Interviewed by Bob Putman, October 15, 2011

Did you grow up attending church?

No. I had a few friends who went to church; one was Catholic. It was stand up, kneel, sit down. Stand up, kneel, sit down. And I hated it. The other one was Presbyterian. I don’t remember much about that. I didn’t start going to church till about a year and a half ago. I’m originally from Jupiter. Fla. 

I’ve known my husband Robert since I was 18. We married in 2003. We had moved to north Florida, and that’s where I started attending church. We had a life-changing circumstance. Robert got arrested for prescription drugs; he had got addicted. They told me when I visited rehab that I should start attending a meeting — Nar-Anon or something like that ̶ because my family needs the support.

I had driven by this church a million times, and this one time I saw a sign that said Recovery Meetings. So I went to the meeting and said, “I’m here to support my husband when he comes out of rehab; we need to have a support group in place.” They read things at the beginning of meetings. One of them was that our recovery group is here for those with drug addictions and mental problems and things like that. The second time I went, they read it, and I started crying. I said, “That’s me. I have mental problems.” That was in September. In December it was someone’s birthday and I made a cake for her. And she said, “We want you to do our baptism cakes.” She said, “We need one this Sunday. You can come to church.” I said, “Well, I’ll just bring the cake. I’m not really a church-going person.” So brought the cake and got to meet everybody. It was a small Baptist church of about 60 people.

I brought the cakes for about two months. Finally I said to myself, I feel kind of bad bringing the cake and leaving, so this time I’m going to go and see what the baptism is and attend the church. So I did, and I liked it. I thought, I need a little bit more than these meetings, and I like what [the church] has to offer. So I started going, and it was about that time that my husband relapsed again. I didn’t know that. One day, at the end of the service, they called for people who wanted to get baptized and give their lives to God. So I stood up, and the next Sunday I got baptized. It was amazing. From there, things started changing in our family fairly quickly.

My husband was arrested again, in June 2010. He got sentenced to five years [he has served one year]. He was calling in prescriptions, pretending to be a doctor -- getting 180 pills every three days, and taking them. He sobered up for a week before because the police had called him in — and we knew what was going to happen. The day before his arrest, he got baptized (on Sunday). Then on Monday he turned himself in and went to prison.

There, he thought, What I’m supposed to do is be a pastor so that I can help kids who are like me, who come from backgrounds like me, so they don’t end up in the same place. That’s his mission, and now he’s in a faith-based prison in Mount Florida, furthering his education.

My story revolves around that, because if it wasn’t for all of these events, I never would have found God. I didn’t think I needed him. But now I realize I do, and I love being involved in the church -- and all the things we do and the messages. It seems that God puts the perfect people in your life right when you need it.

Because of my husband’s arrest, we had to move. It was in a very rural community, and with three children I couldn’t have a job where I went to work at 8 o’clock and put the young ones on the bus. We moved in January 2011, while they were out for Christmas break. My house went into foreclosure, and my parents said, “You can move in with us.” So we made the move. I lost my church and church family. And I was lost.

In March, for Lent, I was so miserable. A pastor walked into my work said, “We’re going to be having Lenten services at lunchtime, and here’s some information.” It was like, wow! I had been praying and praying for something like this to happen. But my work is a bit further away from my house than I’d like, so I didn’t want to attend that church on Sundays. I need a place where it’s going to be like family, and not 500 people and you get lost in the crowd. Then we got a flier in the mailbox from LifeBridge. And I said, “That’s kind of weird. It’s just what I want.” We went to LifeBridge and it was so 21^st century. It was put so that you can understand it. You can relate to it. You can walk out and immediately put everything to work. And I was hooked.

My kids enjoy it too, which is the best part. Before, they’d say, “I don’t want to go to church. It’s so boring. You have to sit there and listen to everybody talk.” I hear them now asking: “Are we leaving now? Is Miss Christie going to be there today?” My daughter’s 13, and my boys are 6 and 7.

What really grabbed you at LifeBridge?

Whatever you’re going through, you can apply the message right then. The first series was about marriage. When I first started going to church, Robert never wanted to go. It was like pulling teeth to get him to go with me. Now I’ve got a notebook I take, and I write everything down, then I type it up and send him a copy. I tell him, “When you come home, we need to make sure we do this. We need to go over these notes and we have to start doing these things because this is what a family should do, this is how a marriage should be, husband and wife. This will keep us together. This will keep our family together and heal us.” And it has. Robert sends me messages from the different things he does where he’s at. It’s just amazing. So many times he’ll write a letter, and I’ll write a letter on the same day, and it’s like a mirror image. It’s really amazing how God is working in our lives.

How often do you get to see him?

Probably once every two months. It’s a four-hour drive. I can’t believe the change of heart [in him].

Pastor Mark told me you said, “LifeBridge changed my life.” How so?

I had started to give up hope that I was going to find a church. I’m normally a very shy person; I don’t want to walk into a new church where I don’t know anybody, because I’ve been to other churches in the past and felt like such an outcast. I felt they were looking at me thinking, Why is she here? This isn’t her place to be. But LifeBridge was so welcoming and down to earth. One of the things they say is “A church for the rest of us.” It was and is. Everybody here seems as if they don’t have much church experience or they have had bad experiences. And now we’re all here together for the same reason. LifeBridge was renewing.

Where do you work and what do you do?

I’m a receptionist for a construction company. I hadn’t worked in seven years. I was going to college and doing online classes. And one of the things we had to do was go online and find a position that would work for me. This was maybe two or three months before I moved down here. And something popped up for a receptionist at a construction company. I thought, Yeah, I could do that. So I chose to do my paper on that.

[When Robert went to prison] I prayed because I didn’t know if I should let the house go, if I should move, what I should do. God put the answer on my heart. I knew what to do. I told my husband, “OK, I’m going to let the house go. I’m going to move in with my parents, and when I get there I’m just going to go to a temp agency and tell them, ‘Find me a permanent job.’” But When we moved down here, I started going on monster.com, submitting resumes for jobs. Nothing was working out. So I went to a temp agency, and within about a month the woman called me and said, “We have the perfect job for you. It’s at a construction company, and you’re going to love it. These people like to go fishing. You’re going fit right in there. They’re not stuffy or anything.” It was in West Palm Beach, and I didn’t want to work in West Palm.” She said, “Trust me, you gotta try it.” I said, “Fine. I’ll be there tomorrow.” So she gave me the information, and it was the same ad that I had applied to. They had two days left to find somebody before the current receptionist left. So that all fell into place. It worked out so I can take my kids to school in the morning. I get paid vacations. And I love working there.

How has LifeBridge helped you or ministered to you?

Pastor Mark and Christie have been there to listen to me. Last weekend I was depressed. I thought: Why do I keep on trying so hard to keep my marriage together? He’s going to be gone for so long. What should I do? Poor me.

I greet every Sunday morning, and there was a girl who always comes in, sometimes with her little boy. After the service, I stopped and talked with her in the hallway. We had communion that morning, and I said, “I’m sorry I was such a wreck when I was up there crying and everything. It’s been kind of rough.” And she said, “Me too.” I told her my husband is in prison. She told me, “I’m afraid that if I wake up in the middle of the night, my son is going to be dead, because of his health issues.” I thought to myself, Here I am totally taking for granted that my children are healthy, my husband is safe, he’s alive, I have a good family that is helping me, supporting me where I need it, I have an awesome church. All the things I’ve prayed for I’ve gotten. How dare I take pity on myself when there’s someone like this who has a 3- or 4-year-old son who has all these health issues? It really brought it to life for me. We need each other for support.

There are a lot of people out there going through the same thing I am -- with a husband, a brother, a son, a daughter, a wife. And a lot of people are so embarrassed by a family member who is a drug addict. It’s been such a stigma. I find that I can guide them to some resources.

What keeps you coming to LifeBridge?

God. I find him here. I know I have that appointment every Sunday at 10:30 to meet with him here no matter what.

What’s your ministry at church?

I’m the director of first impressions. I greet people, help them feel welcome, answer questions they have, give them directions if they need anything. I’ve been doing this since May. I also make the baked goods we serve in the outdoor café. And my daughter Sarah runs the snow cone machine after church.