- I don't have a whole lotof memories of my young life.

I do remember standing outside the trailer

and hearing thingscrashed against the wall

and people yelling, peoplejust acting very erratic,

having conversations withpaintings hanging on the wall.

There was a time that I walked out

and saw people having sex in the driveway.

It was very, very insane. (chuckles)

(tense dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Chaos wasnormal for Stephanie Waddell.

Her father was the biggest drug dealer

in their small hometown inFlorida and an alcoholic.

- My dad was a great guy when he was sober

but he was very distant a lot of the time

because he was out running the streets

and we wanted nothing but loveand acceptance from my dad

and it hurt that we couldn't get it

because that wasn't a priority to him.

- [Narrator] Then when Stephaniewas just a young child,

her mother took off with another man.

- When mom left,

I felt abandoned and I needed my mom.

I needed her love and compassion

and we didn't have that

(soft music)

- [Narrator] That leftStephanie and her brother

with her father and easyaccess to drugs and alcohol.

- Smoking weed when Iwas 11, drinking by 13,

by the time I was 14, I was selling drugs.

We did what we knew.

We saw dad doing it, it was just normal.

I just stayed high, I stayed wasted.

(gentle music)

- [Narrator] At 15, Stephaniedropped out of school

and moved in with her24 year old boyfriend.

- That was probably oneof the stupidest things

I've ever done.

He used me for sex andhe would cheat on me

on a regular basis.

He told me to deal with it.

- [Narrator] Eventually,she found another man

and then another, a patternshe would follow for years

looking hoping to findsomeone who would love her.

- I think I was lookingfor love and acceptance

looking to fill the hole in my life

that was left vacant bymy father not being there.

I hated that I let men use me for sex.

I hated that I would jump fromrelationship to relationship.

I hated pretty mucheverything about myself

for a lot of years.

(tense dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Then at23, looking at a future

where she'd be in jail,strung out or dead,

Stephanie took a friend'sadvice and joined the army.

There she earned her GEDand worked as a mechanic.

She also quit using drugs.

Her drinking and promiscuityhowever, escalated.

- I ended up being stationedin Baumholder, Germany

where bars like don't close (laughs)

and I drank more than I ever drank before,

I would stay in barsall hours of the night,

I would wake up with different guys,

I would

(soft music)

continue in sanity justlooked a little bit different.

- [Narrator] After serving four years,

Stephanie left the armywith an honorable discharge.

Returning to her hometown, shepicked up where she left off

using drugs and men to fillthe emptiness in her heart.

But one thing had changed.

Her mom was now a Christianand convinced her daughter

to attend a few church services.

♪ It's all because of you ♪

- There had to be somethingbigger than me out there.

I had been trying to getsober on my own for years

and I couldn't get me sober,

I couldn't change my behavioror the way that I was living.

- [Narrator] Then finally,

after a weekend of getting blackout drunk

Stephanie reached out to God for help.

- It was finally my rockbottom, it was finally enough.

I was so tired and Icouldn't do it anymore.

I just got on my knees andasked God to change me.

(lighthearted guitar music)

That weekend was the lasttime that I drank or drugged

or took pills or did anything like that

and he completely freed me from it.

I found peace and acceptanceand love and mercy

and all those things that I had looked for

for so many years.

And I found that in Jesus.

(lighthearted guitar music)

- [Narrator] So after, she found a church

with a sign that said, come as you are

there, she learned more about this God,

his love and his grace.

(lighthearted guitar music)

- Our pastor talkedabout God's forgiveness

and love and mercy

and how it wasn't throughanything of my own.

I was like, wow!

My eyes kinda were like opened

and that was the momentthat I just asked him

to forgive me for everything I had done.

(soft music)

And he, he did. (chuckles)

(soft music)

He has completely transformed my life.

(lighthearted guitar music)

- [Narrator] Today, Stephanieis a wife, adoptive mother

and founder of Freedom Life Compass,

a Christ-centered nonprofitrehab and recovery organization.

As for Stephanie's family,

her siblings have all gotten clean

and reconciled with their mother.

Her father currently servingtime for drug trafficking,

not only overcame his addictions

but also gave his life to Jesus Christ.

- Nothing is too broken for God, nothing

and I'm just so excited to see (chuckles)

how God is transformingand me and my mother

and my siblings and Ijust can't wait until

we're all out here one day talking about

how God completelyredeemed my entire family.

It's amazing to see what he can do

when we let him work in us.