A FINAL WORD FROM BECKY
I have shared this story with you, but not because I'm proud of it. The truth is it's embarrassing and painful to expose my weaknesses and publicly admit my mistakes. I do it because I've worked with teenagers for the last fourteen years and I've found a great many who are headed down the same path I took. Some are just starting out; others have gone far down the road. But I have yet to find one person who has found lasting happiness or success by losing himself or herself in alcohol, drugs, or premarital sex.
I would never want to go back and relive the times you've read about. In writing this book, I hope I can keep at least one other person, maybe you, from making the same mistakes.
Perhaps you're thinking, No way! Not me! I'll never go that far! Maybe you won't. But you could. I know because I would have said the same thing.
"Become an alcoholic? Me? Never! You gotta be kidding!"
"Destroy my relationship with my family? They are too important to me."
"Dump all my moral values? It won't happen!"
But all those things did happen.
I didn't make a big conscious decision to do them; there was never a big fork in the road where I had to decide whether to be an alcoholic or a teetotaler, or where I had to choose once and for all between family and friends, or between the moral high road and the moral low road.
It happened with small decisions, little choices, that added up to determine the direction of my life. Those choices took me down a dead-end road where I finally had to stop and face the ugly fact that all those things I'd said would never happen had already happened.
Looking back, I realize there were many points where I could have made different choices. Hindsight makes it easy to see those times when something or someone was calling me to change, to turn, to steer clear of a mistake I was about to make. Why didn't I make a different choice? Sometimes I resented the interference of those who were concerned about me. I was proud. I didn't want to face the shame of letting others know what my life was really like.
Maybe you have some different excuses for continuing your own way, for making little decisions you know aren't right but don't seem very wrong.
If so — if you're somewhere on that road I was on — I've written this book for you. Not just to warn you about the possible dangers ahead, but because the answers and the victory you're looking for lie on a different road.
This past summer I drove down Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, and I looked out over the Pacific Ocean again. I no longer saw an endless, bottomless ocean I wanted to escape into. I saw instead beauty and peace.
My life, which once seemed so empty and hopeless, is now filled to overflowing with family, friends, good memories, and years of rewarding work. All because of what happened ten years ago when instead of turning the wheel of my car and plunging over the cliff, I turned to Jesus Christ and prayed to ask him into my life. And that one decision, that one victory is still the biggest motivating factor in my life. Jesus became my friend, my partner, and my Savior. He continues to heal my hurts and share his strength when I'm weak. He has given me a place to belong. Now and forever.
And he wants to do the same for you.
There is a Scripture, Psalm 40, that says, "He lifted me out .... of the mud and mire." After reading my story, you can see that's what Jesus did for me. And if Jesus can change someone like me, he will gladly do it for you.
I tell my story because I want you to know there are answers to your questions. There is healing for your hurts. There is hope for your fears. And there is forgiveness for your failures.
In my heart I believe that only Jesus offers all these things. Only Jesus can enable you to be the person you want to be. He simply waits and knocks at the door of your heart. All you have to do is open it. Don't be afraid.
There is no secret in coming to Jesus. We need to admit our sins, accept who he is and what he did for us personally when he died on the cross, and then ask him into our hearts. If you are ready and willing to give your heart to Christ and begin a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17), then I would encourage you to pray this prayer......
Dear Lord,
I can't run or hide any longer from my problems. Please help me. Come into my life. Forgive me of my sins. I need you. Please begin, even today, to bring healing and happiness back into my life. Show me what to do, whom to talk to, whom I can trust . . . . Please fill me up to overflowing with your powerful and supernatural Holy Spirit.
Amen
Now!!! Get out a Bible, paper, and pencil, and spend time with God daily! You can do it!
If you prayed that prayer or would like more information on Becky Tirabassi's ministry and/or her other books, visit her home page at:
If you are interested in getting involved in a local Youth for Christ program, visit the Youth for Christ web site for more information.
If you need help with a drug or alcohol-related problem, please call NEW LIFE TREATMENT CENTERS at 1-800-639-5433 (1-800-NEW-LIFE) for local and national hotline numbers, centers, personal counsel, or advice.