bullied by my brother and having 00:28:08.55\00:28:11.96 the situation happen when I was five, I remember picking 00:28:11.99\00:28:15.37 up a brick and ramming it into my head. 00:28:15.41\00:28:18.38 I remember at that point that I wanted to match this 00:28:18.41\00:28:22.88 inward disgusting pain and how dare you kind of feelings 00:28:22.91\00:28:27.34 I had toward this man and my brother. 00:28:27.38\00:28:31.87 I just wanted to take that and I rammed into my head. 00:28:31.90\00:28:34.11 I rammed myself into a wall and this was at eight years 00:28:34.15\00:28:36.81 old and I started in between things with my brother. 00:28:36.84\00:28:39.43 That was the life I lead, I wanted to ram myself in front 00:28:39.47\00:28:42.56 of a car, a truck, not to die, not to die. 00:28:42.59\00:28:47.34 - it is not a suicide thing, it's just I want this pain 00:28:47.37\00:28:50.27 to be gone. - absolutely! 00:28:50.31\00:28:52.06 I said if I ran in front of a car or truck I could break 00:28:52.10\00:28:55.83 some bones, something can happen where either I will feel 00:28:55.87\00:28:59.57 real, or I'll feel alive or something. 00:28:59.60\00:29:01.26 This was 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 years all through this. 00:29:01.30\00:29:03.55 By the time I was 13, 14, 15 I started dressing like boy 00:29:03.59\00:29:08.48 George - I saw some of those pictures. 00:29:08.52\00:29:11.39 It wasn't that there was necessarily anything wrong with 00:29:11.42\00:29:14.79 that particular person, when you start to look like 00:29:14.83\00:29:16.87 something that is not your self and A. You couldn't tell 00:29:16.91\00:29:19.76 if I was a male or a female. 00:29:19.80\00:29:21.25 I was hiding in that, 2 and 1/2 years I did that. 00:29:21.28\00:29:24.79 You would say to yourself when that be like a light bulb 00:29:24.82\00:29:27.72 going off, you know Vicky has been dressing like this 00:29:27.76\00:29:30.62 where are the ribbons, the long hair, the coats. 00:29:30.66\00:29:31.88 I had homemade coats made, I went to stores to look at 00:29:31.92\00:29:36.42 the jewelry in the gloves, wouldn't someone say maybe 00:29:36.46\00:29:40.93 we need to get her a little help? 00:29:40.97\00:29:42.78 Not to knock mom but mom was working and doing a lot of 00:29:42.81\00:29:47.55 things, but all through this I was trying to get along 00:29:47.59\00:29:52.45 in life where when I was 14, for a year period of time, 00:29:52.49\00:29:57.32 I started pulling my hair out. 00:29:57.36\00:29:58.98 The entire part of my hair on the top, about a 2, 3 inch 00:29:59.01\00:30:02.82 portion wide was bald. 00:30:02.85\00:30:05.39 My mother took me to a dermatologist thinking I had 00:30:05.43\00:30:08.53 some sort of skin disorder, a hair disorder and I was oh yes 00:30:08.56\00:30:12.12 mom it must be that. 00:30:12.16\00:30:13.81 I mean what are you supposed to say because I am 00:30:13.84\00:30:15.02 embarrassed, it was horrible. 00:30:15.05\00:30:16.82 I just kept doing these things. 00:30:16.86\00:30:18.56 Can I ask you, just to educate us a little bit, 00:30:18.59\00:30:22.59 when you said I took the brick and slammed into my face, 00:30:22.62\00:30:26.12 I wanted to break bones, when I slam myself against 00:30:26.16\00:30:29.43 something, what works about that? 00:30:29.46\00:30:31.62 That's an amazing question, it actually can vary from 00:30:31.66\00:30:36.44 person to person, for me and many people I talk to, 00:30:36.48\00:30:40.95 it can be so many things from the reasons why you want 00:30:40.98\00:30:45.42 to do it is to match the inward pain. 00:30:45.45\00:30:48.98 You want something on the outside to match the inward 00:30:49.01\00:30:50.80 pain, you almost want to feel to be alive. 00:30:50.83\00:30:53.22 At the moment it is almost like a it releases something 00:30:53.26\00:30:56.20 inside of you count whether it is an endorphin or the 00:30:56.24\00:31:00.40 opiates you were mentioning, there is something real. 00:31:00.43\00:31:04.56 It is very, very short-lived, very short-lived. 00:31:04.59\00:31:07.48 That's why you go in a continuous circle of doing 00:31:07.52\00:31:10.37 it again and again and again. 00:31:10.41\00:31:12.01 The reasons are so vast. 00:31:12.04\00:31:16.25 - but you are saying I have so much pain that I hate life 00:31:16.29\00:31:19.05 so much and I am so much emotionally and physically and 00:31:19.09\00:31:21.72 psychologically pain that even though it is a short 00:31:21.76\00:31:24.36 period of time I have to get relief. 00:31:24.40\00:31:26.30 Absolutely, and as the years went on, like with anything 00:31:26.33\00:31:30.72 any type of addiction whether it is sexual addiction, 00:31:30.76\00:31:35.08 a drug addiction or alcohol you start off with something small. 00:31:35.12\00:31:40.67 I'll just have a little bit of this little bit of that, 00:31:40.71\00:31:42.73 what ever it is you want more, and you want more. 00:31:42.77\00:31:46.62 As years went on I just didn't stick with the hitting 00:31:46.65\00:31:50.47 and the banging and things of that nature, 00:31:50.50\00:31:54.04 it got stronger as years went on. 00:31:54.08\00:31:56.48 - when you talk about stronger I want to show a little 00:31:56.52\00:31:59.05 bit and I want you to tell me a little about these injuries 00:31:59.08\00:32:02.41 here, because the only thing I can see here is a mass of 00:32:02.44\00:32:05.74 burns with hundreds of cuts just in this area. 00:32:05.77\00:32:09.24 I know it is all over your body - Um hum. 00:32:09.28\00:32:10.77 Tell me a little bit about what happened here when you 00:32:10.81\00:32:14.76 talk about things get more intense. 00:32:14.79\00:32:16.81 But just let me jump ahead, jump back and then ahead. 00:32:16.85\00:32:21.80 When things were going on when I was a teenager, the first 00:32:21.83\00:32:26.08 time I started to do what I refer to as serious damage to 00:32:26.12\00:32:29.88 my self, any type of self injury is serious and should be 00:32:29.91\00:32:33.22 taken seriously so I don't want to come across like I'm 00:32:33.26\00:32:36.15 saying scratching itself isn't an injury, it's not good. 00:32:36.18\00:32:40.05 When I was 19 years old I went and had a heated discussion 00:32:40.09\00:32:43.92 with my father, I had braces. 00:32:43.96\00:32:46.35 They were the kind of braces where are metal were wrapped 00:32:46.39\00:32:48.32 around your teeth and wires were pulled through. 00:32:48.35\00:32:50.35 I pulled off my braces with a pair of pliers. 00:32:50.39\00:32:52.32 Like that pain lasted maybe 30 seconds and it was done. 00:32:52.35\00:32:55.89 I developed an eating disorder bulimia, I was promiscuous. 00:32:55.93\00:32:59.61 All sorts of things into my early adulthood which led me 00:32:59.65\00:33:03.80 into one evening I had a breakup and was emotionally, 00:33:03.83\00:33:07.23 and there is so much to tell but I will cut it for sake 00:33:07.26\00:33:11.74 of time, on this particular evening I had this thought. 00:33:11.78\00:33:16.23 Let me prefect it with this. 00:33:16.26\00:33:18.19 I had no Internet, I had no books that I read, I had no 00:33:18.22\00:33:21.11 conversation with other people that had harmed themselves. 00:33:21.14\00:33:23.99 I didn't hang around with anybody that did. 00:33:24.03\00:33:26.10 I did not know about it, I did know the name. 00:33:26.13\00:33:28.13 Sitting on my kitchen floor soaking my own miseries in a 00:33:28.16\00:33:33.72 cup of gin, like a light bulb moment that was not good, 00:33:33.76\00:33:38.44 Boop, go into the kitchen grab a butcher knife and cut 00:33:38.48\00:33:43.13 yourself, and I listened to that voice. 00:33:43.16\00:33:45.57 I followed that voice and went into the kitchen and that 00:33:45.61\00:33:47.93 led me into my first day in a psychiatric unit. 00:33:47.97\00:33:50.93 As years went on. - you cut yourself how many times? 00:33:50.96\00:33:54.87 On that particular evening it was about 5 or 6 times. 00:33:54.91\00:33:58.96 They are covered up by the burn basically on the wrist. 00:33:59.00\00:34:03.02 That started a world wind of I have to do it more. 00:34:03.05\00:34:08.70 I would take pencils and jab them so hard into my arm, 00:34:08.74\00:34:12.71 not only would I get bruises but I would still have 00:34:12.74\00:34:16.67 graphite in my arm. 00:34:16.71\00:34:19.18 I would take toe nail clippers, or nail clippers and take 00:34:19.21\00:34:23.07 chunks of skin out of my arm, this was in the psychiatric 00:34:23.10\00:34:26.84 hospital under psychiatric care with doctors and nurses 00:34:26.87\00:34:30.57 around me because I was on a 24 hour watch. 00:34:30.61\00:34:32.67 When I did nursing in the psych facility, we had to have 00:34:32.70\00:34:37.37 one to one's on folks because no matter what you did, 00:34:37.41\00:34:42.04 they could find a way to hurt themselves. 00:34:42.07\00:34:44.54 We had to check them with a full body search just checking 00:34:44.58\00:34:47.98 every part of their bags when they came in. 00:34:48.01\00:34:49.81 People will cut in their suitcases and put sharp objects 00:34:49.84\00:34:54.19 throughout the suitcases coming in. 00:34:54.22\00:34:56.15 The cutting was unbelievable, it was just unbelievable 00:34:56.18\00:35:01.28 the desperation that I cannot survive if I cannot see 00:35:01.32\00:35:06.05 blood or release this pain. It is a desperate thing. 00:35:06.08\00:35:09.57 It is then that is the life I lived in the hospital, 00:35:09.61\00:35:13.20 once I was released the cutting continued for months 00:35:13.24\00:35:17.53 into a year and this was the same as the first time. 00:35:17.57\00:35:21.27 Driving down at the time I was an outpatient in a 00:35:21.31\00:35:24.94 eating disorder unit, I don't remember the details I would 00:35:24.98\00:35:29.28 have to actually refer to the medical records because I had 00:35:29.31\00:35:34.35 a lot of blackouts and I had this thought to burn my arm. 00:35:34.39\00:35:39.39 Burn my arm, I've never did that. 00:35:42.38\00:35:44.02 I know it sounds casual, but that is how it happened 00:35:44.06\00:35:47.76 with me, just burn your arm. 00:35:47.79\00:35:49.39 I proceeded to go to the store and got about a half a 00:35:49.43\00:35:52.89 case of beer and different alcohol type of things and got 00:35:52.93\00:35:56.83 first aid equipment, lighters, everything I could get and 00:35:56.87\00:36:01.43 that night I was in my room and I proceeded to stab my 00:36:01.46\00:36:05.99 left arm over a hundred times with cigarettes. 00:36:06.02\00:36:10.39 I would actually press so hard that these little tiny 00:36:13.27\00:36:19.22 circles would appear on my arm. 00:36:19.26\00:36:21.37 There was about 17 of them, but I pressed over and over 00:36:21.40\00:36:24.42 again and is sadness I feel is not towards myself, 00:36:24.46\00:36:27.37 because I am totally healed and I can honestly say 00:36:27.41\00:36:30.29 I don't think about this ever, 00:36:30.32\00:36:32.01 but I think about the other people. 00:36:32.04\00:36:33.69 The thousands of girls and boys, men and women that are 00:36:33.72\00:36:36.66 out there hurting themselves because there is something 00:36:36.69\00:36:39.59 inside that they are running from. 00:36:39.63\00:36:42.12 It is a way of escape from whatever it might be. 00:36:42.16\00:36:44.25 I don't see Vicky, I see someone else who is hurting and 00:36:44.29\00:36:49.27 when this happened I bandaged it up and woke up the next 00:36:49.30\00:36:54.25 morning - you also lit that on fire? 00:36:54.29\00:36:56.19 I did, thank you for reminding me, I followed it up with 00:36:56.22\00:36:59.68 after stabbing a hundred times and having these 17 holes 00:36:59.71\00:37:03.14 I took a fire starter and proceeded to light my arm 00:37:03.17\00:37:09.61 until I don't recall the details. 00:37:09.65\00:37:12.39 I either got bored or tired. 00:37:12.43\00:37:13.61 The next morning I woke up and it was all bandaged and 00:37:13.65\00:37:16.91 my hand was so swollen and I proceeded to go to the 00:37:16.95\00:37:19.71 eating disorder unit as the outpatient program I was in 00:37:19.75\00:37:24.11 and the whole arm on the outskirts was pure white in the 00:37:24.15\00:37:28.48 center in the outskirts was green, 00:37:28.51\00:37:30.49 it already was infected. 00:37:30.53\00:37:34.35 - they would have been a number of skin grafts. 00:37:34.38\00:37:38.89 Yes I had skin removed from my left thigh and had 00:37:38.92\00:37:43.36 surgery which was thousands and thousands of dollars and 00:37:43.40\00:37:46.64 my right arm was almost 6 months later. 00:37:46.68\00:37:49.01 But I have to say with all that stuff is that all over 00:37:49.04\00:37:54.39 your body are these kinds of scars and cuts and burns. 00:37:54.43\00:37:59.83 It's all over your body, legs, arms, even the upper part 00:37:59.87\00:38:05.24 of your body has keloid scars that are lifted 00:38:05.27\00:38:09.28 right off the skin. 00:38:09.31\00:38:11.39 How do you get from that place, and self mutilation is 00:38:11.42\00:38:16.78 common in schools. 00:38:16.82\00:38:18.68 When I go to schools, even elementary schools when I talk 00:38:18.72\00:38:22.18 with kids at an academy, when I talk with kids in colleges 00:38:22.21\00:38:25.64 that I see cutters all over the place. 00:38:25.68\00:38:28.47 People that are literally quietly hurting themselves all 00:38:28.51\00:38:33.09 the time and so I know even though you did not read books 00:38:33.13\00:38:37.68 it was not unusual to act out on your own body. 00:38:37.72\00:38:40.66 Worldwide there is issues with cutters. 00:38:40.69\00:38:44.18 You could be a girl or a boy, he can be a teenager or an 00:38:44.22\00:38:48.15 adult, you could be married with children, you could be 50 00:38:48.19\00:38:52.09 years old, it has no background issues, any ethnic 00:38:52.12\00:38:59.90 background or anything like that. 00:38:59.93\00:39:01.52 I do see in Jr. high and those ages where I see 00:39:01.56\00:39:08.19 different types of self injury as opposed to maybe people 00:39:08.23\00:39:12.15 that are older, but again I see and I have to press the point, 00:39:12.19\00:39:16.08 no matter what the person is doing, it is a very serious 00:39:16.12\00:39:18.73 thing whether they are scratching, burning, or cutting 00:39:18.77\00:39:21.31 or plucking their hairs out of their eyebrows or eyelashes, 00:39:21.35\00:39:25.55 or they're pulling their hair, whatever the person is 00:39:25.58\00:39:28.68 getting scarification, or carving or what ever it is, 00:39:28.72\00:39:32.02 it is the severity of the level or depth and is something 00:39:32.06\00:39:35.49 that needs to be treated and talked about and get to the 00:39:35.53\00:39:38.47 issue that is below that which brings me to how are you 00:39:38.50\00:39:41.41 the way you are today? 00:39:41.44\00:39:43.01 I'm glad you asked. - good because I'm really going 00:39:43.04\00:39:46.08 there, how did you get out of that? 00:39:46.11\00:39:48.05 Basically I'm going to be real, okay? - okay! 00:39:48.09\00:39:54.50 I was in a gay bar and dancing and doing my thing and 00:39:54.53\00:40:01.45 this woman I began to talk to her and she was telling me 00:40:01.48\00:40:08.37 that she was a Christian, which blew my mind away. 00:40:08.40\00:40:11.22 Two plus two is 4 but I was not getting how that worked. 00:40:11.25\00:40:14.94 I said I don't get it, how can you be in a bar? 00:40:14.97\00:40:16.47 But we won't get into that because that's different 00:40:16.51\00:40:17.97 discussion altogether, a whole other the show. 00:40:18.01\00:40:19.72 - we will do it. 00:40:19.75\00:40:21.40 I'm there, she said why don't you come to church with me. 00:40:21.43\00:40:24.83 Well to impress this woman I said sure. 00:40:24.86\00:40:27.32 About a month later I did go to church and let me tell 00:40:27.36\00:40:31.79 you, the second I walked in to this church, it wasn't like 00:40:31.82\00:40:36.21 oh my life has changed, nothing like that. 00:40:36.25\00:40:39.23 But I sensed something, they said hi to me. 00:40:39.26\00:40:42.17 They didn't look at the eyebrow ring in the belly button 00:40:42.20\00:40:45.38 ring and a half shirt and everything was exposed. 00:40:45.41\00:40:48.66 They weren't looking at the hair 6 inches up because it 00:40:48.70\00:40:52.24 was Spike wild do, they were looking at me and God loved 00:40:52.28\00:40:55.79 me and they seemed real. 00:40:55.82\00:40:58.04 They really seemed real, and I was like wow. 00:40:58.07\00:41:01.45 They saw past it, so to make a long story longer. 00:41:01.49\00:41:05.70 Basically I went there, and went there again and read the 00:41:05.74\00:41:13.66 Bible, Mark and yelled that God and swore at Him. 00:41:13.70\00:41:15.84 But I know that God honored that because even though it 00:41:15.87\00:41:17.88 was not appropriate to swear at God, I don't recommend 00:41:17.91\00:41:19.89 that, I was being real and talking to Him. 00:41:19.92\00:41:22.47 We're having prayer we're having a discussion, having a heart to 00:41:22.50\00:41:25.30 heart - as a friend. - yeah totally. 00:41:25.34\00:41:28.49 Within a year and a half I just started going to church 00:41:28.52\00:41:32.08 and people said to me you don't cut it anymore, you don't 00:41:32.12\00:41:35.65 burn anymore, you don't get angry, you don't have 00:41:35.68\00:41:37.80 resentment, you have forgiven and I could go on and on 00:41:37.83\00:41:41.16 and on because I was also raped when I was 19 by an uncle 00:41:41.20\00:41:44.49 twice, I have forgiven everyone. 00:41:44.53\00:41:47.68 I have let go and they say to me how did that happen? 00:41:47.72\00:41:51.02 - how did that happen I want to hear it exactly detailed? 00:41:51.05\00:41:54.32 How did that happen? What did you feel like? 00:41:54.35\00:41:56.35 The most amazing thing I can say to you is that the first 00:41:56.39\00:42:01.02 thing I prayed, the most simplest prayer, God what ever 00:42:01.06\00:42:05.66 is in me that is not a of You take it from me 00:42:05.69\00:42:09.48 in Jesus name Amen. 00:42:09.52\00:42:12.64 I did not list everything, all I can say is today I am 00:42:12.67\00:42:15.83 happily married and have a beautiful 2 and 1/2 year-old 00:42:15.86\00:42:18.98 son in the last 11,12 years. - yes Jack Daniel. 00:42:19.02\00:42:20.93 Yes Jack Daniel, the last 12 years have been the best. 00:42:20.97\00:42:24.08 That doesn't have anything to do with alcohol does it? 00:42:24.11\00:42:27.19 because of the Bible? 00:42:27.23\00:42:29.11 Exactly, the last 12 and 1/2 years have been the 00:42:29.14\00:42:32.00 best years of my life. 00:42:32.04\00:42:33.82 Now that doesn't mean there weren't good times in my life 00:42:33.86\00:42:36.68 prior, there were they were just little. 00:42:36.72\00:42:38.87 Now every day is a great day, and it's not because I'm on 00:42:38.91\00:42:41.81 some kind of drug I can skip through going Lalala. 00:42:41.85\00:42:44.85 It's because I have God inside of me that helps me deal 00:42:44.88\00:42:47.72 with every situation every day. 00:42:47.76\00:42:48.94 And not only their accepting Jesus in my heart and 00:42:48.98\00:42:53.64 getting my life right and saying that prayer to take away 00:42:53.68\00:42:56.97 from me what I like to call the F word, and it's not the 00:42:57.01\00:43:00.27 F word you're thinking of, its forgiveness. 00:43:00.30\00:43:03.21 We have to be forgiving, we have to forgive and we had to 00:43:03.24\00:43:07.07 be forgiving toward other people. 00:43:07.10\00:43:08.84 There are people out there today, you are sitting there 00:43:08.88\00:43:12.50 at home and going you know Vicky, I didn't abuse myself. 00:43:12.53\00:43:15.60 I've abused other people and now I'm cutting, I'm burning, 00:43:15.63\00:43:18.66 now I am doing things. 00:43:18.70\00:43:19.72 You need to forgive yourself, everybody needs to work on 00:43:19.75\00:43:22.69 forgiveness and my support group that I run, they hate when 00:43:22.73\00:43:25.64 I say it, oh she's talking about forgiveness I have to 00:43:25.67\00:43:28.20 go to the bathroom, Dah, Dah, Dah. 00:43:28.23\00:43:29.54 I called the F word because we act like it's a swear word. 00:43:29.58\00:43:33.30 We act like it's a plague, we can't say forgiveness. 00:43:33.34\00:43:35.77 God talks about it so much in the Bible. - it releases us. 00:43:35.80\00:43:40.90 All of a sudden I am an empowered, 00:43:40.94\00:43:43.39 God can take it away from me. 00:43:43.43\00:43:47.36 Absolutely, the second most important thing obviously is 00:43:47.39\00:43:50.90 receiving Jesus as my savior, the second forgiving, 00:43:50.94\00:43:53.15 and the third is time with God. 00:43:53.19\00:43:55.46 I didn't go out to the bars and dance and continue all that. 00:43:55.49\00:43:59.34 God take anything that is not from you from me in Jesus name, 00:43:59.38\00:44:03.20 that included spending time with God, going to prayer. 00:44:03.23\00:44:07.10 I spent, not that I'm devout and all that, but I had issues 00:44:07.13\00:44:11.94 going on and I wasn't an advent person and worked 00:44:11.97\00:44:15.33 out and had the eating disorder. 00:44:15.37\00:44:16.98 I took what He said to me and took those two hours that 00:44:17.02\00:44:20.43 you spend every morning and seek Me and pray and I went 00:44:20.47\00:44:23.85 okay, when God tells me I do it. 00:44:23.88\00:44:25.96 I'm like a plow, alright I'm going to do it. 00:44:25.99\00:44:27.75 For two years our church was fortunate enough to have a 00:44:27.79\00:44:32.28 prayer room and I went and prayed two hours before 00:44:32.31\00:44:34.31 I went to work and it changed my life. 00:44:34.34\00:44:36.96 Forgiveness came into my heart, God worked in me. 00:44:36.99\00:44:39.35 I had a little piece of paper with all these people's 00:44:39.39\00:44:41.71 names on it, people that abused me and raped me. 00:44:41.75\00:44:43.66 I prayed for them for salvation, that they would come to 00:44:43.70\00:44:47.20 God, I pray for my mom. - I so love you, I love you. 00:44:47.23\00:44:51.17 I think the coolest thing I think about you is your 00:44:51.21\00:44:54.83 background and your pain and cutting I understand 00:44:54.87\00:44:58.43 because I have seen it and work with people like that, 00:44:58.46\00:45:00.96 but I also see you so took God into your life. 00:45:00.99\00:45:04.34 He's crazy about me. - I love that. 00:45:04.37\00:45:07.46 Okay we are going to open it up for questions because 00:45:09.16\00:45:11.00 I know that everybody has questions. Samantha! 00:45:11.03\00:45:14.03 Thank you and I appreciate your testimony, I was just 00:45:14.06\00:45:15.93 wondering how long did it take you from the time that 00:45:15.96\00:45:17.85 you were swearing at God and looking in the Bible to 00:45:17.89\00:45:19.95 where you felt that God has actually healed you? 00:45:19.99\00:45:22.22 The first time I stepped foot into the church was 00:45:22.25\00:45:25.19 March of 1995, I accepted the Lord in my heart within 00:45:25.23\00:45:28.14 a couple months after that. 00:45:28.17\00:45:29.26 I did the whole debate with God, actually I should add to 00:45:29.29\00:45:32.64 that I gave Him 30 days to prove Himself real to me. 00:45:32.67\00:45:36.03 - I like that we are just nothing and acting out like 00:45:36.06\00:45:39.38 crazy and we say God you have 30 days. - right. 00:45:39.42\00:45:42.74 I wanted a 30-day money back guaranteed is what I want. 00:45:42.77\00:45:45.89 - what's really funny is that God so says that's what 00:45:45.93\00:45:49.01 you got to work with I'll work with it. 00:45:49.05\00:45:50.94 So basically I did this debate, a 30 day type of deal and 00:45:50.98\00:45:54.64 God just changed my life within a couple months after that 00:45:54.67\00:45:58.30 the desires to harm myself were less. 00:45:58.33\00:46:04.03 That might not seem like much, but it was really big. 00:46:04.06\00:46:06.50 I would have bloody knives underneath my bed and people 00:46:06.53\00:46:08.51 will come over and I would have kicked them under the bed. 00:46:08.55\00:46:10.49 This is a big, big secret with me. 00:46:10.52\00:46:12.37 So to answer your question, the process was quick 00:46:12.41\00:46:17.18 but slow, with 1 and 1/2 years I did a 180, I looked 00:46:17.22\00:46:20.67 different, I talked different, and the ear rings, 00:46:20.71\00:46:23.98 12 ear rings in one ear and 7 in the left came out. 00:46:24.02\00:46:27.22 The eyebrow ring and the belly button ring and the reason 00:46:27.26\00:46:30.45 why is because I simply prayed to God that if anything 00:46:30.48\00:46:33.64 wasn't of me to take it away. 00:46:33.67\00:46:35.30 I know that those things represented something, 00:46:35.34\00:46:40.26 they represented a hurt, they represented an issue 00:46:40.30\00:46:43.97 whether it was an eyebrow ring or whatever it was 00:46:44.00\00:46:47.64 my whole look changed completely. 00:46:47.68\00:46:49.34 - what I want to say and it's interesting to me is that 00:46:49.37\00:46:53.06 a lot of people will start to teach someone how to look 00:46:53.10\00:46:56.46 or how to behave and they don't wait for the Holy Spirit 00:46:56.50\00:46:59.23 to do it, because the Holy Spirit does it in ways that 00:46:59.27\00:47:01.97 is gentle, so gentle. - yes. 00:47:02.00\00:47:04.38 No one came up to me, no one talked to me, no one said 00:47:04.42\00:47:07.43 you had to change this or that, it was just simply the 00:47:07.47\00:47:10.45 love of God working in me. 00:47:10.48\00:47:13.38 Within 1 and 1/2 years I decided one day, I don't 00:47:13.41\00:47:16.90 recommend this for everybody, I had 400 and some pills 00:47:16.93\00:47:20.58 that I had just had, I was on psychiatric medication and 00:47:20.61\00:47:24.22 I had just had them filled. 00:47:24.26\00:47:25.47 I was taken 17 pills a day, I just heard like our voices 00:47:25.50\00:47:30.15 right now, throw them out, flush them down the toilet. 00:47:30.18\00:47:34.32 I did, cold turkey I stopped my therapy a few months 00:47:34.35\00:47:38.45 later and within a year and a half a 180. 00:47:38.49\00:47:41.84 Looked different, talked different, acted different and 00:47:41.88\00:47:44.93 began to just get in prayer for the next couple years 00:47:44.96\00:47:47.98 and seek God and that's how I did it. 00:47:48.01\00:47:50.17 Everything was taken from me, and again the key thing was 00:47:50.21\00:47:52.55 obviously accepting Jesus into my heart. 00:47:52.58\00:47:54.72 That was first and foremost, forgiving and time with God. 00:47:54.75\00:47:58.61 Amen and I know that, Sharon you had a question. 00:47:58.65\00:48:01.86 Yes I do have a couple questions but first we give thanks 00:48:01.90\00:48:05.55 for you sharing your testimony with us today. 00:48:05.59\00:48:07.62 It was actually really hard for me to sit 00:48:07.66\00:48:09.66 here and hear that. 00:48:09.69\00:48:10.94 I have had some stuff happen in my life but nothing 00:48:10.98\00:48:14.31 that compares with that and I guess as a mum and friend 00:48:14.35\00:48:17.74 and someone who sits in church each week who really 00:48:17.77\00:48:21.06 cares about the people in my congregation, I want to 00:48:21.10\00:48:24.15 know what I can do to support someone who's been 00:48:24.18\00:48:27.20 through something like that? 00:48:27.23\00:48:28.74 Love them, it is probably the best thing we can do. 00:48:28.78\00:48:34.39 Love covers a multitude of sin, it doesn't mean overlook 00:48:34.42\00:48:38.35 it, but love them, talk to them, and genuinely care. 00:48:38.39\00:48:42.50 There is so many people that are afraid to expose their 00:48:42.54\00:48:46.48 sin and people don't see self injury as sin, but it is 00:48:46.51\00:48:50.23 not God's desire that we hurt our bodies, so it is not 00:48:50.27\00:48:53.66 pleasing to Him, but yet He knows we are hurting just 00:48:53.69\00:48:57.05 like any other type of issues that we deal with. 00:48:57.09\00:48:59.53 Love them, talk to them, really show them that you do care 00:48:59.56\00:49:03.02 and they are not going to end up in a place they 00:49:03.05\00:49:05.47 don't want to, a hospital or anything. 00:49:05.50\00:49:07.03 That is their greatest fear that people won't understand. 00:49:07.07\00:49:10.31 So many people I've talked to say they get judged, whether 00:49:10.34\00:49:13.55 it is in the Christian realm or the world, 00:49:13.58\00:49:17.16 they are getting judged in some way. 00:49:17.19\00:49:19.06 Show them love, show them true character of God, 00:49:19.09\00:49:23.39 and really listen to them. 00:49:23.43\00:49:24.95 Have you ever had a conversation with someone and 00:49:24.98\00:49:27.12 you know they are not listening to you? 00:49:27.15\00:49:30.24 Sometimes you need to be heard, you need to get the gook 00:49:30.28\00:49:33.05 and the mire out, but they also need to know that you 00:49:33.08\00:49:36.04 truly care so they can open up and get to the next step. 00:49:36.08\00:49:39.10 They may not be at the point where they're going to accept 00:49:39.14\00:49:42.13 Jesus into your heart yet, there is a path and 00:49:42.16\00:49:44.06 steps to get them there. 00:49:44.09\00:49:45.40 If they are in therapy, that it's okay for the time. 00:49:45.43\00:49:47.57 If they are on medication that is okay for the time. 00:49:47.61\00:49:49.67 Whatever is there is a time for God because He is the one 00:49:49.71\00:49:52.64 ultimately going to take it all away and do the healing. 00:49:52.68\00:49:55.57 We have to start in the church loving the people. 00:49:55.61\00:50:00.00 As we're talking about church members, I loved the question. 00:50:00.03\00:50:02.97 There is a lot of folks that will tell me, even myself 00:50:03.00\00:50:07.60 when I started opening up about my background. 00:50:07.63\00:50:09.83 People will get you like our a leopard then, like you 00:50:09.86\00:50:13.64 are crazy, somehow you were a little bit off or twisted. 00:50:13.68\00:50:18.17 Christ never did that with the demoniac, filled with a 1000 00:50:18.20\00:50:22.02 demons, cutting on himself, beating people up, and Christ 00:50:22.06\00:50:26.28 looked at him as a man of God underneath all that stuff 00:50:26.31\00:50:30.49 with an incredible desire to be well. 00:50:30.53\00:50:32.52 That's how we need to look at each other, especially in 00:50:32.55\00:50:36.69 the church, is I know that you are not crazy. 00:50:36.72\00:50:40.20 I know that you are in pain and that Satan is lying to 00:50:40.23\00:50:43.14 you, even inserting things for you to do to yourself, 00:50:43.17\00:50:46.05 cut, stab, and that stuff. 00:50:46.08\00:50:48.26 As church members we should so not let that affect us 00:50:48.30\00:50:52.59 that we withdraw our support. 00:50:52.63\00:50:54.85 That is really hard to do when someone has an issue that 00:50:54.89\00:50:58.21 is beyond what you have ever experienced, beyond what is 00:50:58.24\00:51:01.97 in your circle of influence, and God says I want you to 00:51:02.01\00:51:05.70 love on this person right now. 00:51:05.73\00:51:07.05 The person that brought me to Christ, she said she would take 00:51:07.08\00:51:10.12 off and just say in the middle of something and say excuse me, 00:51:10.16\00:51:13.02 I need to go to the bathroom and she would go fall on her 00:51:13.06\00:51:15.50 knees and say God I don't know how to deal with this. 00:51:15.53\00:51:17.94 I don't know how to respond please teach me. 00:51:17.97\00:51:20.45 In your head that is all you have to say to yourself. 00:51:20.49\00:51:23.51 It's teach me to listen and respond in a way that will 00:51:23.55\00:51:26.59 bring this person into the throne room of God, to health. 00:51:26.63\00:51:29.63 It's just amazing, absolutely amazing. 00:51:29.67\00:51:31.95 That was a good answer and I know that 00:51:31.98\00:51:34.23 you had one more question. 00:51:34.26\00:51:35.75 Well look Cheri I think she has actually answered 00:51:35.79\00:51:37.98 the question, but question I had was how do 00:51:38.02\00:51:40.31 I know how to help. 00:51:40.34\00:51:41.65 I think the answer is basically there if I open myself 00:51:41.68\00:51:45.78 up to God and He will show the way in terms of 00:51:45.82\00:51:47.66 helping someone might be. 00:51:47.69\00:51:49.60 The Holy Spirit will guide you He dwells inside of us, 00:51:49.63\00:51:53.76 and once we receive Him in our heart, He's in there. 00:51:53.80\00:51:57.86 The Holy Spirit is guiding us what to say and when to say 00:51:57.89\00:52:01.11 it, sometimes we may feel I don't know what I can do 00:52:01.14\00:52:04.28 I've never dealt with someone who's cut themselves and 00:52:04.32\00:52:07.42 they have this and they have that. 00:52:07.46\00:52:08.94 Don't think about that, God cares about every aspect 00:52:08.98\00:52:12.02 of what we go through, He certainly cares about 00:52:12.05\00:52:14.77 that individual and what you can say. 00:52:14.81\00:52:17.16 It could just be a hug, I do care, I'm going 00:52:17.20\00:52:20.69 to get you help and just rely on the inward knowing and 00:52:20.72\00:52:24.43 the Holy Spirit will guide you. 00:52:24.46\00:52:26.00 Can I say, just so we don't lose track of this with the 00:52:26.03\00:52:29.89 Holy Spirit? Is I never understood that God says I want 00:52:29.93\00:52:33.75 to dwell with you, I want to be so in you that 00:52:33.79\00:52:36.66 I will give you the things to say. 00:52:36.70\00:52:37.67 Because sometimes I pray to the Holy Spirit everyday in 00:52:37.71\00:52:40.38 worship and sometimes I will be talking to somebody and 00:52:40.41\00:52:43.33 counseling and I think I'd like to take notes on myself 00:52:43.36\00:52:46.25 right now, because that was so good. 00:52:46.28\00:52:48.26 It's God, and when you know you are not capable of 00:52:48.29\00:52:51.87 thinking that way, counseling that way, is you know 00:52:51.90\00:52:55.44 that God gifted you with His counseling. 00:52:55.48\00:52:58.15 He is ultimately the counselor, the great physician, 00:52:58.19\00:53:01.72 great friend and that kind of thing. 00:53:01.75\00:53:03.53 I think Lisa you had a question. 00:53:03.56\00:53:05.15 Vicky, when I read your book 'No More Pain', the thing 00:53:05.19\00:53:08.36 that impressed me the most was that you took two hours 00:53:08.39\00:53:12.42 a day for a couple years to seek the Lord in prayer and 00:53:12.45\00:53:16.44 how He took all this from you and healed you. 00:53:16.48\00:53:19.55 And now when things hurt you, or your feelings, death in 00:53:19.59\00:53:25.69 the family, this thought is not with you more? 00:53:25.72\00:53:29.18 You don't have these thoughts to hurt yourself anymore? 00:53:29.22\00:53:33.33 - is that right? 00:53:33.36\00:53:35.16 That is absolutely 100% correct. 00:53:35.20\00:53:37.69 - Your mom committed suicide not long ago. - right! 00:53:37.72\00:53:40.12 I called you, I remember feeling like I wanted to go get 00:53:40.15\00:53:43.49 a plane ticket and fly to your house because I was so 00:53:43.53\00:53:46.84 afraid for you when I heard the news. 00:53:46.87\00:53:48.88 Yes my mom, another show. but my mom battled many 00:53:48.91\00:53:54.13 things and I found her barely breathing and right then 00:53:54.16\00:54:01.45 and there I knew that this was the end. 00:54:01.48\00:54:05.54 It's a long story but for the sake of time, I knew she 00:54:05.58\00:54:12.66 was going to be at peace, 00:54:12.69\00:54:13.82 although she did take her own life. 00:54:13.85\00:54:16.98 I know we don't have time to get into that. 00:54:17.02\00:54:18.53 I was about family restoration, I wanted people to make 00:54:18.57\00:54:23.12 amends with her, I wanted who ever had something with her, she 00:54:23.15\00:54:26.13 was physically here, to spend the next 4 days, while she was 00:54:26.16\00:54:29.10 in a coma, to come and make things right. 00:54:29.14\00:54:30.61 That was my heart's desire, she was so proud of the life 00:54:30.65\00:54:35.43 I made for myself, what God had done in my life, 00:54:35.46\00:54:37.44 the changes, that I wanted to do honor unto her and have people 00:54:37.47\00:54:44.24 share with her and I never had a thought to harm ever. 00:54:44.28\00:54:47.52 That is amazing, so your healing was so amazing that you 00:54:47.56\00:54:50.77 never even had a thought. 00:54:50.80\00:54:52.13 I now want to have you come back and want to hear exactly 00:54:52.16\00:54:55.21 how God has worked in your life because I love you, 00:54:55.24\00:54:57.95 I love you. - I love you too! 00:54:57.98\00:54:59.56 You know thank you for coming, God bless you and your 00:54:59.60\00:55:02.30 recovery and know that you are part of our family. 00:55:02.33\00:55:05.00 Thank you, thanks for all your doing. 00:55:05.04\00:55:06.60 We are going to go ahead and take a break, but if you are 00:55:06.63\00:55:08.77 out there and you have got anything, you are hurting 00:55:08.81\00:55:11.83 yourself in any way, I'm talking about anyway. 00:55:11.86\00:55:13.92 I'm talking about religious addictions for perfectionism. 00:55:13.96\00:55:17.33 Stealing, spending, cutting, drug addiction, alcoholism, 00:55:17.36\00:55:20.70 porn addictions, any of that kind of stuff. 00:55:20.73\00:55:23.25 If you are anywhere know that God is bigger than your 00:55:23.29\00:55:26.90 addictions and He wants to heal you. 00:55:26.93\00:55:28.90 He wants to step into your life to say out loud to God, 00:55:28.93\00:55:32.21 give me the Holy Spirit, fill me up, forgive me of my sins and 00:55:32.25\00:55:36.47 come into my life, I'm done. 00:55:36.50\00:55:38.36 We'll be right back. 00:55:38.39\00:55:40.11 Cheri Peters uses the book, 'Coming Of The Comforter' 00:55:45.22\00:55:48.17 as a guide for the second season of Celebrating Life In 00:55:48.21\00:55:51.57 Recovery, written by Lee Roy E. Froom is a 320 page book 00:55:51.61\00:55:54.94 that offers every sinner the knowledge that the 00:55:54.97\00:55:57.24 Holy Spirit is available to all. 00:55:57.27\00:55:59.57 3ABN now offers this book to you for a suggested donation 00:55:59.60\00:56:03.26 of only $13 postpaid within the US. 00:56:03.29\00:56:06.73 Call 3ABN at 618-627-4651 or go online to 3ABN.org. 00:56:06.76\00:56:13.97 I absolutely love the fact that God can come into our 00:56:26.78\00:56:29.63 lives and change everything. 00:56:29.66\00:56:31.03 You know earlier we were talking about the kid Lindsay. 00:56:31.07\00:56:34.36 She ends up at the moment that I was telling you that 00:56:34.39\00:56:37.65 God doesn't care about that, He poured in the 00:56:37.68\00:56:39.92 Holy Spirit with her and I watched her change 00:56:39.95\00:56:42.16 in ways that were unbelievable. 00:56:42.19\00:56:44.06 The next time I see this kids it was still at that court 00:56:44.10\00:56:47.06 appointed alternative school and she look like a little 00:56:47.10\00:56:50.03 angel, I'm thinking oh shut up. 00:56:50.07\00:56:52.28 This kid was smiling and she was happy, she saw herself 00:56:52.31\00:56:56.55 as lovely and pure and I know with Vicky 00:56:56.59\00:56:59.93 as she got into healing. 00:56:59.96\00:57:01.24 And you heard her say, from the moment God stepped in to 00:57:01.27\00:57:04.15 her life she started being able to find peace for the 00:57:04.18\00:57:07.02 first time and she set with God in devotion. 00:57:07.06\00:57:09.44 She could feel His presence, she could feel the fact that 00:57:09.47\00:57:12.89 He loved her, all the cuts and stuff in her body are just 00:57:12.92\00:57:16.30 victors from this war that she had been through. 00:57:16.34\00:57:20.01 She is no longer ashamed of them and she can tell you that God 00:57:20.04\00:57:23.66 stopped it all, God changed it all. 00:57:23.70\00:57:25.74 I'm thinking that that is the God we have. 00:57:25.77\00:57:28.00 If you have anything you have to trust God with, 00:57:28.03\00:57:31.29 know that that is the God we have and the Holy Spirit 00:57:31.33\00:57:34.25 says ask Me every day to fill you up, every single day. 00:57:34.28\00:57:37.20 Were like leaky vessels, if you don't stay fill me up 00:57:37.24\00:57:39.83 during the day we will leak out all over the place and 00:57:39.86\00:57:42.42 we are empty again so every single day when 00:57:42.45\00:57:44.42 you are in your time with God. 00:57:44.46\00:57:45.68 It doesn't have to be formal or on your knees or 00:57:45.72\00:57:48.10 whatever, you can speak to God anyway you want to and 00:57:48.13\00:57:50.77 say fill me up with your Holy Spirit because I am not 00:57:50.81\00:57:53.41 bright enough to get through all this junk. 00:57:53.45\00:57:55.63 I don't even know what all the junk looks like but 00:57:55.67\00:57:57.74 I know that You do and I also know that You know who 00:57:57.77\00:57:59.81 I am outside of all this damage. 00:57:59.84\00:58:02.45 You know what? You are amazing! You are amazing. 00:58:02.49\00:58:05.78 Just remember and always remember that God is crazy 00:58:05.82\00:58:09.08 about you and remember too, I am. 00:58:09.11\00:58:11.94 I am crazy about you, see you next time and until 00:58:11.97\00:58:15.59 then get on your knees and hang out with God a bit. 00:58:15.63\00:58:19.22 You will be surprised of the changes. 00:58:19.25\00:58:21.56