Chris Closs' story.

My friend Chris Closs, accompanied by his wife to be, Lisa,  shared this story from our stage yesterday:

"Our Fairytale has many fractures and, at one point, seemed shattered beyond repair.

 Lisa and I began our life together out of high school. We had our first child at 20 years of age, which challenged us to seek a better financial future. We had a second child a year later. Fortunately we got better jobs with room to grow financially, as this naturally put a bit of a strain on us.

We were married soon after our second child and we began working towards buying our first home. Things were progressing fairly rapidly with our jobs and our young family. The kids were healthy and we were moving up the ranks in our jobs. Everything seemed fine on the surface, but there was something else growing with us in the shadows;  I had developed an addiction to methamphetamines.

We finally made it into our first home. I was promoted to a supervisor at my job. We were making more money. We seemed to be where we needed to be.  Things were good for a while. Soon Lisa and I had a third child and I was getting pretty bad on the meth.

My addiction grew into such a monster, that I began to sell meth to feed my habit. Soon, my sales weren’t enough. I began to take from our income and we began to struggle to pay bills. Even after I was promoted at work and received a substantial raise in pay, we continued to struggle because of my use.

Relationally, our marriage suffered, and I became a distant and ill-tempered person, as the drugs removed my ability to love and enjoy my family. My company joined the “Drugs Don’t Work” program and I lost my job.  I found another job and took a 60% pay cut, but it didn’t curb my addiction.

It was at this point our lives crashed. Lisa packed up the kids and left me alone in the mess I had made. I lost my job, my wife and kids, our house, our car….we lost it all.

A few days after Lisa left, she and my family organized an intervention. I knew it was coming and was ready to resist. They came up and I was ready to put up a fight because I was in denial. I was no match for their love and God’s presence that day. I had been up all night and that morning getting high and stewing over my predicament. God revealed Himself to me that day through my family and their grace. I did NOT deserve their love nor their forgiveness and willingness to help me. I realized that day I had to give it all to Him.

Lisa and I divorced while I cleaned up my act. I started completely over in the work force and eventually cleaned up long enough for Lisa to give me another chance to build the family we tried to build before.

We were apart for about a year when we got back together. I got a job with the same company that fired me and we have taken it from there. I have since finished a business degree and am working on an IT degree.

 We were baptized in this church a few years ago. We had tried to do life on our own, at first. We just weren’t sure where to put God in our lives. Lisa found Mountain Lake a few years ago and could not wait to get me in the door, but I was hesitant because I had always hated churches in my past. Mountain Lake changed the way I thought about church in every way possible, removing the blocks from my path towards getting to know Jesus and letting Him in my life.. in our lives.

Just letting Him in to take the reins, we have experienced His blessings and His grace.

I have been drug free now for six years.

Our lives are getting back in shape, as of today. We just bought another house a year and a half ago. Cars are paid off. Bills are caught up. We have gotten back everything we lost, and gained so much more.

It looked hopeless for a while, and we lost a lot. It would have been easy to have just given up, but we didn’t. We worked through some of the darkest times I have seen and it worked out ok. We have picked up most of the pieces of a shattered life.

We have learned that no matter how hopeless life seems, how broken you become as a person, how many things you lose, or how much money you owe… if you can hold on and turn it all to Jesus, just surrender to Him, he will show you His love and Grace. We just have to walk His path, instead of trying to go our own way.

There is something else we wanted to share with you all; On the day of the intervention, I was given a lot. One thing that helped me was the N.A (Narcotics Anonymous) book. In the front of the book, I wrote out my thanks for the book, titled the date, 5/15/2004, as the first day of the rest of my life, and then listed out a BIG goal. It reads, “Live with my loving wife and 3 children in a drug free environment…From this day forth; I am a drug free addict.

I signed it and titled myself as the addict. I had my brother sign it and titled him as my sponsor. I put a third line, but gave it no title. I could remember why I did so. I realized this year, as Lisa and I have been preparing to re-marry, what that third line is for. It must be for the one who will marry the two of us which will complete my goal which, at the time, seemed impossible. Tomorrow, it becomes a reality as Shawn will marry Lisa and I for the second time. Shawn, will do me the honor of signing this third line in my book tomorrow night; it will mean the world to me on so many levels."