A Conversation with Papa-Pepper Part 2- from Hedonist Addict to In...

We know @Papa-Pepper as a generous and caring man, but he wasn't always the kind and good-natured soul he is today.

Papa-Pepper, raw and unfiltered, Part 2

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If you haven't already, be sure to read A Conversation with Papa-Pepper part 1!

I like to take a different approach to interviewing. Because we are drawn here together, discussing Steemit success is important. However, if your life is not in balance, you will not be successful on this platform, or anywhere else.

I was drawn to interview Papa-Pepper because of his unique balance of power, humility, and generosity. He is genuinely concerned for his fellow Steemians, and his generosity is free and open ~ it shines through the words you are reading on the page. He is an inspiration to a great many due to his success here, but behind the blockchain there is the strength of a man who, without the power of love and faith, wouldn’t be here with us.

A man who overcame some pretty heavy obstacles after being blessed with, and realizing that love and faith is stronger than anything.

A decade ago, Papa was an addict and drunk. He used and discarded women and cared only for himself. How does a man rise above his self destructive ways to become an inspiration, homesteader, and devoted father and husband?

I asked Papa to share his story of overcoming hardship with me. This is his story.

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@Papa-Pepper : I used to be a drunk addict, been just about 9 years clean now.

@ArbitraryKitten : Did you meet Mrs. Pepper after?

@Papa-Pepper : No before. She was young and naïve and didn't know who she was getting involved with. Thankfully, it worked out for us, otherwise it would have been the worst mistake of her life.

@ArbitraryKitten : Was she part of the inspiration to getting clean?

@Papa-Pepper : I quit smoking cigarettes when I met her, but to give up the rest took an act of God

@ArbitraryKitten : I'd love to hear about the Act of God.

@Papa-Pepper : Then I guess I'll have to share about it.

Now that is an interesting thing to ask someone about, overcoming a lifestyle that was preventing me from living a better life.

Here is goes.

When I moved back to Wisconsin from New Orleans, I was an alcoholic pothead who chain smoked cigarettes and liked to smoke a lot of cocaine too. Also, I was very unfaithful in relationships. Basically, my life was hedonism and I did not care who I hurt in my endless quest for pleasure. When I met @mama-pepper, it was at work. A coworker told me that someone there liked me. I pointed at @mama-pepper and said, "Well, it must be her." The reason that I thought it was her is threefold. First, she couldn't have worked there for long, or she would know what she was dealing with. Second, she couldn't have worked in my direct vicinity, or she would know what she was dealing with. Third, she had to be young, or she would know what she was dealing with. Anyone else would have known that I was not only "bad news," I was pretty much toxic. @Mama-pepper was fresh out of high school though, and naive.

As time went on, we began to date. Eventually I got her name tattooed across my chest in someone's kitchen. When we got back to the truck to leave, I asked, "So, do you like want to be my wife?" Yeah, what a proposal. That shows how much life made sense in those days. I had never wanted a wife prior to her ever since early on in life, and at first I was terrified of her. In the life that I lived, you chose not to have feelings because you did not want any pain. Feeling for a woman would only open you up to pain, so relationships were more convenient, and I did not take them seriously before @mama-pepper.

Since she wanted to give me some time, I wanted to be able to give her some time back, so I quit smoking cigarettes. I'd quit plenty of times before, but never for good.

But, the marijuana all day every day, the alcohol all day every day, and the cocaine whenever I could get it did not stop. Since we had decided to get married, we started "shopping around for a church" to get married at, because that is often what people do. When we walked into one, the Pastor told us that in order for him to marry us, we would have to do three things.

Quit living together until after we were married.
Take ten weeks of "pre-marriage" counselling.
Change our date.

Well, we had no intention of changing our date, so he basically had given us three reasons to walk out. For some reason though, I replied with, "Well, even if you can't marry us because we are not changing our date, can we still go through will all of that?" It may seem strange to respond in that way, and I agree it was certainly out of character, but I figured if God made man, and God made woman, and He invented marriage, then I wanted to know what He had to say about it.

In the first pre-marriage session, the Pastor asked me where I would go if I was to die. I replied, "Heaven." He then asked why, to which I told him, "Because I'm a good person." HA! What a bunch of baloney. but it shows how deceived I was. There was not much "good" in my life at all. At that point, the Pastor showed me the Ten Commandments, and I realized that I was not a "good person." He then explained what Jesus did for our sins.

At that point, it finally made sense. Both @mama-pepper and myself chose to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that day, and in the process of trying to love one another, we found Someone to love more than each other.

So we began to learn more about God and His plan for us, but I was still living my life my way when it came to drugs and alcohol. When you are reading the Bible for a bit every day and hearing an hour worth of preaching once a week, it can take a while to understand certain things about drug addiction and drunkenness.

Finally, I realized that God wanted me to be sober, and that He wanted to provide the peace and joy that I needed rather than turning to drugs and alcohol to help me relax or have a good time.

When I lived in New Orleans, I got busted in Florida with an assortment of drugs and wound up facing felony charges before I was finished. They had given me "pre-trial diversion" which meant as long as I paid some fines, took some classes, and stayed sober, I would be free to go. I still remember the evaluation that they gave me at the end of it. The official conclusion was that I either had never really been up to anything and had made one mistake, or, I was so far gone that there really wasn't much hope for me. I'll let you guess which one it was.

Despite the fact that I knew I would go to jail or maybe even prison if I did not meet all of their requirements, I still could not stay sober. I could fake my way through the classes and pay the fines, but every time I was tempted with drugs or alcohol I would give in. I don't know how weak or stupid you have to be to nit resist getting drunk or high when it means that you WILL go to jail for it, but that is how weak and stupid I was. I had all of the encouragement that this world had to offer to sober up and I still could not do it. The ultimatum on the table was stay sober or go to jail or prison. Still, I couldn't.

Thankfully, I faked my way through everything and never had to serve any time. I can't imagine who I would have become if I had went to prison. Who I had become on the streets was already bad enough.

Anyway, once I realized that God wanted me sober, I had to tell Him the truth. I said, "Lord, you are asking of me the one thing that I cannot give You. I can't sober up." I knew that I did not have what it took, and my life testified to that. Then, God told me that He could change me IF I let Him.

It wasn't in an audible voice or anything, but through reading the Bible and reflecting on what He said, that was the clear message that I was getting. For the first few days, I wouldn't even pray and ask for help. Looking back on it now, I think that I was scared. I was scared of being sober, because I knew no other life. I'd pretty much spent almost the past decade drunk , high, and whatever else I could get on a daily basis. I would wake up to it and live my day messed up. The next day when I woke up, I'd have to start all over again

After a few days of not asking for help after I knew what He wanted and that He would help, I couldn't do it anymore. I finally broke down and called out for Him to help me. Amazingly, He gave me the strength to overcome my addictions. He took the alcohol, marijuana, and rest of the drugs away from me forever.

I think one of the most amazing things is that now I have a "lifetime supply" of drugs and alcohol! I have all that I will ever need. Before I could never get enough, and now I don't need any more, ever.

For me, getting drunk, high, and laid ran my life. It is what I lived for. I did not let anything get in the way. Not moral code or law of man would stand in my way.

I know that there is no way that my marriage would have survived if I had continued in my ways. I also know what kind of parent I would have been. Thankfully, Jesus stepped in to change all of that and now the man that He is making me gets to be the husband to @mama-pepper and the father to my @little-peppers instead of the jerk that I had turned myself into. Later this month we will have 10 years of marriage in and at the end of this year I will be completely sober for 9 years.

I owe my entire life now to Him.

To quote Mr. Gump - and that's about all I have to say about that.

@ArbitraryKitten : Wow Mr. Pepper. This is a truly amazing story. I feel honored that you trusted your story with me. Thank you again for sharing with me, I truly feel this is going to inspire and help a great many people.

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A Conversation with Papa-Pepper Part 1

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