WEll, I'm just glad she has the support both in prayer and love and
encouragement that she needs to do all of this.

Lelia


----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2003 7:49 AM
Subject: Gretchen


> Well, to follow up, I finally went to bed last night and heard Sandy and
> Gretchen talking.  carol and Mike had gone to bed, too, so until Sandy
gets
> up this morning, I won't know what Gretchen talked about.  As she talked
to
> Carol, however, I was in the room and I was surprised to how much Gretchen
> admitted.  Gretchen left to use the bathroom at one point so I said to
> Carol, she is high on something right now, you know?  Carol said, You
don't
> think I noticed that?  When Gretchen returned, she picked right up where
she
> had left off.  I had recently given Gretchen two books to read but figured
> she wouldn't read them since she normally doesn't.  Since her car was
taken
> back, she has been forced to ride the bus and she has actually been
reading
> the books.  Last night she actually got the book out and read from it to
us.
> Carol did a good job of circling the wagons, sort of speak, because she
kept
> bringing the conversation back to what Gretchen was going to do about all
> this.  Part of this conversation was going back to the Christian counselor
> she had seen three times before and who is my prayer partner.  Gretchen
> revealed some of the progress she had made by her third prayer session but
> as so often is the case, people will back away from the truth when they
see
> it for what it is worth.  Of course, when this happens, the pressure
builds
> up and things get worse and for two reasons.  The enemy works harder to
> deceive the person and the Lord let's him, not because he has stopped
loving
> them, but because He, the Lord, is actually in control even though the
> person, nor the enemy, thinks He is.  Perpetual prayer, and the prayer of
> agreement, as well as other factors related to prayer, makes the eternal
> difference.  My daughter still has a drinking and drug problem, which she
> freely admitted last night, so there is a very long ways to go.  Admitting
> this very fact last night was the first step.  Seeing it all as sin is the
> most important admission anyone can make and Gretchen seemed to have done
> that last night.  Gretchen's greatest concern last night seemed to be she
> wouldn't be able to even quit smoking on her own as much as she really
wants
> to.  My only contribution to the conversation last night was at this
point.
> Before I tell you what I said, let me point out that it is generally the
> least destructive things in a person's life which points to the true
nature
> of what has caused them to react to the pain they have.  I have known that
> Gretchen's smoking was one of her very first acts at masking the pain for
> many years.  Rarely, however, will a person in denial even recognize this
> aspect of their true problem.  Anyhow, Gretchen was talking about the
drugs
> and all she has done in the last few months and her smoking and everything
> she couldn't give up without help.  During her conversation, she even
> recognized that breaking her smoking habit was something that needed to be
> done because of the roots it had to the truth of the real pain the caused
> all this in the first place.  Carol carefully pointed this out to her.  I
> told her a story about the man who authored the books she was reading
> concerning his alcoholism and addiction to tobacco and how the Lord went
> about setting him free from these things.  She didn't seem to understand
all
> I said so I asked her a question.  If there is a deep hidden pain which
> caused this and the Lord were to show this to you and you were able to see
> it the way the Lord sees it, do you think, once the pain was removed, you
> might lose your desire for external things to mask the pain?  She saw the
> truth of that statement so I also pointed out the guardian lie of denial
> keeping her from even seeing the basic truth of God's Word and that seemed
> to make sense to her then.  She also realized, by this point, no body in
the
> room was pressuring her to give up anything because only the Lord can do
the
> work.  This does not preclude, however, the possible need for drug
> intervention through rehab and the like but it depends upon how much of
the
> pain can be quickly eliminated first.  If the healing process is slow,
rehab
> might have to come first to get a handle on the addiction aspect.  If, on
> the other hand, she can begin the healing process through prayer and the
> areas of woundedness can be healed, the desires will diminish rapidly.
This
> part is up to Gretchen.  If she dives head first into the prayer sessions
to
> locate the areas of woundedness and allows the Lord to bring truth and
> healing to those areas, she will make remarkable advancement.  If she
> doesn't, the recovery process is going to be long and painful and with
many
> fall backs.  So, in short, we have just started to pray.  Keep in mind,
> Gretchen knows about echurch and she has been told many times how much
> people have prayed for her on this list alone.  It is hard for her to
> comprehend.  It has amazed Gretchen in recent days that Carol has been
> praying for her for nearly 9 years and Vicki has been praying for her even
> longer than that.  So Gretchen is aware of your prayers and so am I and I
> appreciate it.  We are at a crossroads right now so as I said, our prayers
> of agreement have just begun for Gretchen.
>
> Phil.
>