Desiree and Omar have been through challenges that fed their addiction and threatened their lives, but by following their faith and a recovery plan, they have restored their family. In their own words, here is their story.

My name is Desiree. I want to share a brief testimony about the struggles that I went through with addiction and how God brought me up out the ashes and put me on his solid rock.

I was brought up with an alcoholic father. I thought drugs and alcohol were normal and this was how families operated. I was sexually molested when I was a little girl over a period of several years. This affected how I acted out and how I would look at the world as I got older. My mom and my dad got divorced when I was just getting into my teenage years and this brought me right into my drug use.

I started off smoking marijuana and then it progressed to occasional cocaine and ecstasy. Then I tried Percocet for the first time. This was like the magic drug that made all my hurts and all the pain go away. I could act normal and have a normal life. Before I knew it, I had a bad pill addiction. I hid it from my family and my husband for many years. I went in and out of rehab centers and was able to put together about 5 years of sobriety. I moved to Arizona and everything was great until I decided to move back to Massachusetts.

My husband and I ended up splitting up and then I fell right back into doing pills. My addiction then progressed to Heroin. The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families removed my kids from my care. This was my rock bottom.

Still, I continued to use, until one day, I almost lost my life. While my husband was on his knees in church praying for me to have an experience with God, I was dead at a stop light, slumped over the steering wheel, overdosing. Some angel that God sent called 911 and my life was saved. Only God could have pulled me from the pit that I was in and I give him all the glory.

Now, I have almost 2 more years clean and my life is full of amazing blessings. My kids have returned home. I am so grateful for my faith and it’s all because of the relationship that I have with God. With God all things are possible.

My name is Omar and I am Desiree’s husband. I also grew up in a household where my father was an alcoholic. My father used to have me get him beers out of the fridge for him and throw the old one’s away. When I did that, I would sip the left over beer out of the can before I threw it away. This is where my addiction began. I grew up working to support my drinking habit. It only progressed as the years went on.

I met my wife about 11 years ago. When I met her, I was dealing drugs to support my drug and alcohol habit. She made a deal with me that if I stopped selling drugs that she would take care of me, and she did just that. But we both fell into our own habits and this made for a very toxic relationship.

When we lost our kids, this crushed me as a father. I made the decision to stop drinking. When I did, God made a promise to me that he was going to restore my family if I did not drink anymore and I stayed faithful to him. I was in church praying for my wife to have an experience with God. Later, I found out she had overdosed, but was saved by EMT’s and God. This made her change her ways and she turned her life to God.

Since then, God has restored my whole family. My wife and I got married and we have had so many blessings that I can’t keep track. I give God all the glory and I am so grateful for him changing my life and turning it around. I now serve him. All the glory to God.

Desiree and Omar attend Celebrate Recovery, a faith-based 12 step support group, led by RRC founders, Mark and Julia Armstrong. Celebrate Recovery focuses on a variety or issues - any hurt, habit, or hang up - including drugs, alcohol, co-dependence and a variety of other issues. Now, Desiree leads worship while Omar runs the sound and media equipment.

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