There Is Help For Alcohol And Drug Abuse. 

Alcohol And Drugs Messed Up My Life!

There is help for alcohol and drugs, you just need to ask!

You just need to ask for it.  Believe me, I know…

My name is Bill Greguska.  When I was 13 years old living in Milwaukee I started using alcohol and drugs, mainly out of curiosity and peer pressure.  By the time I was 16 I was beginning to spiral downwards, that took 10 years to get myself out of...My alcohol and drug abuse were very big problems in my life, that I was very fortunate and blessed to recover from. Can you relate to my story yet?

Experimenting with Alcohol and Drugs

My life spiraled downwards pretty quickly.  I was abusing alcohol and drugs and even huffing, and wouldn’t have known how to stop it even if I had wanted to.  To be honest, the marijuana and alcohol seemed to fill a temporary need–for a while, they appeared to be my best friends.  Then they turned into a monster that I couldn’t control.  They nearly killed me, one pill, one joint, one huff, one beer or glass of wine at a time.

Substance abuse can easily make a person say and do things he or she normally would not do.  I used alcohol and drugs every day for many years.  Then God helped me.  First, on June 25, 1986, He helped me quit drinking and doing drugs.  Then two years later God gave me the strength to quit smoking cigarettes, after over a decade of smoking up to two packs per day.

 

Alcohol And Drugs Can Take Over Your Life!

How about you?

  1. Have you wondered if you are an alcoholic or drug addict? 

  2. Do you know your drinking and drug use is hurting your life but you cannot seem to stop?

 

Thank God, I recovered from alcohol and drugs on June 25, 1986. ~ Bill Greguska 

My sincere prayer for you is that you stop right now and get help from a trusted friend, parent, co-worker, pastor–anyone that can help you on the road to recovery.  You do not have to deal with all of the bad things that come with addiction.  I am telling you so you don’t have to learn the hard way like I did.

 

Here are some helpful links:

 

“The mentality and behavior of drug addicts and alcoholics are wholly irrational. Until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction and unless they have structured help, they have no hope.” ― Russell Brand

Ephesians 5:18  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

 

Related Pages Of Encouragement:

A Special Link for a Little Extra Encouragement

 

Is The Use Of Alcohol And Drugs Sinful? 

More of My Story

For years as a teen and even younger, I loved basketball and was very competitive, dreaming of playing college basketball.  I thought the marijuana and alcohol I was using did not, or would not affect my ability to play because at first I only used them during the summer. I soon learned otherwise.

Then the summer before my junior year at Pius XI High School my addiction caught up with me, and I also became depressed.  I started experimenting with new drugs like inhalants, cocaine, and even acid.  I started getting into trouble at home and with the law–and I pretty much-ignored basketball.

My Basketball Dreams Literally Went Up in Smoke.

It may not be your fault that you got addicted to alcohol and drugs. But it is your responsibility to reach out for the help that you need now!

I realized how depressed I was when, before my junior year started, I didn’t want to waste my mom’s money on school clothes because I wasn’t sure I’d be around long enough to wear them.  I was thinking about checking out of this life early.  Substance abuse made me depressed and remorseful.

I made the Pius XI varsity high school basketball team, I believe, because of my previous good performance and reputation on the freshman and JV teams.  Junior year was a long, hard year for me. Basketball was no longer a promising thing!  All my dreams of playing college ball were destroyed because of drugs and alcohol.

Anyone can fall into the trap of alcohol and drugs.

I was never really a “bad person,” but I was making some very bad choices.  These choices were making things very difficult for me.

I understood that it was sin that was actively living within me that I was following–that human inclination to do what we want to do, rather than finding out what our Creator has made us to be.  It wasn’t until the Spirit of God started to influence me that I finally came to terms with it.  By that time, a lot of damage was done, but God refused to give up on me.

I thank God that He kept putting people in my life to help guide and direct me–despite my unwillingness to cooperate.  First, it was my mom, and then counselors that helped get me back on the right track.  The journey back was a long road.  Looking back, it was not until I was 26 years old that I finally surrendered to my addictions. That was when God began helping me see things much more clearly.  He empowered me through others who were trying to help me, and who were praying for me.

AA and NA Program

I was admitted to a few different short-term treatment centers, and also attended both AA and NA to try to get my problem under control.  As soon as I left the treatment center, I would get right back into my addictions.  This cycle of dependency lasted many years, at times more severe than others.  I kept wishing that the pain in my life would all stop.  It was like a nightmare.  It was not until I went to a long-term treatment center then things finally got better.

There is help for you like I got if alcohol and drugs are causing problems in your life!

At that time, I allowed God to begin to make me into the person He made me to be.  It continues to be a process, but now He is in control, not the drugs and alcohol.

My second change came!

Being clean and sober since June 25, 1986, my life has made a turnabout. Of course there are still other problems to deal with, but for the most part, when God took away the desire to use or drink, that was my ticket out of the prison that I made for myself. I have been working and I have some good people in my life that I call my friends. What more could I ask for really?

It may not be your fault that you became addicted to alcohol and drugs.  But it is your responsibility to reach out for the help that you need.  There is help for you, like there was for me, if alcohol and drugs are hurting your life. ~ Bill Greguska

 

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Please contact us if you have any questions or comments or would just like some encouragement?

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring. All of which have the potential to turn a life around.” – Leo Buscaglia

1 Peter 4:3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.