Even if Gretchen was on something and doesn't remember, something, or
someone is getting through.  How many of us remember our attempts to get it
right with the Lord, the falling and standing up again etc.  And God's hands
underneath it all.  Praise God for beginnings.

Vicki

----- 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.
>