What follows is an actual wedding invitation from the wife of a recent His Way graduate.
Victoria & Jackie Married – 01/06/2019
Consider this your wedding invitation.
Jackie and I have been friends for three years. We’ve been very close friends for almost two years. We got engaged before we ever even went on a real date. He proposed to me in a very unique way—over the phone at the Madison County Jail.
Some of you know and some of you don’t, but for those who don’t, let me spell it out for you—I am engaged to be married to my favorite recovering drug addict. He is about to complete a 6-month program at His Way, a sober living facility in Huntsville, Alabama. Their recovery is Christ-centered, and I can assure you that this type of recovery is something Jackie’s never experienced before.
At his completion date, Jackie will be 8 months sober—and counting. To say that Jackie has changed could be the grossest understatement of the century—but to say that Jackie was the only one who was affected would be a big ol’ fat lie. Individually, I think Jackie and I have grown and matured, but as a couple, I think Jackie and I have completely transformed—our love, our purpose, our goals. The past 8 months have been the biggest lesson in patience that either of us has ever been through. Waiting on Jack to turn himself in, waiting two months for him to get out of jail, waiting thirty days with no way to communicate except at church, waiting for him to get his first pass, waiting for him to complete the program …
It was only over the past few weeks that we’ve realized that the past 8 months hasn’t just been a lesson in patience—it’s been a lesson in trust, too.
Trust that God would get Jackie to the rehab he needed to be at.
Trust that he would be allowed to go to rehab instead of prison.
Trust in ourselves individually, trust in each other, and trust in God.
And y’all, if there is a lesson more difficult than patience, I promise you it is a lesson in trust.
We. Were. Not. Prepared.
But, after 8 months…after 8 months of feeling exhausted and happy and terrified and emotional and overwhelmed and overjoyed and depressed and sad and stressed and then to mourn the death of a friend, trust is all we have left. Suddenly, we have transformed from two people who love each other to one relationship being called by God in ways we never would have imagined a year ago.
Jackie is a very different person now than he was when he started at His Way, but I can honestly say that I think it has changed me as much as him.
The program, the guys in the program, the men who run the program…
We love this place. We love rehab.
It has become a major milestone in our relationship, and we’re not ashamed of this. We’re not ashamed of our story. We’re not ashamed of our progress. We’re not ashamed of any of it. Because we know that our story isn’t our story anymore—it’s God’s testimony now. Because we know that God uses the weak to show his power, and we trust that God put us together and in this place for this reason.
Because of this, we are looking forward to sharing our next step with His Way.
Long story not so short, we are getting married January 6th at 4:30PM at His Way in their Community Center. Immediately after, we will have a meal—of some kind—and enjoy a fellowship with family and friends and our brothers at rehab.
At 6PM, we will get the opportunity to celebrate the graduation of some of the guys at His Way (including Jack).
Please come. Please come and meet these people.
If you’ve never witnessed a miracle or a blessing or the love of God or the triumph of God’s children over sin, then you’ve never been to His Way.
Congratulations Victoria & Jackie!