Once a Slave to Addiction; Now Free

Andrew remembers, “I drove to a church, and I walked out on the cornfield, and I said my goodbyes and I started hacking at my wrist. There was no other way out.”

At 43 years old, Andrew McDonald was tired of living a life addicted to drugs and alcohol and tired of living a lie.

Andrew shares, “And the truth that I wasn’t ready to embrace was that I was a slave to a substance. I was manipulative and I was a liar, and I was a fraud.”

Yet to everyone else, Andrew was a successful trial attorney who had it all.

Andrew says, “Everything from the outside looks like success, victory, trophies, degrees, beauty, possessions, cars and houses. On the inside it's just so surface level and it's a lie.”

A lie born out of a painful secret he’d buried since he was 11 years old. Andrew remembers he was on an overnight trip with his 6th grade class, and a male teacher sexually molested him in the hotel room.

Andrew recalls, “Not being able to tell my classmates on the trip or my parents out of shame and guilt and that fear drove me to pretend it didn't happen.”

That would send Andrew on a journey into alcohol abuse that would take him through high school and into college. In the meantime, he earned his law degree and quickly climbed the ranks of a prestigious law firm and became counsel to the governor of New Jersey, all aided by a dependence on alcohol he managed to keep hidden.

Andrew says, “That was the key to life at this point. That's what made it work. That's what you enjoy. That's what you look forward to. That's what made relationships possible.”

By 2006, Andrew was married, and had a son. No longer working for the governor he transitioned to another firm. He had also started using cocaine.

Andrew remembers, “Everybody I touched I infected or hurt, but yet internally I would tell you I was a good person. In reality, I’m dying inside, and I don't know why but it worked. That stuff worked until it didn't.”

With Andrew’s addictions consuming him, his wife divorced him and took custody of their now 3-year-old son.

Andrew shares, “I was still selfish. I was still a slave to alcohol and drugs, and I wanted what I wanted when I wanted it. And everything else came second.”

Despite several stints in rehab nothing helped. Then the law firm he was working for gave him an ultimatum…get sober or don’t return. So, one day after court, Andrew drove to a cornfield, called his mom and ex-wife to say goodbye, and started slicing his wrists with his car key.

Andrew shares, “I thought not only was sobriety impossible, but why would life be worth living sober?”

Alarmed by the phone calls, Andrew’s mom and ex-wife sent one of his friends to check on him. Finding Andrew in blood-soaked clothing, the friend rushed him to the ER. Afterwards, Andrew landed in a psych ward and was released after 4 days. Now smoking crack and shooting heroin, he’d lost everything. It was then he called out to God at a church.

Andrew remembers, “I asked God to help me and to heal me. I didn't know that He could. It’s just life didn't make sense and the pain had gotten great enough, and if He was real, I needed Him to show up!”

Finally, he agreed to enter a Christian based 12-step program at the urging of a friend.

Andrew shares, “I had to get honest. Steps 4 and 5 are like you write down everything that you've ever done in your life to any one and things that have been done to you. I asked God to forgive me for worshipping alcohol and substances. I forgave my sixth-grade teacher. And I was excited to do so and excited to tell people about the peace and the freedom that forgiveness brings. It was the beginning of a sober walk because I could walk out of that rehab and for the first time go to bed that night sober.”

It was while pursuing his faith further at the Christian based Dream Center where he finally found healing from his past.

Andrew says, “When I came to experience the unconditional love and acceptance of God, those voids in my life were filled. I came to know joy that wasn't based on circumstance. And I came to know peace.”

Today, Andrew is married to Larissa where they’re involved in the Dream Center’s first recovery program. They also take people off the streets, give them food and shelter and with the power of God walk them to sobriety.

Andrew shares, “He is a healer, and He has never broken a promise. I want to encourage anybody to trust God with their lives. I encourage you to talk to Him. Lay it all on the table. He's a good Father.”

Andrew is the author of Divine Trust, which can be purchased at major booksellers.

(For any media inquiries, please contact Larissa Lipani: larissa@divinetrust.love or 919- 607- 4556)