Hope Network pt.2: Jessalyn's Path To Recovery

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Welcome to Small Town, Big God.

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My name is Michael Collins, and I am here to share a story of God working

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in Rutherford County, North Carolina.

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If you didn't notice, this is part two of the Hope Network story, so I

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highly recommend you go listen to part one if you have not done that already.

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In part one, I interviewed Ashley Nichols, who's the executive

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director of Hope Network.

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We talked about how Hope Network came to be and exactly how their program works.

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But in this episode, we're going to hear from Jessalyn Ramsey, who's

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currently just over halfway through Hope Network's recovery program.

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We're going to hear a little bit about Jessalyn's past, her

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experience in Hope Network and why she feels that Hope Network is a

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benefit to small town friendly.

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So without further ado, here is Jessalyn.

Jessalyn: 00:00:52

So, I was born in Rutherford County, but I've been living here since, I

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guess I've been back here since I was 21.

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so I'm 25 now, so about to be 26.

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So it's been about five years.

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I was living in Asheville, but I've bounced back and forth, so from like

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Haywood County, Waynesville, I dunno if you know where like Waynesville,

Jessalyn: 00:01:12

I've been Maggie Valley and all that.

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And then, Asheville, Buncombe County, everywhere in Buncombe

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County and then, to here, so.

Jessalyn: 00:01:18

Okay.

Jessalyn: 00:01:18

Yeah.

Jessalyn: 00:01:19

Over the past several years, Jessalyn has moved around quite a bit.

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Not just from one county to another, but also from one recovery center to another.

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Yeah, the first time I went to treatment, I was 18

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and I was in South Florida.

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I don't know if you ever heard of like South Florida recovery.

Jessalyn: 00:01:38

They call it like the South Florida

Jessalyn: 00:01:39

Shuffle.

Mikel: 00:01:39

Yeah.

Mikel: 00:01:39

It's apparently like the

Jessalyn: 00:01:42

Yeah.

Jessalyn: 00:01:42

It's apparently like the recovery capital of, I don't think the world's, but it's

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apparently pretty big.

Jessalyn: 00:01:48

So yeah, that was the beginning.

Jessalyn: 00:01:50

And then since then, I think I've been in four residential treatments, and then

Jessalyn: 00:01:55

I've been in a bunch of halfway houses.

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I guess you would consider this like a sober living transitional.

Jessalyn: 00:02:00

So kind of like that's what I mean by a halfway house.

Jessalyn: 00:02:03

And then, in and out of detox probably seven

Jessalyn: 00:02:05

times.

Mikel: 00:02:05

times.

Mikel: 00:02:06

Is this the longest program you've been a part of?

Jessalyn: 00:02:10

Yeah.

Jessalyn: 00:02:10

Yeah.

Jessalyn: 00:02:11

The long and the longest amount of sobriety I've ever had.

Jessalyn: 00:02:15

So that's just a blessing in itself.

Jessalyn: 00:02:17

I kept getting it like three months and then I would struggle again.

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I was over at another ministry and then I would go to detox.

Jessalyn: 00:02:24

I was just back and forth.

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something wasn't working.

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I needed a change.

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a different environment.

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I needed something.

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So I was coming from a relapse and I was hospitalized and I actually

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had a girl reach out to me who was over there cause I was like, look,

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I gotta, I gotta go somewhere.

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Like I gotta be somewhere.

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And I can't keep doing this.

Jessalyn: 00:02:42

I don't really have anywhere else to go unless I just want to go

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back to the streets or go back to wherever I was staying before.

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And I, contacted her and she, was like, okay, well, if you really want

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to make a difference, like, if you're ready, if you're not just saying you're

Jessalyn: 00:02:56

ready to get sober for a couple days or whatever, like, you can come here.

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So yeah, I don't know.

Jessalyn: 00:03:02

I think I was just really ready for that change at that point.

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I really knew I needed to settle down somewhere and actually stay

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clean and be somewhere where I had a safe space for a long period of

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time to really get back on my feet.

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at that point, I want to say, what was I 24?

Jessalyn: 00:03:18

Yeah.

Jessalyn: 00:03:18

I was 24 And I had like acquired probably three months of sobriety.

Jessalyn: 00:03:23

So after six years of bouncing back and forth, being in and out

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of recovery centers, Jesalyn was ready to commit to a longer stay

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and make a radical life change.

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And she, and she just happened to know some of the women over at Hope Network who

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could help her get in contact with Ashley.

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you get involved?

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I mean, what, how did you have you heard of Out of the Ashes before?

Jessalyn: 00:03:55

I was over there, they've helped me so much throughout

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my sobriety journey as well.

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so I knew of the girls, some of the girls had came, um, to like the

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meeting that they have over there and then I came to Recovery Road a

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couple of times when they were still having it in the basement over here.

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So, I knew it was around.

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I wasn't really sure of all the support and the help that they had to offer.

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But, yeah, that's when I first had heard about it when I came over to

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the meeting over here and I saw how many girls they had over at the house.

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And everything that they were doing end up?

Jessalyn: 00:04:26

I had had a relapse, and I needed something different.

Jessalyn: 00:04:29

I needed, to be surrounded just by women.

Jessalyn: 00:04:31

I needed more of a home environment, I almost could feel God calling me towards

Jessalyn: 00:04:36

Hope Network because I'd known some of the girls who had been in and out of

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the program as well, I reached out to one of the girls who was at the house.

Jessalyn: 00:04:43

And then, from that point they were like, okay, we'll call Ashley.

Jessalyn: 00:04:46

I, called Ashley one day, and April was with her, and they got me in, so,

Jessalyn: 00:04:52

yeah.

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Sometimes, all it takes is one phone call.

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Jesselyn joined Hope Network, and the day that we recorded this had just begun

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phase two of the Hope Network program.

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I actually just got a certificate last night.

Jessalyn: 00:05:07

It was super cute.

Jessalyn: 00:05:07

They presented me

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with like, had completed phase one.

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how different does phase two seem to be from phase one?

Jessalyn: 00:05:14

I've just been working a lot.

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And, I think there's some new things I'm going to try to incorporate

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such as, different responsibilities.

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starting to prepare mentally for getting my own place.

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other than that, pretty much the same as phase one from the first

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month when I first got there to not working and, everything.

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the curfew is the same, still the same meetings for the most part.

Jessalyn: 00:05:35

I'm not in as much meetings as I was as some of the other girls like salt

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anymore because I completed those.

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So I'm not really doing step work anymore, completed that, which is just,

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it's a good feeling to have all that

Jessalyn: 00:05:45

completed.

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So, that's really the main, the main difference.

Mikel: 00:05:48

are you going to be moving out during phase two or?

Mikel: 00:05:52

No, not

Jessalyn: 00:05:53

don't know yet.

Jessalyn: 00:05:53

Yeah.

Jessalyn: 00:05:53

My original goal was six months and then, because that's like the

Jessalyn: 00:05:57

main, that's what they tell you when you come in, there's always an

Jessalyn: 00:05:59

extension.

Jessalyn: 00:06:00

Yeah.

Jessalyn: 00:06:00

I got the extension.

Jessalyn: 00:06:02

And, I don't see why I couldn't just stay the full year.

Jessalyn: 00:06:05

I don't see why it wouldn't be beneficial just to wait on God

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and try not to rush things.

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Things are going really well right now,

Jessalyn: 00:06:12

Yeah, I think I'll probably just stay year.

Jessalyn: 00:06:16

Recovery is tough.

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It takes a lot of effort, and it's not something I have ever heard of

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someone coming through on their own.

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Hope Network and ministries like it are so important, because without

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them, it would be nearly impossible for people to come out of addiction.

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As someone who's been to several different recovery centers, Jessalyn has

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a unique perspective on which aspects of Hope Network are the most beneficial

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for her and other women in recovery.

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Definitely my relationship with God being the top one.

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And I think also, Just the girls that God has surrounded me with while being there,

Jessalyn: 00:06:52

the fellowship over there is amazing.

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there's definitely favor over that house when it comes to who

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comes in and out of that house.

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I mean, there's always going to be times where it's rough and, you know,

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people here and there, they'll be coming in and out, there's different

Jessalyn: 00:07:05

personalities we clash, but at the end of the day, like, I've made some

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of the most meaningful relationships I think I've ever had over there.

Jessalyn: 00:07:13

So, that would be the relationship with God and the relationship with

Jessalyn: 00:07:17

a girl is definitely the top two.

Jessalyn: 00:07:19

And then, also I just think the support, I've tried a lot of

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new things since being there.

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I started school back, and I've wanted to do that for years.

Jessalyn: 00:07:28

I mean, I've been graduated since I was 17, so 2016.

Jessalyn: 00:07:32

I've been saying I'm going to do that for years, of course, like relapses happen.

Jessalyn: 00:07:35

I wasn't in sobriety, different life consequences, circumstances happened.

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And then I finally got to a place here where I was like, okay, like I have

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the support people were supporting me.

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You're like, you can sign up for school.

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I work at Chick fil A and they like have this great program that literally

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is paying for me to go to school.

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Like that's just been so amazing to me.

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And before that, it was so hard for me for some reason by myself to.

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Even feel like I had the worth to like sign up for school.

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I know that sounds crazy.

Jessalyn: 00:08:04

Like, it seems like something is so simple that most people are like, okay,

Jessalyn: 00:08:08

we're just gonna apply for school.

Jessalyn: 00:08:09

Like for me, that was a huge milestone that like I could not cross.

Jessalyn: 00:08:13

I want to stop and highlight what Jesselyn just said, because I think it's

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important and I don't want you to miss it.

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So let me play it again.

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it was so hard for me for some reason by myself to.

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Even feel like I had the worth to like sign up for school.

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She didn't feel like she was worth signing up for school.

Jessalyn: 00:08:33

So many people are held back by the lie that they are not worth taking care of.

Jessalyn: 00:08:39

Let me tell you something.

Jessalyn: 00:08:41

You were made in the image of God.

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He loves you regardless of what you've done, regardless of what you

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are going through, and regardless of what you believe about yourself.

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Don't believe the lie that you're not worthy of care.

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And if you can, find a network of people who will help support you.

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the support that I've had over there, just the encouragement that

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someone's just like sat down with me.

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I'm like, okay, we're gonna get this FAFSA done.

Jessalyn: 00:09:05

Like we're gonna make sure this happens for you.

Jessalyn: 00:09:08

And, gave me a safe place to do my schoolwork as well.

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Also held me accountable.

Jessalyn: 00:09:12

The accountability over there is huge.

Jessalyn: 00:09:14

Accountability.

Jessalyn: 00:09:15

I thrive in structure.

Jessalyn: 00:09:16

And, which is, it's so funny too because it's like when you think

Jessalyn: 00:09:19

of addiction, you're like you don't want to be told what to do

Jessalyn: 00:09:21

or you don't want to have rules.

Jessalyn: 00:09:23

And then when you get sober, it's the complete opposite, like you

Jessalyn: 00:09:25

need, you have to have the rules.

Jessalyn: 00:09:26

You have to have the discipline and, the accountability over there is amazing.

Jessalyn: 00:09:30

I need a curfew.

Jessalyn: 00:09:31

I need to be told, I'm going to clean my room, but it's still good to know.

Jessalyn: 00:09:35

I need to do that every single day.

Jessalyn: 00:09:36

You know, it's just little stuff like that, that rewires your brain that,

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is so important for a success at

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recovering.

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The structure and rules are there for good reason, and you just

Jessalyn: 00:09:48

heard Jessalyn talking about how beneficial the structure is.

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But it also takes some adjusting to come in as an adult and

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follow someone else's rules.

Jessalyn: 00:09:58

it is, hard sometimes giving up your freedom.

Jessalyn: 00:10:02

To an extent like that.

Jessalyn: 00:10:03

I think when you come in somewhere so broken though, and you're like, I don't

Jessalyn: 00:10:06

even want to save that life anymore.

Jessalyn: 00:10:08

you're a little bit more accepting of it.

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And you're kind of like, okay, I'm going to trust these people

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that they know what's best for me.

Jessalyn: 00:10:14

and following those, I mean, some days like, yeah, it sucks.

Jessalyn: 00:10:20

I'm like, dang, I kind of just wish I could just do whatever and go wherever.

Jessalyn: 00:10:23

But again, that's just like addiction kicking in like myself will.

Jessalyn: 00:10:27

So, Yeah, I mean, it's definitely an adjustment and it's weird.

Jessalyn: 00:10:31

It's not normal for a bunch of girls just to randomly live together

Jessalyn: 00:10:35

as adults to have all these roles and that's just not normal at 25

Jessalyn: 00:10:40

or wherever you're at, you know?

Jessalyn: 00:10:43

But um, I don't know, for me it wasn't too much of an adjustment.

Jessalyn: 00:10:47

I kind of knew what to expect when I was going in there.

Jessalyn: 00:10:50

Has b and that, they tell you like when you, when You get in there, there's

Jessalyn: 00:10:53

like a set of rules and guidelines kinda, they suit you up for all

Jessalyn: 00:11:00

that, you know, what you're walking

Mikel: 00:11:01

should

Mikel: 00:11:02

jessalyn has been through a lot.

Mikel: 00:11:04

She's had a long road to get where she is.

Mikel: 00:11:07

And I think she would agree that she wouldn't be where she is today if she

Mikel: 00:11:11

didn't have a relationship with Christ.

Mikel: 00:11:15

When did you come to know Christ?

Mikel: 00:11:17

When

Jessalyn: 00:11:18

um, were you?

Jessalyn: 00:11:20

So, I was raised in church, which

Jessalyn: 00:11:22

is a blessing for sure.

Jessalyn: 00:11:23

I was definitely one of those kids who strayed away from God.

Jessalyn: 00:11:27

I strayed away really hard, probably in my pre-teens, early teens.

Jessalyn: 00:11:31

I always knew of him and I was always accepting When people talked about him.

Jessalyn: 00:11:35

I would just hear people out.

Jessalyn: 00:11:37

I never was like, Oh, I was like, Oh, okay.

Jessalyn: 00:11:39

Like I know God, even though at the time I did not know God.

Jessalyn: 00:11:42

I didn't have a relationship with God whatsoever.

Jessalyn: 00:11:44

I really did not come back to knowing Christ or rededicating my life.

Jessalyn: 00:11:52

So I was probably, I wanna say I was 22.

Jessalyn: 00:11:55

Okay.

Mikel: 00:11:55

Was that at one of these

Jessalyn: 00:11:58

Yeah.

Jessalyn: 00:11:59

it's actually really funny how it happened.

Jessalyn: 00:12:00

I ended up, I was in a detox and I was just, at that point

Jessalyn: 00:12:03

I was accepting to go anywhere.

Jessalyn: 00:12:05

And, my mom had found this place in Boone and, it was called,

Jessalyn: 00:12:10

I forgot what it was called.

Jessalyn: 00:12:11

it

Jessalyn: 00:12:11

was something, the farm or something.

Jessalyn: 00:12:13

And she was like, okay, but like, it's faith based.

Jessalyn: 00:12:15

I need you to know that.

Jessalyn: 00:12:16

And I was like, I don't care.

Jessalyn: 00:12:17

I'll go.

Jessalyn: 00:12:17

just send me there.

Jessalyn: 00:12:18

I have nowhere to go.

Jessalyn: 00:12:19

I need help, you know?

Jessalyn: 00:12:20

know.

Jessalyn: 00:12:20

It was, it was, there wasn't a lot of girls there.

Jessalyn: 00:12:22

It was just a couple girls, which I feel like did make it more

Jessalyn: 00:12:25

personal and more like intimate that I got to know God again.

Jessalyn: 00:12:28

And there was a really, really amazing mentor there.

Jessalyn: 00:12:31

this guy would take us through the Bible and the church that we went to.

Jessalyn: 00:12:34

And I remember I would just, I just sat and listened to it.

Jessalyn: 00:12:37

Like I didn't really take it very seriously the first couple weeks.

Jessalyn: 00:12:39

and like I didn't have my phone.

Jessalyn: 00:12:40

We were out in the middle of nowhere.

Jessalyn: 00:12:42

We were like working at a thrift shop all day.

Jessalyn: 00:12:43

This is, that's all I had was like God 24 7 and I remember cause I wasn't, I

Jessalyn: 00:12:50

wasn't praying like again, I was listening to what they were saying, but I wasn't

Jessalyn: 00:12:53

really, I was like, Oh, this isn't for me.

Jessalyn: 00:12:54

What are you saying?

Jessalyn: 00:12:55

And I don't know if I was just so full of shame and whatever that I just

Jessalyn: 00:12:59

wasn't really accepting to hearing it or applying it personally to myself.

Jessalyn: 00:13:04

And I remember when we went to church one morning and This song, it's a Hill

Jessalyn: 00:13:08

song, song, and it's called Lead Me to the Cross, and my dad used to play that.

Jessalyn: 00:13:13

My dad's very musically inclined, and like, when we were younger,

Jessalyn: 00:13:16

he, played on the worship team.

Jessalyn: 00:13:17

He, was in kid's church, and, he, would always play that song.

Jessalyn: 00:13:20

And I remember, you know that feeling when you just, hear a song that

Jessalyn: 00:13:23

you haven't heard in a long time?

Jessalyn: 00:13:25

I was just filled with chills almost, and I just broke down at church, because

Jessalyn: 00:13:31

I'd been going to this church for weeks, and I hadn't heard one song that I knew,

Jessalyn: 00:13:34

9 the whole time I was there, they were showing me different Christian music.

Jessalyn: 00:13:36

I was like, dang, this is kind of an old song for them to play, and I

Jessalyn: 00:13:39

remembered every single word, and I just remember getting chills, and it

Jessalyn: 00:13:42

was just this feeling that I got, and ever since then, I was like, okay, I'm

Jessalyn: 00:13:46

gonna try to seek this out again, and

Jessalyn: 00:13:52

I don't know, let God take a chance at helping me get sober.

Jessalyn: 00:13:55

Cause I tried other things, I tried NAAA, I tried so many other things.

Jessalyn: 00:13:59

Rehabs, 12 step programs, but there was never one time during those that I was

Jessalyn: 00:14:05

like, Okay, I'm gonna go back to the only higher power that I was raised to know.

Jessalyn: 00:14:10

And so yeah, that's, that's when I was reintroduced, I guess, or when

Jessalyn: 00:14:16

I fully, tried to come back to God again, I had relapses after that.

Jessalyn: 00:14:22

And I don't think I was fully surrendered.

Jessalyn: 00:14:24

So, yeah, I think now it's been a lot different this time.

Jessalyn: 00:14:30

it was beautiful that that happened to me.

Jessalyn: 00:14:32

At that treatment center because I know God was always with me But

Jessalyn: 00:14:37

it's just it made it harder to go out and use every single time.

Jessalyn: 00:14:41

My relapses were shorter every single time Not saying that it was worse.

Jessalyn: 00:14:46

But have you ever heard of there's a scripture it like talks about

Jessalyn: 00:14:48

when you clean up your house and You like go back out or something

Jessalyn: 00:14:54

or you don't Maintain that house.

Jessalyn: 00:14:57

butchering it right now and it says like seven demons like come back in or

Jessalyn: 00:15:01

something You know i'm talking about That's almost what it felt like for me

Jessalyn: 00:15:03

Like every time I relapsed after coming in coming to get closer to god again.

Mikel: 00:15:08

It's like you were under like there's spiritual warfare added

Jessalyn: 00:15:12

yeah, plus I knew the truth.

Mikel: 00:15:14

Interesting but your, your time in addiction after that

Mikel: 00:15:19

was getting shorter, but, but

Mikel: 00:15:21

more difficult.

Jessalyn: 00:15:23

hmm.

Mikel: 00:15:23

Interesting.

Mikel: 00:15:26

The verse that Jalyn and I were struggling to remember was Matthew chapter 12

Mikel: 00:15:31

verses 43 through 45, which says when the unclean spirit has gone out of a

Mikel: 00:15:37

person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none.

Mikel: 00:15:42

Then it says, I will return to my house from which I came.

Mikel: 00:15:46

And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order.

Mikel: 00:15:51

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself,

Mikel: 00:15:55

and they enter and dwell there.

Mikel: 00:15:58

And the last state of that person is worse than the first.

Mikel: 00:16:01

So it will be with this evil generation.

Mikel: 00:16:05

This is Jesus talking to the Pharisees about how they've

Mikel: 00:16:08

rejected him and his teaching.

Mikel: 00:16:09

But it makes sense that Jessalyn would relate to this scripture.

Mikel: 00:16:13

After she came back to Christ, there was an entirely new

Mikel: 00:16:17

conflict between her flesh and the Holy Spirit living inside her.

Mikel: 00:16:22

If you're not a Christian, this might seem strange to you, but when

Mikel: 00:16:25

we accept Christ as the Lord of our lives, He changes us from the inside.

Mikel: 00:16:30

It doesn't mean that we never mess up, just as Jessalyn fell back into addiction

Mikel: 00:16:34

after she rededicated her life to Christ.

Mikel: 00:16:37

But the sin that we used to love no longer feels good the way it used to.

Mikel: 00:16:42

Because it's no longer in our nature to sin.

Mikel: 00:16:46

Our sin nature is dead, and it's been replaced with the righteousness of Christ.

Mikel: 00:16:51

And we are compelled to live according to our nature.

Mikel: 00:16:54

The new nature continued to help Jessalyn overcome addiction, and

Mikel: 00:16:59

helped her see all of the reasons she had for leaving it behind.

Jessalyn: 00:17:04

there's been cases where I had gotten in trouble.

Jessalyn: 00:17:08

I'd gone to jail and I was like, okay, I can't do this anymore.

Jessalyn: 00:17:12

And you know, I'd gotten out of jail.

Jessalyn: 00:17:13

I was on probation, whatever.

Jessalyn: 00:17:14

I had charges.

Jessalyn: 00:17:18

where there was a fear of not wanting to get locked up, or there

Jessalyn: 00:17:23

was a fear of times where I was homeless, I was sleeping in my car

Jessalyn: 00:17:26

and not knowing where I'm gonna go.

Jessalyn: 00:17:28

there is a fear, so my drug of choice, is killing a lot of people,

Jessalyn: 00:17:33

and there was a fear of I'm gonna die, and I was overdosing a lot.

Jessalyn: 00:17:36

there was that fear, and then, it came to a point, where I was like,

Jessalyn: 00:17:41

I'm gonna die every single time.

Jessalyn: 00:17:42

And this is not how I want to die.

Jessalyn: 00:17:44

This is not, I was made for so much more than this.

Jessalyn: 00:17:47

I think God was showing me that every single time.

Jessalyn: 00:17:50

Whether it was surviving an overdose, or, Surviving, the

Jessalyn: 00:17:53

trauma that comes from that.

Jessalyn: 00:17:55

the trauma from watching people not make it, and You make it.

Jessalyn: 00:17:58

It's almost like why, why me?

Jessalyn: 00:17:59

And then it's almost just wanting to make, I know, there was a time where I just

Jessalyn: 00:18:05

really wanted to make my family proud.

Jessalyn: 00:18:07

not even as proud, but I didn't want to let them down anymore.

Jessalyn: 00:18:09

And there was a lot of times where I tried to get sober for

Jessalyn: 00:18:12

them and then, which never works.

Jessalyn: 00:18:14

You can't just, you can try to get sober for so many people.

Jessalyn: 00:18:17

It's not going to work.

Jessalyn: 00:18:18

And then I guess eventually just got to a point where I got sober for myself

Jessalyn: 00:18:22

And I was like I want more for myself.

Jessalyn: 00:18:24

I Again was created so much for so much more than this and I don't know

Jessalyn: 00:18:29

what that is and I don't feel Like I was created for much more but I

Jessalyn: 00:18:33

know and god tells me that I am so

Jessalyn: 00:18:37

Jessalyn had plenty of reasons to get sober, and she'd been a part of so many

Jessalyn: 00:18:42

different recovery programs that it left me wondering, what was different about

Jessalyn: 00:18:47

Hope Network compared to these other programs that she had been a part of?

Jessalyn: 00:18:52

that you've been to Um, the community's like I said before, I was

Jessalyn: 00:18:57

in like 12 step programs or NA there was always recovery where I was, but not a

Jessalyn: 00:19:02

lot of people talk about God, they talk about a higher power, but you don't

Jessalyn: 00:19:04

really put a name to your higher power.

Jessalyn: 00:19:06

They call it just your higher power and whatever works for you works

Jessalyn: 00:19:09

for you is how that goes at most

Jessalyn: 00:19:11

places

Mikel: 00:19:12

Well, in

Jessalyn: 00:19:14

Yeah.

Jessalyn: 00:19:14

Well in the 12 steps, yes.

Jessalyn: 00:19:17

That's mentioned like three times and probably more than that.

Jessalyn: 00:19:20

I haven't looked at them in a while.

Jessalyn: 00:19:21

But yeah, refers to like God of your understanding.

Mikel: 00:19:24

Yeah, I mean there's a

Mikel: 00:19:28

spiritual

Jessalyn: 00:19:29

yeah, so I mean all of all of them.

Jessalyn: 00:19:31

I mean there's a spiritual part to it.

Jessalyn: 00:19:33

But there's so many different places where you go that it's like that's that's

Jessalyn: 00:19:37

what they use and probably the main difference is that god is incorporated

Jessalyn: 00:19:40

in Everything that we do really like our bible studies going to church.

Jessalyn: 00:19:45

wanting to reflect actions of, of Jesus and and that's, that's

Jessalyn: 00:19:49

so important to me right now.

Jessalyn: 00:19:50

So, it's really amazing to be with other women who that's their goal too.

Jessalyn: 00:19:54

especially like, I mean there's so many days where, I'm not gonna lie,

Jessalyn: 00:19:57

like I struggle with my faith and where just feel like people hold on to me

Jessalyn: 00:20:01

when my faith is like lost that day.

Jessalyn: 00:20:04

And that, that really helps, like, when somebody just puts me in check that day.

Jessalyn: 00:20:08

Or like, the girl in the next room is playing worship music and

Jessalyn: 00:20:10

I really, like, I really needed to hear it that day, you know?

Jessalyn: 00:20:13

Or, I think that's just little things like that where you can just see God

Jessalyn: 00:20:17

and everybody there and everything.

Jessalyn: 00:20:19

Again, I can see God in pretty much everybody,

Jessalyn: 00:20:21

It's just, there's a piece there that I've never had in another house before.

Jessalyn: 00:20:26

Again, I feel like I'm supposed to be there as well.

Jessalyn: 00:20:28

And I think that Adds on to it as well where it's like god

Jessalyn: 00:20:32

directed me kind of towards there.

Jessalyn: 00:20:36

But yeah, I would say that's like the main difference Also, like the resources

Jessalyn: 00:20:40

are so amazing there that they help us with so, the rides first of all, that's

Jessalyn: 00:20:44

incredible I'm, just gonna throw that out there that helps a lot I was in

Jessalyn: 00:20:47

asheville one time And the bus system there is a whole different level,

Jessalyn: 00:20:51

like that's a whole different story.

Jessalyn: 00:20:53

Okay, so that's a really good perk to have over there.

Jessalyn: 00:20:57

and then, just when the girls come in, like there's so many different things.

Jessalyn: 00:21:00

I mean, like some of us are on probation.

Jessalyn: 00:21:03

don't have a license.

Jessalyn: 00:21:04

I was blessed.

Jessalyn: 00:21:04

Thank God I had my license still.

Jessalyn: 00:21:06

and then, kind of having that accountability to get a job and then

Jessalyn: 00:21:09

having the transportation to a job.

Jessalyn: 00:21:11

Because that's really a lot.

Jessalyn: 00:21:12

When you come out of addiction and you're trying to get a job, it's a lot just to

Jessalyn: 00:21:16

get to work and to even try to find a job.

Jessalyn: 00:21:19

That's a lot that I don't think people talk about enough.

Jessalyn: 00:21:22

if you're a felon, if you have some things pending or some things going

Jessalyn: 00:21:26

on, I don't know what they say, everywhere's hiring, but it's pretty hard.

Jessalyn: 00:21:29

And especially if you don't have transportation to get back and forth to

Jessalyn: 00:21:33

work, that's just a whole nother ballgame.

Jessalyn: 00:21:35

So, that was super amazing to me when I got there.

Jessalyn: 00:21:37

And not that they make it to the point where it's so easy on us but it's

Jessalyn: 00:21:42

to a point where it's so helpful.

Jessalyn: 00:21:44

It's really helpful and, you have the support right there for you.

Jessalyn: 00:21:48

You have somebody at the house helping you if you need it.

Jessalyn: 00:21:51

it's just been really, really an amazing experience for me so far I mean, if

Jessalyn: 00:21:59

you're a woman and you're struggling with addiction or, reach out, you know.

Jessalyn: 00:22:04

Sometimes it's really scary to feel like you can trust people,

Jessalyn: 00:22:08

especially just in a program that you don't know anything about or, um.

Jessalyn: 00:22:14

I don't know, God's there and it's trustworthy and, um,

Jessalyn: 00:22:18

yeah, it's, it's so worth it.

Jessalyn: 00:22:19

It's really worth it.

Jessalyn: 00:22:21

and, uh, I don't know, I've seen so many women go through really beautiful changes

Jessalyn: 00:22:26

and through such a beautiful process

Jessalyn: 00:22:29

. Now, we're almost finished with this episode, but there's one more thing

Jessalyn: 00:22:32

that I want to highlight, and that's the fact that Jessalyn's recovery

Jessalyn: 00:22:36

process has been a blessing not just for her, but for her parents as well.

Jessalyn: 00:22:41

I'm close with my dad and I am,

Jessalyn: 00:22:43

I'm close with my mom now.

Jessalyn: 00:22:46

my parents are divorced, and I have a stepdad it hasn't always been

Jessalyn: 00:22:50

like that, it's getting better.

Jessalyn: 00:22:52

God's definitely restoring our relationships.

Jessalyn: 00:22:56

it's been kind of a struggle as well, I think it's definitely

Jessalyn: 00:22:59

helping it now that I'm sober.

Jessalyn: 00:23:01

thankfully my parents are both believers.

Jessalyn: 00:23:03

that really helps out as well.

Jessalyn: 00:23:06

we're both just kind of going through the process together

Jessalyn: 00:23:09

of healing our relationship.

Jessalyn: 00:23:11

I had a great childhood, my dad raised me, so I'll always be

Jessalyn: 00:23:15

close to my dad no matter what.

Jessalyn: 00:23:18

he's, my everything.

Jessalyn: 00:23:19

but they support me a hundred percent.

Jessalyn: 00:23:22

addiction does run in my family, so it's hard because I'm trying to heal and I

Jessalyn: 00:23:26

feel like by me healing it started kind of skyrocketed this healing in my family

Jessalyn: 00:23:33

as well for other things that they've even struggled with and which is a beautiful,

Jessalyn: 00:23:38

that's a beautiful thing, I think.

Jessalyn: 00:23:42

I said it in the last episode, and I'm going to say it again now.

Jessalyn: 00:23:45

The more people who know about the Ministry of Hope Network, the more

Jessalyn: 00:23:49

women they're going to be able to help.

Jessalyn: 00:23:51

And the more women they're able to help, the better it is for all of us.

Jessalyn: 00:23:54

So, be sure to follow them on Facebook, check out their website, and share this

Jessalyn: 00:23:59

episode with somebody that you know.

Jessalyn: 00:24:01

But before that, there's one more message that Jesalyn has

Jessalyn: 00:24:05

for all of Small Town Friendly.

Mikel: 00:24:07

If you could say one thing to everybody in Rutherford County,

Mikel: 00:24:11

what would

Mikel: 00:24:11

that be?

Jessalyn: 00:24:12

We Do recover.

Jessalyn: 00:24:14

We do.

Jessalyn: 00:24:15

I don't know.

Jessalyn: 00:24:15

I know that sounds simple.

Jessalyn: 00:24:16

that's something they used to say in like, in yeah, it's possible.

Jessalyn: 00:24:21

Also that sobriety is in Rutherford County.

Jessalyn: 00:24:23

it's such a small county.

Jessalyn: 00:24:25

Somebody was telling me the other day, they were like, one of the

Jessalyn: 00:24:26

gifts of sobriety is getting to live two different lives in one.

Jessalyn: 00:24:33

kind of like an addiction and a healthy lifestyle as well, lifestyle and what God

Jessalyn: 00:24:40

has in store for you, reach out to people,

Jessalyn: 00:24:45

call your loved ones, God has such an amazing plan for you,

Jessalyn: 00:24:49

Thanks for listening to this episode of Small Town Big God.

Jessalyn: 00:24:53

There are links to Hope Network's website and Facebook page in the description.

Jessalyn: 00:24:58

Go check them out, show your support for the work that they're doing, and thank you

Jessalyn: 00:25:02

for being a part of Small Town Friendly.