Around ten years ago, I discovered that my oldest daughter was into drugs. And, I had suspected it for a few years, probably just was in denial, but an incident one night happened and it was a confirmation. She admitted, “I’m pretty deep into a drug addiction.” The next morning, we headed to the hospital just to seek help because I had no idea what to do, as I’d never dealt with drugs in that capacity. That began a long, long, long road, many years, of just battling with my daughter…drugs. 

My name is Cherry and I’m a prayer minister. I get to sit and watch the Lord speak into others and heal and deliver. So, it’s an amazing, amazing calling. When I was approached about sharing my story, I was excited because I have hundreds and hundreds of stories about healing and deliverance. I’ve just seen God do amazing, beautiful things. One evening while driving I’m like, “Okay God, which story am I going to share?” Because you’ve just given me so many stories. He spoke something into my heart that really took me by surprise. And I’m like, Oh, okay, wait a minute, God. Not sure about this story. What He said to me was, “Cherry, you are not her salvation, I am.” That phrase has penetrated my heart just over and over and over again, many, many times over the past ten years. So, I knew from there that this is the story that I want to share. 

I began to ask the Lord over and over and over again, “God, why? Why?  I’ve dealt with this before in family members. Why again now?” And also, I just began to ask, “What have I done to contribute to my daughter’s downfall? God, help me help her. What do I do?” I continually would just feel His love and His peace, and He would just help me internally, but then I could see how deep she was going into it. She began, through the years, to just go deeper and deeper. In and out of the hospital, in and out of jail. Just doing all the ugly things that someone does when they’re addicted to drugs. It hurt me, it hurt my children, and it hurt my family. We didn’t trust her, but I just so deeply loved her, and I wanted to help her. I wanted to rescue her. I had extremely strong boundaries with her, which was from the help of my family members. I had good boundaries. She couldn’t live with me. I didn’t give her money. I basically just said, “You’re on your own.” She was an adult, and this was her choice. 

However, I was just broken. My heart, just as a mom going, what do I do, what do I do? I was very emotionally attached to her. Even though I wouldn’t give to her monetarily, I was very emotionally attached, and her to me. There were times where I didn’t talk to her, didn’t see her. Then when we would get together, we would just argue. She was just as moody as ever because of the drugs. But I continually would say to her, “I love you. I love you. I love you. It doesn’t matter what you do; who you are right now. I don’t like your behavior, but I love you. I love you. Stop. Stop.” 

We found out that she was pregnant and ended up, through her choice and our choice, to give the baby up for adoption. [She] went back deeper into drugs, got pregnant again, gave another child up for adoption. I’m like, Chelsea stop. God, where are you? One night, here in this den, I just really cried out to the Lord; and I’m like, “God, what do I do with my daughter? Help me!” He said, so tenderly and lovingly, but with a pretty stern voice, “Cherry, you are not her salvation, I am.” And those words penetrated my heart and it was like a weight was lifted. I’m like, “Okay God, you’re her salvation. I can’t do it.” I knew that! But, just hearing Him say that just gave me a peace and comfort. I said, “Okay God, if you’re her salvation, then save her.” 

The Lord started teaching me how to pray. I started interceding for her. I would, every day, I’d wake up in my bedroom and I would declare, “Enemy, you won’t have her! She’s not yours! She’s a child of God!” He just began to teach me and show me how to warfare. It’s really my beginning of intercession. Then He would begin to show me pictures of her. I would see her standing in front of a crowd, just healthy and whole and beautiful and she was speaking. And He said, “She’s going to speak to others one day.” He also told her and told me, “She’s going to write a book one day about all of the account of what she’s gone through.” He just would give me vision after vision and words of “it’s going to be okay.” [There were] times when I would get so angry with her, I just couldn’t stand it. And I had my days. I would just say, “God, who is Chelsea? Talk to me about who she is.” [And He would say,] “Cherry, she’s my angel. She’s my daughter first. I love her. She’s going to set other people free through her testimony of what she’s done. She’s my princess warrior. Just be patient. Be patient. I’m going to save her.” I’m like, okay God. 

Just over and over again, when I would get in a bad place, [I would say] “God, who is my daughter? Who is my daughter?” And I would declare it: “She’s a princess warrior. She is God’s angel. She is a child of God. Enemy you can’t have her!” I would declare and declare it in just prayer after prayer after prayer, year after year of this drug journey that she was battling. 

What God showed me was a picture of her and she was standing in jail with her hands on the bars, and she was trying to pull them apart. What He showed me, as I forgot ‘til now, that she was trying to get out of there in her own strength. [She would say,] “Mom will you get me out? Dad will you get me out? Will you do this? Could you go get money from my boyfriend?” You know, I need to get out.” She was in her own strength trying to get out, and God was saying, all you gotta do is ask and come to Me. 

And then one day, I received a call from her, and she says, “Mom. Mom. Mom, I’m about to go to jail. I’m about to go to jail. I gotta go. Bye!” I called her boyfriend and he said, “She’s been arrested. Again.” She called me later that night crying and saying, you know, “Mom come get me out.” [And I told her] “No, Chelsea.” She was eight months pregnant. Actually, she was almost nine months pregnant. [She’d call,] “Mom, come get me out.” [And I’d say,] “Chelsea, I can’t, can’t get you out.” She ended up having the baby in jail. And that’s a whole ’nother horrible story. The baby ended up going home with the father, as Chelsea was in jail, and I was just devastated. But I still knew, at some point, God you showed me. You are going to save her. 

When she was in jail, it been a couple of weeks afterwards, I spoke with her over the phone. I said, “Chelsea, God has really shown me that He wants to help you. Are you asking for His help?” Because let me tell you, she loved the Lord. Even though she was involved in her sin, she loved the Lord. She says, “No, Mom, I’ve just done too much. I’m scared to ask Him, and what if He doesn’t answer me?” [I told her,] “But I know that He wants to get you out of there. Please ask the Lord to help you.” We hung up. The next day she told me, she goes, “Okay, Mom. I asked God to help me. I’m going to believe and trust that He’s going to help me.” And I’m like, Yes. Okay then. So, it’s just a few weeks later, not too long, she actually got out of jail. She got out and the Lord began to just work on her. When she was in jail, [He] began to just show her how much He loved her. She didn’t have access to drugs, so she was drug free. And when she got out, she’s like, “Mom, I’m ready. I’m ready to do this.” And that was a year ago and three months. 

She’s sober. Hasn’t gone back. [She] has a job, a full-time job, that she’s worked. She’s like, “Mom. I work full time!” She has a daughter that she’s raising. And then, she’s just really fallen in love with the Lord. And she knows who she is in the Lord. That’s something else that’s changed! One thing that she told me, just recently, she sent me a text, and she said, “Mom, what has helped me in this process over the years is that you have loved me and shown me who God is. That you accepted me and loved me and gave me grace when I was at my worst.” And she said, “I never doubted how much you love me and that you would be there for me. I knew you wouldn’t bail me out, but I knew that you love me, and I never doubted that.” She said, “It helped me see how Jesus loves me. I saw Jesus in you loving me.” And the Lord just rescued her. He just saved her.  When she was willing to say, “Okay. Help me God.” 

When I was seeking the Lord for this story, and wondering which one, He gave me a verse and He reminded me, Cherry, I’ve saved her because I want to save everyone. I came to save the world. So, He said John 3:17. So I want to read that, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through His Son.”