Update on Amanda:))

On Feb. 13 I asked for prayer because I was meeting with a family from East Texas whose 18 year old daughter was struggling with meth. I was connected with this family through a Facebook friend and didn’t know them. We described our cars as we met at Ojedas on Maple Avenue. God was all over this situation to begin with, it ended up I knew the father, we had gone to school together although he was younger than me. He remembered my name and that I was the cheerleader who flipped down the field Before the drug abuse Amanda was a cheerleader , athlete , and great student. That all changed when she started using and her parents were at their wits end. We sat down to eat and I shared my story. It was a very emotional lunch and at one point Amanda went outside so I joined her. As we stood on Maple Avenue with the afternoon traffic buzzing by we talked heart to heart. She broke down because she hated to see her mother so upset but she knew she wasn’t done yet. With no judgment or condemnation I outlined what her future would be if she continued down this path showing her the picture I have of a girl that I knew who started using when she was 18 (at that time she was gorgeous just like Amanda) and by the time she was 29 she looked over 40 and serving time in prison.

Amanda assured me she was smarter than that and I told her we all think we are smarter than that then the addiction takes over and our lives spiral out of control . It robs us of everything we hold dear. She listened but I still knew she wasn’t quite done, she still had hopes that a life of using could work ( I remember those hopes all to well ) Sadly I smiled at her and told her to be careful that drugs take you to places you never thought you would go and then I asked her if I could pray for her and she smiled gently and said yes. Hugging her I prayed one of my most heartfelt prayers then we went back in and it was time to leave. I asked all my Facebook friends to pray for this sweet child proclaiming the power of prayer changes lives. Well it worked : )))))

On Saturday Amanda graduate from high school . Here is a photo of her : )) She is in recovery and has shared her story at her mother’s school. She is beautiful and you can see the vibrancy of youth shining from within as it should be, she had a bright future a head. We know the power of prayer changes lives and it certainly did in this case . All the glory goes to God, HE is Amazing.