This is the transcript of Restitutio episode 668: How I Got Clean from Heroin and Found God This transcript was auto-generated and only approximates the contents of this episode. Audio file 668 Jody Rodriguez.mp3 Transcript 00:00 Sean Finnega Hey there, I'm Sean Finnegan, and you are listening to Restitudio, a podcast that seeks to recover authentic Christianity and live it out today. 00:12 Sean Finnega What do you do when you've tried to quit something over and over and still can't get free? 00:17 Sean Finnega My guest today is Jody Rodriguez, who fell into a life of regular substance use from her teenage years onward. 00:25 Sean Finnega By the time she was nearing 30, she had been to jail and rehab but still couldn't shake her addictions. 00:32 Sean Finnega Then, after a second failed drug test, she hit rock bottom and said to herself, if I don't change my life, I'm going to die or go to prison. 00:42 Sean Finnega She needed to take drastic measures to get the freedom she desperately wanted. 00:47 Sean Finnega She couldn't keep doing the same thing, expecting different results. 00:52 Sean Finnega Moving away from home to join a rehab began a sequence of events that changed everything. 00:58 Sean Finnega She got clean, but even beyond that, she found God. 01:02 Sean Finnega Here now is episode 668, How I Got Clean from Heroin and Found God with Jody Rodriguez. 01:16 Sean Finnega Welcome to the podcast, Jody. 01:19 Jody Rodriguez Thank you, Sean. 01:20 Jody Rodriguez Thank you for having me. 01:21 Sean Finnega So Jody is a member of my church in Latham, New York, Living Hope Community Church, and has been for some time. 01:27 Sean Finnega And we are talking about your story today. 01:32 Sean Finnega So let's just jump right in. 01:34 Sean Finnega What was it like for you growing up? 01:37 Jody Rodriguez My dad was an alcoholic. 01:40 Jody Rodriguez My mother worked a lot. 01:41 Jody Rodriguez So during that time, my mom was working at night and my dad was home and he was always drunk. 01:48 Jody Rodriguez We had to like take care of ourselves most of the time. 01:52 Jody Rodriguez You know, I don't remember a lot of my childhood. 01:54 Jody Rodriguez I only remember a couple pieces, like bits and pieces of it. 01:58 Jody Rodriguez I learned that probably is a good thing that I don't remember a lot of my childhood. 02:07 Jody Rodriguez just ways of protection and just kind of like just getting through it. 02:13 Sean Finnega Well, let me ask you this. 02:15 Sean Finnega So how did you know your dad was drunk? 02:18 Sean Finnega Like were you watching him drink or did he act weird? 02:22 Sean Finnega Like when you're a kid, like obviously you don't really understand a lot of things that are going on. 02:27 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, I mean, you know, dad would come home and we would all walk on eggshells to see, to check the temperature of his. 02:35 Sean Finnega So he was explosive. 02:37 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 02:38 Jody Rodriguez We had to check the temperature of his attitude, his behavior. 02:44 Jody Rodriguez Sometimes he was drunk and happy and then sometimes he was drunk and mean and nasty. 02:51 Jody Rodriguez So we never knew what we were going to get when he got home. 02:55 Sean Finnega Okay. 02:56 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 02:57 Sean Finnega Sounds really hard. 02:59 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 03:01 Sean Finnega So what happened next in your story? 03:03 Sean Finnega Like you. 03:07 Sean Finnega You obviously would in that environment be looking for some sort of escape, right? 03:13 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 03:15 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, I mean, I remember I was about 13. 03:19 Jody Rodriguez There was lots of alcohol at the house. 03:23 Jody Rodriguez And I remember like drinking from, we had like a bar. 03:28 Jody Rodriguez I remember drinking a couple of like shots and stuff. 03:32 Jody Rodriguez And I remember liking it then. 03:34 Jody Rodriguez But I, you know, obviously it was like hidden. 03:40 Jody Rodriguez You know, I had two younger, older brother, a younger brother, so it was us. 03:46 Jody Rodriguez And we got into like, we ended up stealing my mom's cigarettes and she caught us and she made us smoke a whole pack of Virginia Slimentol and hoping that we never smoke again, which I'm grateful because, you know, I didn't 04:03 Jody Rodriguez take that habit on. 04:04 Jody Rodriguez My brothers, both of my brothers smoke, but I definitely have smoked in my life as like a social smoker, I guess, if you were drinking, you smoke. 04:15 Jody Rodriguez But so moving along, just growing up, 04:23 Jody Rodriguez a couple things I remember is like going to school. 04:26 Jody Rodriguez I was late for school. 04:27 Jody Rodriguez My mom was driving me and we went around the corner and I fell out of the car and rolled and stuffed my knees and my stockings. 04:37 Jody Rodriguez I had this little cute little pink dress on and then like I was crying hysterically and my mom still took me to school. 04:42 Jody Rodriguez So like I remember that. 04:43 Sean Finnega So you fell out of the car? 04:45 Sean Finnega Is that what you just said? 04:46 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, I fell out of the car. 04:47 Jody Rodriguez How did one fall out of a car? 04:49 Sean Finnega You didn't have doors in your car. 04:51 Jody Rodriguez It was like one of those, it was like, I don't even know what kind of car it was, but it was like a green big car with the big heavy doors and I was late for school and she was driving me and the door just flew open and I just rolled out. 05:05 Sean Finnega Oh. 05:06 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 05:09 Jody Rodriguez So, and then she still took me to school. 05:13 Jody Rodriguez But yeah. 05:17 Jody Rodriguez Like I said, I don't remember too much of my childhood. 05:23 Jody Rodriguez But my dad was definitely a drinker. 05:26 Jody Rodriguez Lots of barbecues and alcohol was always present. 05:32 Sean Finnega Talk about your area where you grew up. 05:36 Sean Finnega Was it very rural or urban or suburban? 05:41 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, we grew up in a town called Florida, New York. 05:45 Jody Rodriguez And they grew onions there. 05:47 Jody Rodriguez So it's a small town. 05:48 Sean Finnega Onions. 05:50 Jody Rodriguez Onions. 05:51 Jody Rodriguez Onions was like their thing. 05:54 Jody Rodriguez And we grew up on like a side Rd. 05:59 Jody Rodriguez There was lots of cornfields and onions. 06:01 Jody Rodriguez And we had a great time as far as like we rode a lot of bikes and dirt bikes and snowmobiles. 06:10 Jody Rodriguez So we were always out in nature, which is 06:13 Jody Rodriguez amazing. 06:14 Jody Rodriguez I'm so grateful that I got to grow up that way. 06:20 Jody Rodriguez And it was a small, small town. 06:22 Jody Rodriguez I graduated with 42 kids in my class and those 42 kids, you know, the same kids I went to kindergarten with. 06:32 Jody Rodriguez I was always such a shy person, shy kid growing up. 06:37 Jody Rodriguez You know, my feelings didn't matter. 06:44 Jody Rodriguez um so I just kept quiet um and you know getting into high school I was um let's see when I was like 13 you know I was obviously seeking to get out of myself seeking attention you know my dad wasn't around um my mom wasn't around a lot she worked a lot I'm sure she worked to not be around him 07:13 Jody Rodriguez And, you know, I was seeking attention from men. 07:18 Jody Rodriguez I got into a relationship when I was 15. 07:23 Jody Rodriguez The man was nine years older than me. 07:26 Jody Rodriguez He was a black man. 07:29 Jody Rodriguez And I lived in a little town with no black people. 07:36 Jody Rodriguez So 07:39 Jody Rodriguez That was a very difficult thing. 07:46 Sean Finnega You feel like people judge you for dating somebody of a different race. 07:51 Jody Rodriguez Oh, absolutely. 07:53 Jody Rodriguez They definitely did. 07:55 Jody Rodriguez My parents didn't really say too much and then all of a sudden they made a big deal about it. 08:01 Jody Rodriguez And I would get called names from people. 08:14 Sean Finnega So the thing that really catches my attention here is the age gap. 08:19 Sean Finnega So we're talking about 24 year old with a 15 year old. 08:24 Sean Finnega That is super weird, like inappropriate. 08:29 Sean Finnega Were you thinking, oh, this is fine, or were you trying to be rebellious or what were you, what was your take on it back then? 08:38 Jody Rodriguez I didn't really think it was rebellious at the time. 08:46 Jody Rodriguez You know, I was looking for love and attention and this man gave it to me. 08:57 Jody Rodriguez You know, I looked up to this person. 09:02 Jody Rodriguez I played sports in high school and I was really, really good in soccer. 09:08 Jody Rodriguez So I don't even remember if my family ever came to one of my soccer games. 09:14 Jody Rodriguez I really don't remember. 09:15 Jody Rodriguez But he came to a lot of them. 09:19 Jody Rodriguez And I think when that started to happen, it kind of stirred up the talk of the town and then my family, you know, and meeting him, I just he never I just felt like he was trying to look out for me. 09:35 Jody Rodriguez Right. 09:36 Jody Rodriguez And I thought that that's what like 09:38 Jody Rodriguez I guess my father was supposed to be doing. 09:42 Sean Finnega So how did that relationship progress? 09:46 Jody Rodriguez He, as time went on, he never was into drinking or drugs or anything like that. 09:58 Jody Rodriguez And he started hanging out with the wrong people. 10:00 Jody Rodriguez And 10:03 Jody Rodriguez after a little while he started to drink and started to smoke and then introduced me to some substances and it just wasn't it didn't turn out well let's just say that I really enjoyed it because it helped me to escape 10:33 Jody Rodriguez I thought he was protecting me. 10:35 Jody Rodriguez I thought I thought I was safe. 10:39 Sean Finnega And, So as that progressed, can I, would it be okay to say what the substances were? 10:55 Jody Rodriguez Sure, yeah. 10:56 Jody Rodriguez I got into using cocaine. 11:00 Jody Rodriguez and did that for a while and then he started using heroin and then so did I. 11:05 Sean Finnega Okay, so what we would call today hard drugs as opposed to just, were you using marijuana too back then or? 11:14 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, I was using marijuana and alcohol for, throughout my teens and then I think it was like maybe. 11:22 Sean Finnega So marijuana and alcohol were kind of just like normal. 11:25 Sean Finnega This was elevating it to a higher level for you. 11:30 Sean Finnega So as you were using these substances, you were enjoying it in the sense that it was giving you an escape from reality. 11:41 Sean Finnega Is that true? 11:42 Sean Finnega Or how did you? 11:43 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 11:44 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 11:45 Sean Finnega So what happened next? 11:50 Jody Rodriguez You know, as time went on, I was, I managed to graduate high school, you know, 11:59 Jody Rodriguez The only thing that got me through high school was playing soccer. 12:03 Jody Rodriguez I had to pass my classes in order to play on the soccer team, and soccer meant the world to me. 12:10 Jody Rodriguez I love soccer. 12:12 Jody Rodriguez It was able for me to disconnect as well. 12:20 Jody Rodriguez So I graduated high school. 12:23 Jody Rodriguez Shortly after that, I went to the community college 12:25 Jody Rodriguez And so I had dabbled with cocaine and heroin, but it never became like a regular thing, I guess, yet until like after high school. 12:36 Jody Rodriguez And after high school is when it became a regular thing. 12:42 Jody Rodriguez And using heroin is something that you need to use every day. 12:48 Jody Rodriguez So I was using heroin. 12:50 Jody Rodriguez I dropped out of school. 12:53 Jody Rodriguez during this time I always had a job, but obviously I lost a lot of my jobs because I wouldn't show up for work or I'd show up and I was hungover. 13:06 Jody Rodriguez He had gotten arrested and he went to jail. 13:10 Jody Rodriguez And so when that happened, I stopped using heroin. 13:19 Jody Rodriguez I still use alcohol. 13:21 Sean Finnega So how were you able to get off it? 13:22 Sean Finnega Is it supposed to be really hard to deal with the withdrawal symptoms for heroin, right? 13:30 Jody Rodriguez Yes, I did go to a detox. 13:31 Jody Rodriguez Okay. 13:32 Jody Rodriguez I did go to a detox. 13:33 Sean Finnega Is that one week program or a month or? 13:39 Jody Rodriguez It was actually one day. 13:41 Jody Rodriguez I just, yeah, my mom took me and 13:46 Jody Rodriguez I did not like what I saw and I said that I wasn't a drug addict and this was not for me. 13:54 Jody Rodriguez I wasn't like into it heavily then, but I still had like an addiction problem. 13:59 Jody Rodriguez But I was able to wean myself off of it because I kept doing other drugs. 14:04 Jody Rodriguez I kept drinking and so that kind of helped to take the edge off. 14:08 Sean Finnega I see. 14:10 Sean Finnega So your boyfriend was in jail during this time. 14:14 Sean Finnega And how long was that? 14:17 Jody Rodriguez I think he was in there maybe, I don't know, like a year or two maybe. 14:23 Sean Finnega Okay, and then what happened next? 14:25 Jody Rodriguez I don't really remember. 14:27 Jody Rodriguez I'm trying to think. 14:36 Jody Rodriguez So that was, yeah, okay, so maybe he was in there longer. 14:41 Jody Rodriguez He was in there longer, I'm sorry, because he went to jail and then he went to prison. 14:46 Jody Rodriguez And so in that time that he was gone, you know, we stayed together for a little bit and then we weren't together. 14:56 Jody Rodriguez And in that time, you know, I hung out with friends that, you know, we drank, we went to the bar. 15:04 Jody Rodriguez It was just what we did. 15:09 Jody Rodriguez We always were getting high and drinking, like smoking marijuana, drinking, doing cocaine, but not heroin. 15:19 Jody Rodriguez So he got out and then within a couple months I was using heroin again with him. 15:27 Jody Rodriguez And we had gone, I was in the car with him and 15:39 Jody Rodriguez going to buy heroin and we got arrested and we both went to jail. 15:47 Jody Rodriguez And a week later we got out and then that was in New Jersey and then a week later we were in the car again and he was going to get it and we got arrested again in New York. 16:03 Jody Rodriguez So and then was in jail for a week in New York. 16:07 Jody Rodriguez and got out or I stayed in there. 16:10 Jody Rodriguez Now, he had a prior record. 16:18 Jody Rodriguez He had a prior record. 16:19 Jody Rodriguez So he had said that if I took the charges for him in New York, that he would take the charges for me in New Jersey. 16:28 Jody Rodriguez And so I said, okay. 16:30 Jody Rodriguez And he got out and I stayed in jail. 16:34 Jody Rodriguez So I was staying in jail and they had offered me six months and five years felony probation. 16:41 Jody Rodriguez So I would do my little six, I wouldn't say little, but I would do six months in jail and get out and do five years felony probation. 16:48 Jody Rodriguez Now, during that time I was sitting in jail. 16:59 Jody Rodriguez I remember saying to myself, if 17:05 Jody Rodriguez You know, what's going to be different when I get out? 17:08 Jody Rodriguez You know, I could I could do my six months and get out. 17:10 Jody Rodriguez But what's going to be different? 17:13 Jody Rodriguez And then when I get when I get out, like I wasn't even I didn't even go in front of the court in New Jersey. 17:19 Jody Rodriguez So I'm sure Jersey would be there to pick me back up to face those charges because I at that point, I didn't really know what was going on because he got out and 17:31 Jody Rodriguez I think we talked a couple times and then that was it. 17:33 Jody Rodriguez I didn't hear from him. 17:37 Jody Rodriguez So I remember this guy, this guy, his name is Joe Hodges. 17:45 Jody Rodriguez He's from the Orange County Task program in Goshen, New York. 17:51 Jody Rodriguez And he came to see me when he offered me to go to rehab and 17:59 Jody Rodriguez when going to rehab, I got both of my cases because now I have two cases, not just one. 18:06 Jody Rodriguez Both of my cases run together concurrently. 18:12 Jody Rodriguez So I went and I was in rehab for a year. 18:18 Sean Finnega Okay, so. 18:19 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 18:21 Sean Finnega Did you do six months in jail or no? 18:24 Jody Rodriguez I did three months. 18:25 Jody Rodriguez I did three months in jail. 18:26 Sean Finnega So you did three months and then you transferred to rehab for a year. 18:30 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 18:30 Sean Finnega Okay. 18:31 Sean Finnega And what was that three months like while you were in jail? 18:36 Sean Finnega Was it scary or was it boring or what was it like? 18:40 Jody Rodriguez It's definitely not for me. 18:46 Sean Finnega Don't recommend one out of five stars. 18:50 Jody Rodriguez No, it's definitely not for me. 18:54 Jody Rodriguez Definitely not some place I ever want to go back to. 18:58 Jody Rodriguez You know, I had a lot of time to sit with myself and to think and to pray. 19:08 Jody Rodriguez And, you know, here I am, you know, the first time sober, probably since I don't even know how old I was, completely sober there in the jail. 19:25 Jody Rodriguez And 19:26 Jody Rodriguez I'm reflecting on everything and just the fact of like, how much I trusted this man and he said he was going to be there for me. 19:36 Jody Rodriguez And he betrayed you. 19:38 Jody Rodriguez And he betrayed me. 19:40 Jody Rodriguez At the point, at that time, like I didn't understand that, you know, I understand now that, you know, 19:48 Jody Rodriguez You know, when there's drugs involved and alcohol, like the disease, it doesn't care about anything. 19:54 Jody Rodriguez It doesn't care about your family. 19:55 Jody Rodriguez It doesn't care about your kids. 19:57 Jody Rodriguez You know, you will lie to do anything. 19:59 Jody Rodriguez You will hurt the ones you love for it. 20:03 Jody Rodriguez You will lose your life for it. 20:05 Jody Rodriguez And you don't have control once you use drugs. 20:10 Jody Rodriguez So I get that now, but at the time I didn't. 20:14 Jody Rodriguez But I was scared. 20:14 Jody Rodriguez I was really scared. 20:17 Jody Rodriguez I had no idea, you know, going to rehab, what that was going to look like. 20:21 Jody Rodriguez What was it like? 20:26 Jody Rodriguez It was very different. 20:29 Jody Rodriguez So this was like in 2004. 20:33 Jody Rodriguez So it was a therapeutic community. 20:36 Jody Rodriguez They didn't talk about the 12 steps of recovery there a lot. 20:39 Jody Rodriguez It was more their focus on attitudes and behaviors. 20:45 Jody Rodriguez There was a lot of getting up in front of 200 people and talking. 20:54 Jody Rodriguez I remember my first week there. 20:58 Jody Rodriguez This woman stood me up in front of everybody and asked me what respect meant to me. 21:04 Jody Rodriguez And I had no idea to say. 21:09 Jody Rodriguez And I sat down. 21:11 Jody Rodriguez I was very shy. 21:13 Jody Rodriguez I made a couple of friends, but I didn't talk a lot at all. 21:21 Jody Rodriguez They make you do like a job there, so you have a job function during the day. 21:26 Jody Rodriguez You're in groups all day. 21:28 Jody Rodriguez They do everything on the community site, so you don't really go out of the place you're at. 21:37 Jody Rodriguez You kind of stay secluded. 21:41 Jody Rodriguez One of the things that rings, okay. 21:43 Sean Finnega Well, I was gonna say, I was gonna ask, so would you say you had a good experience there or it was terrible or like, I'm not really getting a sense of how it was for you. 21:55 Sean Finnega Like I get that it was terrifying when they put you in front of everyone, but like as time went on, was it good or was it not good? 22:07 Jody Rodriguez You know, 22:11 Jody Rodriguez I mean, it wasn't bad, right? 22:12 Jody Rodriguez Like I was in jail, so that was bad, right? 22:15 Jody Rodriguez So I was just grateful to be at a place and be able to be not locked behind bars, you know? 22:22 Jody Rodriguez So I was grateful for the opportunity to even be at a place because I could have just stayed there. 22:28 Jody Rodriguez So I really just tried to embrace that, you know, just learning to be around people and live sober. 22:39 Jody Rodriguez I didn't know how to do that. 22:42 Jody Rodriguez So everything was scary, but I just kept taking the suggestions that they gave us. 22:49 Sean Finnega Okay. 22:52 Sean Finnega So what happened next? 22:59 Jody Rodriguez Well, I graduated there. 23:03 Jody Rodriguez one thing that I took away from there is that a closed mouth doesn't get fed. 23:10 Jody Rodriguez You know, I remember people sharing about their stories and their pain, and I was so shy and so scared to even open my mouth that I never shared anything. 23:19 Jody Rodriguez I mean, of course, I shared with like the couple of girls that I met there, but not in the group setting, not so much with the counselors. 23:28 Jody Rodriguez I didn't really understand the power of getting honest and sharing where exactly where you're at. 23:33 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, I graduated there. 23:37 Jody Rodriguez I left there and my dad was sick with cancer. 23:40 Jody Rodriguez So I actually went home after that. 23:49 Jody Rodriguez was very different to be back home because I had left my parents' house when I was like 17. 23:58 Jody Rodriguez Did you get sucked? 24:00 Sean Finnega Back into the old lifestyle when you went home or were you able to stay clean? 24:06 Jody Rodriguez I stayed clean for a little bit. 24:08 Jody Rodriguez But then, little by little, hanging out with certain people and it's just getting back into the routine. 24:16 Jody Rodriguez not the routine, but just the lifestyle, I guess. 24:19 Jody Rodriguez the atmosphere and people, places and things is a huge thing. 24:23 Jody Rodriguez And plus, being around my family, wasn't healthy at all. 24:29 Jody Rodriguez I didn't have any coping skills. 24:32 Jody Rodriguez the one thing I, one of the things I didn't learn there was how to cope. 24:35 Jody Rodriguez how to get through day-to-day life without using or causing harm to myself or causing harm to other people. 24:43 Jody Rodriguez And I didn't learn that there. 24:48 Sean Finnega So what happened next? 24:52 Jody Rodriguez Well, it was just a very different time. 24:54 Jody Rodriguez You know, since my dad was sick with cancer, he was sober. 25:01 Jody Rodriguez He had a stem cell transplant. 25:05 Jody Rodriguez So there was a lot going on there and I was just trying to be there for my parents and be there at the house for them. 25:15 Jody Rodriguez I feel like my father had an awakening because he stopped drinking. 25:32 Jody Rodriguez Obviously, he was going to die if he didn't. 25:34 Jody Rodriguez And he became this, like, brand new man. 25:38 Jody Rodriguez Wow. 25:40 Jody Rodriguez So and I got to be there and we got to have a relationship. 25:47 Jody Rodriguez So for ten years, so for ten years, so I got to have a relationship with ten for ten years. 25:56 Jody Rodriguez So I got to know this man in a whole different light than I than I did growing up. 26:03 Sean Finnega Wow. 26:05 Sean Finnega That's really awesome that you had that opportunity. 26:09 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 26:11 Jody Rodriguez It was great. 26:12 Jody Rodriguez I mean, it was amazing. 26:14 Jody Rodriguez I'm not sure if my brothers or sisters really see it in that kind of a light, but I do. 26:20 Jody Rodriguez I know when I started to drink again here and there, he would see it and I'm sure that he could see himself in me and he would be like, don't drink too much or 26:32 Jody Rodriguez be careful kind of thing. 26:33 Jody Rodriguez But so, yeah. 26:43 Sean Finnega Okay. 26:44 Sean Finnega So as you were staying at home, how long were you there for? 26:51 Sean Finnega You said 10 years, I guess, right? 26:55 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 26:59 Jody Rodriguez working a job, living your life? 27:02 Jody Rodriguez Yes, working. 27:04 Jody Rodriguez I'm trying to think, like working and yeah. 27:11 Jody Rodriguez Just finding jobs. 27:14 Jody Rodriguez I waitressed A lot. 27:18 Jody Rodriguez I did bartending. 27:21 Jody Rodriguez And I still didn't take care of my 27:27 Jody Rodriguez problem. 27:27 Jody Rodriguez I still didn't take care of my mind, you know, so I still was using, but I was, you know, drinking and doing cocaine here and there and smoking marijuana. 27:43 Jody Rodriguez But I never used heroin again, you know. 27:49 Jody Rodriguez But I got into another relationship and 27:57 Jody Rodriguez And it just took me down the wrong path again. 28:00 Jody Rodriguez really. 28:01 Sean Finnega So what happened here? 28:04 Jody Rodriguez Shocker, right? 28:06 Jody Rodriguez It's always over a relationship, it really is. 28:12 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, we started using together cocaine. 28:15 Jody Rodriguez And so now, so here I'm on five years probation from when I got out of rehab. 28:24 Jody Rodriguez So I'm still on probation and I'm using. 28:27 Jody Rodriguez And so I'm going to outpatient, I'm going to probation and you get your urine tested there. 28:40 Jody Rodriguez So three years into my probation, I got a dirty urine and she sent me to a 30 day rehab. 28:53 Jody Rodriguez Now, I went into rehab when I got there saying that I was an alcoholic. 29:03 Jody Rodriguez I'm sorry, I said, I went in there saying I was a drug addict. 29:07 Jody Rodriguez And when I got out, I gave myself permission to drink because I was like, Oh, well, I'm not an alcoholic, I'm just a drug addict. 29:22 Jody Rodriguez I drank that night. 29:24 Jody Rodriguez And as soon as I drank, I wanted something else. 29:32 Jody Rodriguez Like it was never just good enough for one. 29:34 Sean Finnega You just could not escape this. 29:36 Sean Finnega I mean, this is years and years of your life. 29:38 Sean Finnega I mean, we're talking about you're in your 30s now, right? 29:46 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 29:47 Sean Finnega So, you know, you started picking these habits up in your teens. 29:51 Sean Finnega in your 20s, you had this huge scare where you went to jail and then you went to rehab for a year. 29:59 Sean Finnega And then just like over time, the habits came back. 30:02 Sean Finnega And even after you got busted and you had this 30 day rehab, as soon as you got out, you were back to it. 30:14 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 30:14 Sean Finnega Like what level of frustration did you have with yourself at this point? 30:22 Jody Rodriguez I think when you're in it, you don't really see it. 30:28 Jody Rodriguez Right after that, I got another dirty urine and she sent me to Albany. 30:37 Jody Rodriguez She said, you're doing a long-term program. 30:40 Jody Rodriguez And that's where 30:45 Jody Rodriguez That's what it really hit me. 30:47 Sean Finnega And so just for people not familiar with the area, that's like, is that a two hour drive from Florida, New York to Albany, New York? 30:56 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 30:56 Sean Finnega So it'll get you out of your social circles and, you know, seeing that, like you said before, people, places and things that would trigger you to party or to use. 31:10 Sean Finnega When you went into the program in Albany, 31:14 Sean Finnega What was your attitude like? 31:20 Jody Rodriguez I just want to jump back real quick because I feel like this is really important. 31:23 Jody Rodriguez But when she told me I was going away, I was so upset. 31:30 Jody Rodriguez I was beyond upset. 31:32 Jody Rodriguez I literally remember crying. 31:37 Jody Rodriguez I laid in bed for a whole week. 31:39 Jody Rodriguez I cried. 31:42 Jody Rodriguez I didn't eat. 31:44 Jody Rodriguez I was so upset that I'm back in this position again where my life is. 31:52 Jody Rodriguez But after that week, I got up and I packed my stuff and I was like, I have to do this because if I don't do this, if I don't change my life, I'm going to die or I'm going to go to prison. 32:09 Jody Rodriguez So I really just 32:11 Jody Rodriguez surrendered, finally surrendered that like my way. 32:14 Jody Rodriguez Like I need a lot of help. 32:15 Jody Rodriguez Like I needed a lot of help. 32:17 Jody Rodriguez And I wasn't I just stopped then to try to keep doing it on my own because it wasn't working. 32:24 Jody Rodriguez So I got to Albany and I was beyond grateful for the opportunity that they gave me. 32:40 Jody Rodriguez just to be able to be in a facility, to be able to go outside, just all like, the time and the energy that they put into meeting with me and just caring for me. 32:55 Jody Rodriguez Every group that I went to, I talked, I overtalked. 33:00 Sean Finnega So you really changed from your previous experience where you were just so shy. 33:05 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 33:06 Sean Finnega Is that because you were just more motivated to 33:09 Sean Finnega to really get the transformation you needed or like what, why were you talking now? 33:17 Jody Rodriguez Well, I remember, I remember if a closed mouth doesn't get fed. 33:22 Jody Rodriguez If I keep my mouth closed, I'm not gonna get the help I need. 33:26 Jody Rodriguez I need to like really, you know, like I don't know anybody, you know, and I needed to trust someone and put 33:34 Jody Rodriguez I didn't know how to live my life and to make healthy decisions, and I really needed someone to guide me. 33:41 Jody Rodriguez So I put the trust in the women at the program to help me. 33:45 Sean Finnega Okay. 33:46 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 33:47 Sean Finnega And how long was that program for? 33:50 Jody Rodriguez Nine months. 33:52 Sean Finnega Okay, so you get to the end of the nine months. 33:56 Jody Rodriguez So during the nine months, 34:02 Jody Rodriguez I was going to do the nine months and go home. 34:07 Jody Rodriguez And that's what I was going to do. 34:10 Jody Rodriguez And so I went in April and I got, I don't know, maybe January or something, I don't know. 34:17 Jody Rodriguez But in October, my. 34:23 Jody Rodriguez So the whole plan of me going to Albany, I was still with the boyfriend. 34:27 Jody Rodriguez The plan was between us that we were going to get clean and 34:33 Jody Rodriguez stay clean. 34:34 Jody Rodriguez And when I got out, we were going to be together and have a life. 34:37 Jody Rodriguez That was the plan. 34:39 Jody Rodriguez So he was there for me the whole time. 34:41 Jody Rodriguez But then come October, my cousin passed away. 34:45 Jody Rodriguez He died in Afghanistan and I went home for the funeral. 34:50 Sean Finnega Okay. 34:52 Jody Rodriguez And at the funeral, let's just say he made 35:00 Jody Rodriguez a bad decision and made me realize that he was not clean and he was still using. 35:11 Jody Rodriguez And so I came back from the funeral and I didn't share it with anybody because, you know, now my whole plan is messed up. 35:21 Jody Rodriguez You know, I'm planning to go back home there and have this life with him, but now it's 35:28 Jody Rodriguez I can't because I'm the one who's going to continue to have consequences. 35:32 Jody Rodriguez You know, everything of my actions, I keep having consequences. 35:36 Jody Rodriguez But other the people that, you know, I was with, they don't or they they must have their own consequences. 35:42 Jody Rodriguez But anyways, 35:47 Jody Rodriguez So finally, the women knew something was wrong and I got honest and I shared with them what happened. 35:54 Jody Rodriguez And I had to leave this man. 35:55 Jody Rodriguez I had to end things and leave this man. 35:57 Jody Rodriguez And it was one of the hardest things, one of the hardest things then that I ever had to do. 36:03 Jody Rodriguez But I did it and I took time and the women cared for me and supported me. 36:11 Jody Rodriguez And so when I 36:14 Jody Rodriguez got done in January, I stayed. 36:18 Jody Rodriguez I went to the supportive living program. 36:22 Jody Rodriguez And, at this, like, I didn't know where I was, the supportive living program was like three to six months. 36:30 Jody Rodriguez You could say longer too, but at this point, I have no idea where I'm going to live. 36:34 Jody Rodriguez Well, obviously I had a place to live, but I didn't know where I was going to work. 36:38 Jody Rodriguez I didn't have any money. 36:41 Jody Rodriguez I didn't have anything. 36:42 Jody Rodriguez I mean, I just had my recovery and the woman that I met at the program. 36:49 Jody Rodriguez And I remember saying when I was in program, I remember saying to the women that were there on a volunteer, they were voluntary there because of their addiction. 36:59 Jody Rodriguez I remember saying, wow, like that's so powerful that you actually put yourself in rehab to get your life together because 37:08 Jody Rodriguez That wasn't me. 37:09 Jody Rodriguez That wasn't my story. 37:12 Jody Rodriguez And I remember after I graduated, I stayed in Albany and I remember I got up every day and I just did the next right thing. 37:26 Jody Rodriguez I went to recovery meetings. 37:28 Jody Rodriguez I went to outpatient. 37:30 Jody Rodriguez I did the next right thing. 37:31 Jody Rodriguez And, you know, 37:34 Jody Rodriguez There's always two roads, you know, like I know what that road looks like going back home and everything that was there. 37:43 Jody Rodriguez Like, let me try to go right instead of left this time and see what happens. 37:47 Jody Rodriguez Like, yes, it's scary. 37:48 Jody Rodriguez Yes, like I have no idea what's going to happen, but like, you know, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results, you know, and I said to myself, if. 38:02 Jody Rodriguez If I can't do it, I'll go back, but let me see what I can do. 38:06 Jody Rodriguez And I stayed. 38:08 Jody Rodriguez And I've been here 16 years now. 38:10 Sean Finnega It's a long time. 38:14 Sean Finnega So you are in Albany, which is compared to Florida, it's kind of like the big city, right? 38:23 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 38:24 Sean Finnega Not compared to New York City, but compared to Florida, New York City, it's the big city. 38:29 Sean Finnega And so tell us about where God was throughout this whole process. 38:35 Sean Finnega Because you did mention praying before, but did you have much of A belief in God or what was that all about for you? 38:46 Jody Rodriguez I definitely had a belief in God, but I didn't really understand it. 38:54 Jody Rodriguez I had a strong 39:03 Jody Rodriguez Faith, I guess, and hope that I was where I was at for a reason. 39:11 Jody Rodriguez I believe that everything, my whole journey to coming to Albany was like the most beautiful gift I've ever gotten. 39:27 Jody Rodriguez And, you know, God was with me the whole time, you know, even, you know, even through like the darkest times, you know, of course, you know, I was like, oh, you know, when something really bad happened, like, God, please get me out of this, you know, but that's as far as it went, like when I was using 39:53 Jody Rodriguez But really when I start to really start like paying attention and feeling God with me is when I came to Albany, when I laid in bed for the whole week and I just was sick to my stomach with myself. 40:10 Jody Rodriguez And when I finally surrendered, that's when I felt God the most and started to 40:21 Jody Rodriguez start changing me. 40:23 Sean Finnega So in all these programs, were they talking about a higher power and God and stuff like that or no? 40:28 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 40:30 Sean Finnega Okay. 40:30 Jody Rodriguez They started talking about higher power and God and, you know, they start, they tell you, can make your higher power whatever you want it to be, you know, people or the chair in the room. 40:44 Jody Rodriguez But I never, I just always. 40:53 Sean Finnega So tell us about the car incident. 40:59 Sean Finnega I want to get to that. 41:01 Sean Finnega Get us to that car with the broken radio. 41:06 Jody Rodriguez Okay. 41:07 Jody Rodriguez Yes, the car. 41:08 Jody Rodriguez So I'm in the supportive living program. 41:11 Jody Rodriguez I graduate from that. 41:13 Jody Rodriguez So now I stayed 41:14 Jody Rodriguez the program, I stayed there for 10 months in that program. 41:19 Jody Rodriguez And I was able to find a grant that would pay for me to go to school. 41:28 Jody Rodriguez So I learned a trade, I learned how to do phlebotomy, drawing blood. 41:33 Jody Rodriguez So I was able to get a job and I was able to get housing. 41:38 Jody Rodriguez And I got housing, I got the job and then 41:44 Jody Rodriguez I was looking for a car. 41:46 Jody Rodriguez So I found this Honda Civic car that worked great. 41:52 Jody Rodriguez It was cheap, but the radio didn't work. 41:55 Jody Rodriguez They had two stations. 41:57 Jody Rodriguez One was staticky and the other one was K-Love. 42:01 Jody Rodriguez Never heard K-Love before in my life, but it's what I listened to, started to listen to. 42:09 Jody Rodriguez That's when 42:13 Jody Rodriguez I feel like God was speaking to me. 42:17 Jody Rodriguez So that's all I started to listen to. 42:19 Jody Rodriguez And even in my apartment, I would listen to Caleb. 42:23 Jody Rodriguez I started to listen to other music, and it was just hard. 42:29 Jody Rodriguez And eventually after that, I started going to church with some of the people in program in recovery. 42:37 Sean Finnega So listening to that Christian music really got your 42:42 Sean Finnega really connected with you and resonated with you and you wanted to listen to it more and more. 42:50 Sean Finnega And then you said, what, I should go to church. 42:56 Sean Finnega Is that how it went? 42:58 Sean Finnega Someone invited me to go. 42:59 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, someone invited me to go. 43:01 Sean Finnega So you were kind of like primed because of, so much exposure to that music. 43:06 Sean Finnega And then, here's the place where that music comes from. 43:09 Sean Finnega That's what we sing in church. 43:10 Sean Finnega You know, not all of it, but a lot of that stuff. 43:13 Sean Finnega So what was your experience like in church? 43:20 Jody Rodriguez It was great. 43:21 Jody Rodriguez I, you know, I really connected with the music, right? 43:25 Jody Rodriguez As we know. 43:28 Jody Rodriguez But following the teaching was really hard for me. 43:31 Jody Rodriguez I didn't understand it. 43:33 Jody Rodriguez So, you know, I found myself like, oh my gosh, I shouldn't say this, but like falling asleep. 43:42 Jody Rodriguez But I really connected with the music and just like, but it was really hard to connect with the teaching. 43:50 Jody Rodriguez I did a couple of like small groups here and there, but still, 43:57 Jody Rodriguez Not all the way, you know, like I had one foot in and one foot out. 44:02 Jody Rodriguez I did work a lot. 44:02 Jody Rodriguez I was working a lot, so it wasn't like I was going to church every weekend. 44:07 Jody Rodriguez I had met a sister that I saw at church and I saw her a couple of years ago after that, and she had told me about this other church and it was smaller and more intimate. 44:23 Jody Rodriguez And that's when she told me about Living Hope. 44:26 Sean Finnega Okay. 44:28 Sean Finnega So what was your experience like at Living Hope? 44:30 Sean Finnega Not that I'm biased, but. 44:35 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 44:38 Jody Rodriguez It was amazing. 44:40 Jody Rodriguez You know, just from the moment I walked in, I just could feel love, like the warmth and, you know, 44:51 Jody Rodriguez There are people that said hello to me and came up to me and asked me who I was. 44:56 Jody Rodriguez Like, I felt noticed and I was able to connect with the teaching and the worship was good too. 45:06 Jody Rodriguez You know, I wanted to go back and I've been back every weekend. 45:14 Jody Rodriguez You know, I didn't get that at the other church. 45:15 Jody Rodriguez The other church was a lot bigger. 45:17 Jody Rodriguez I felt like you could hide in that church. 45:20 Jody Rodriguez No one ever really cared to say hello or come up to me and ask me who I was, where I was from. 45:28 Sean Finnega So you felt seen. 45:30 Jody Rodriguez I felt seen, yes. 45:35 Sean Finnega So as you're kind of like getting used to coming to church on a regular basis, learning about God, connecting through the music, what was really next for you as far as your development? 45:52 Sean Finnega did you, did you, did you start to feel like you're a part of a community? 46:03 Jody Rodriguez Yes, I wouldn't even say a community. 46:15 Jody Rodriguez I just would say like more like a family. 46:17 Sean Finnega Family, yes, okay. 46:22 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 46:23 Sean Finnega And that was what was broken in your childhood, was the family, where you were insecure in your attachment and you were hiding or escaping or leaving, right? 46:43 Sean Finnega So 46:48 Sean Finnega Tell us about your desire to find a husband. 46:59 Sean Finnega Tell us that story. 47:03 Jody Rodriguez So, you know, I've been in Albany for 16 years now, right? 47:06 Jody Rodriguez And been in recovery and I work in recovery. 47:13 Jody Rodriguez I help people. 47:15 Jody Rodriguez I coach people. 47:17 Jody Rodriguez I share what worked for me. 47:19 Jody Rodriguez I share what I learned. 47:21 Jody Rodriguez And a lot of work has been done and still needs to be done. 47:29 Jody Rodriguez Recovery is a lifelong process. 47:31 Jody Rodriguez And the things-- I always had a place to live. 47:40 Jody Rodriguez I always had a good job. 47:44 Jody Rodriguez That's because I gave it to God. 47:47 Jody Rodriguez I let God do the work, not do the work, but let God guide me, I guess. 47:54 Jody Rodriguez But my finances and my relationships were horrible. 48:00 Jody Rodriguez I'm sorry to say that, but 48:05 Jody Rodriguez I always heard like, you have a bad picker or a broken picker. 48:09 Jody Rodriguez And I hated it. 48:10 Jody Rodriguez I hated that. 48:11 Sean Finnega In the sense that you pick bad guys or guys that are not good for you. 48:15 Jody Rodriguez Yes, right. 48:16 Jody Rodriguez But like, how would I know, like, you know, doing the 12 steps of recovery and doing therapy really has helped to like shape, you know, what I'm actually looking for and what I deserve and what I want. 48:31 Jody Rodriguez But I still didn't know because I didn't do the work. 48:33 Jody Rodriguez Just because we get sober or clean, whatever you want to identify with doesn't mean that we're good. 48:39 Jody Rodriguez You know, there's still a lot of work to to uncover. 48:44 Jody Rodriguez So, you know, after, you know, picking not the right relationship over and over and over again, I didn't do the work on myself. 48:58 Jody Rodriguez So I started to do the work on myself. 49:02 Jody Rodriguez And I started. 49:11 Jody Rodriguez I heard that you have to make God your first love. 49:15 Jody Rodriguez And I and I had no idea what that meant. 49:20 Jody Rodriguez I had no idea what that meant. 49:23 Jody Rodriguez How am I supposed to make God my first love? 49:25 Jody Rodriguez You know, like sometimes I think like seeing 49:30 Jody Rodriguez seeing and believing and just, you know, I guess I have lots of faith and hope and he has carried me this far. 49:40 Jody Rodriguez And but like, how do you make him your first love? 49:47 Jody Rodriguez You know, I've had the broken father for the longest for my whole life, but that was my earthly father. 50:00 Jody Rodriguez So I remained single and I started to love God, love God more than wanting to be married, wanting into a relationship. 50:21 Jody Rodriguez I always thought like, what's wrong with me? 50:24 Jody Rodriguez I'm 40 something years old and I don't have children, I don't have a husband. 50:29 Jody Rodriguez What's wrong with me? 50:30 Jody Rodriguez Why don't I get this? 50:33 Jody Rodriguez And God kept saying, not yet. 50:38 Jody Rodriguez Not yet. 50:39 Jody Rodriguez It wasn't the time. 50:40 Jody Rodriguez I needed to grow. 50:41 Jody Rodriguez I needed to heal. 50:44 Jody Rodriguez I needed to learn to love myself. 50:47 Jody Rodriguez And so going to church, I saw someone there that I was attracted to. 51:00 Jody Rodriguez But I stayed really, really far away from him because. 51:05 Sean Finnega You have a broken picker. 51:09 Jody Rodriguez No, stop it, Sean. 51:11 Jody Rodriguez I don't anymore. 51:14 Jody Rodriguez No, because I'm there for God. 51:16 Sean Finnega You're there for God, right? 51:18 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 51:19 Jody Rodriguez I. 51:19 Sean Finnega Mean, you had so many struggles from previous relationships where they kind of led you astray into toxic behaviors and 51:28 Sean Finnega a lot of drug use and stuff. 51:30 Sean Finnega And so now you're saying, what, God's my first love. 51:35 Sean Finnega I don't want to jump into this. 51:38 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 51:41 Jody Rodriguez I had to wait. 51:42 Jody Rodriguez I still had to wait, even though I had an attraction to him and I would see him. 51:46 Jody Rodriguez I just stayed away and I finally surrendered to like, God, if this is for me, then 51:54 Jody Rodriguez it'll happen. 51:55 Jody Rodriguez And I just kind of like left it there, Because God has gotten me through so many different trials of my life, and I just have to be patient. 52:09 Jody Rodriguez I need to stop trying to fix, manage, and control and think that this is for me. 52:15 Jody Rodriguez God knows what's for me. 52:18 Jody Rodriguez And yeah. 52:21 Sean Finnega And at some point he noticed you. 52:25 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 52:27 Jody Rodriguez he did notice me. 52:30 Jody Rodriguez And yeah, I think that God was preparing our hearts for us to be together. 52:43 Jody Rodriguez I think, because it was like 2 years that I had noticed him and let's say I had eyes for him. 52:52 Jody Rodriguez But 52:53 Jody Rodriguez it wasn't the time, it really wasn't the time. 52:56 Jody Rodriguez And I just was patient and I let go of the outcome. 53:03 Jody Rodriguez if it's for me, it'll happen. 53:06 Jody Rodriguez But if it's not, then I don't want it. 53:08 Jody Rodriguez if it's not from God, I don't want it. 53:13 Sean Finnega Okay. 53:15 Sean Finnega So he started to notice you and came by and said, hey, I'd like to 53:23 Sean Finnega talk to you and find out what your deal is. 53:29 Sean Finnega What's your situation? 53:30 Jody Rodriguez What's your situation? 53:32 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 53:34 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, something like that. 53:37 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, we went to family camp and we ended up, he asked me to play archery. 53:44 Jody Rodriguez We went and played archery and 53:47 Jody Rodriguez you know, just laughing and talking and getting to know each other. 53:50 Jody Rodriguez And that was like in the summer. 53:52 Jody Rodriguez And then we didn't actually start talking until like December. 54:00 Jody Rodriguez So there was that whole time where, you know, it could happen then, but it just wasn't the time. 54:06 Jody Rodriguez But come December, it was our Christmas party at church and he wanted to talk with me and we talked after and 54:17 Jody Rodriguez We just said, what we were looking for and let's try to see where this goes. 54:23 Sean Finnega Yeah. 54:26 Jody Rodriguez And now we're married and we'll be celebrating our year, our year anniversary, married in September. 54:37 Sean Finnega I love how you guys decided to do the shortest engagement period ever. 54:48 Sean Finnega What was that all about? 54:51 Sean Finnega Tell us that story. 54:54 Jody Rodriguez Well, Sean, it wasn't mine, okay, because he's the man. 55:01 Jody Rodriguez So we had talked about things and we had a trip planned to Dominican Republic. 55:08 Jody Rodriguez So we had that trip planned. 55:09 Jody Rodriguez So I was assuming that that's where he was going to ask me. 55:14 Jody Rodriguez We were going to get engaged, you know? 55:17 Jody Rodriguez And then at church, he had all the kids come out with t-shirts on them that spelled out, Jody, will you be the, will you make me the happiest man and be my wife? 55:33 Sean Finnega It was like a paragraph of text written on all these little kids' shirts, one letter each. 55:40 Jody Rodriguez Yeah, it was so beautiful and so thoughtful and 55:45 Jody Rodriguez It was so it was it was it was the best because, you know, that's where we met. 55:49 Jody Rodriguez That's where it all started. 55:52 Jody Rodriguez And like, we got to celebrate with everybody there, too. 55:55 Sean Finnega Yeah. 55:56 Jody Rodriguez Because everybody, some people will not. 56:00 Jody Rodriguez I guess everybody could see us together, but it wasn't the time, you know? 56:07 Jody Rodriguez And then I had said, hey, well, I thought we were going to get 56:12 Jody Rodriguez engaged in Dominican Republic. 56:14 Jody Rodriguez And he goes, no, we're gonna get married. 56:16 Jody Rodriguez And I was like, oh, okay. 56:19 Jody Rodriguez All right, so we're gonna get married. 56:22 Jody Rodriguez And it was three weeks later, we got married. 56:25 Sean Finnega Yeah. 56:25 Sean Finnega So engaged and then married within three weeks. 56:29 Sean Finnega Go to another country, get it done, come home. 56:31 Sean Finnega Hey, we're married now. 56:34 Sean Finnega I love that because it's just so typical for people to spend a fortune and go into debt 56:41 Sean Finnega and do these elaborate weddings where you have to rent this and hire that. 56:47 Sean Finnega And that's like so the American standard, but your husband is from the Dominican Republic. 56:53 Sean Finnega So he has different cultural expectations and different norms. 56:58 Sean Finnega And I don't know, I just think it's really cool, a really cool way to do it. 57:04 Sean Finnega So what would you say looking back? 57:06 Sean Finnega And then we should also mention that he had 57:11 Sean Finnega two children already that are now, kind of fulfilling your desire of having children, right? 57:20 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 57:20 Sean Finnega So like you went to like instant family. 57:24 Jody Rodriguez Yes. 57:26 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 57:26 Sean Finnega If you were single, then you had a husband and two kids. 57:30 Sean Finnega So 57:33 Sean Finnega What else would you say about your journey and specifically about your faith and how God brought you through? 57:51 Jody Rodriguez I truly believe that I hate saying things happen for a reason or 58:02 Jody Rodriguez I hate I don't really like saying that but I do believe that life happens and we're in situations and we meet people and really try to embrace and try to learn you know why you're in why you are where you're at you know and try to embrace everything you know 58:31 Jody Rodriguez I came to Living Hope because I talked to the sister and she just mentioned to come there and I came. 58:39 Jody Rodriguez And so I would come to Living Hope, but I didn't know a lot of people and the sister ended up getting pregnant. 58:46 Jody Rodriguez And so I ended up, I offered to throw her a baby shower, which I had no idea what I was doing 'cause I never did it before. 58:54 Jody Rodriguez But I was like, we'll do it, we'll figure this out. 58:57 Jody Rodriguez And Miss Ruth, your wife, she and I did it together. 59:03 Jody Rodriguez And we grew close. 59:07 Jody Rodriguez And it was a beautiful, beautiful experience. 59:14 Jody Rodriguez And I'm so grateful. 59:15 Jody Rodriguez During the time, I was really, really, really stressed. 59:20 Jody Rodriguez But looking back, it was exactly what 59:23 Jody Rodriguez God had intended it to be, because right after that is when I started coming to the fellowship on Wednesday nights at your house. 59:31 Jody Rodriguez And I'm not sure if I would have came that soon if I didn't meet your wife and connect with her on that level. 59:40 Jody Rodriguez So really just trying to put yourself out there, even if you're scared, even if you don't know anybody, really 59:54 Jody Rodriguez you know, we grow or what I've learned is like I grow when I'm not comfortable now when I'm doing the things that I'm fearful of. 1:00:03 Jody Rodriguez You know, if I continue to just continue to do the same things, that's what I'm going to get. 1:00:10 Jody Rodriguez So I have to really continue to push myself and just put myself out there to grow. 1:00:16 Jody Rodriguez And, you know, I've learned so much and 1:00:22 Jody Rodriguez um, just being a part of Living Hope and being a part of the family and my walk with God has, um, you know, sometimes I, you know, life is so busy, but you know, when I'm so when I slow down and, um, I'm like and so in awe of 1:00:50 Jody Rodriguez of God and what he continues to do in my life. 1:00:53 Jody Rodriguez Cause like the impossible was to marry Adonis. 1:00:57 Jody Rodriguez I wasn't even thinking that. 1:00:59 Jody Rodriguez I just like, I just wanted to date him. 1:01:01 Jody Rodriguez I just wanted to date. 1:01:02 Jody Rodriguez I just wanted him to notice me. 1:01:03 Jody Rodriguez And here I am married with two kids in an amazing relationship and marriage. 1:01:11 Sean Finnega Yeah. 1:01:12 Sean Finnega And you have freedom from drugs and substances and booze and 1:01:19 Sean Finnega these old behaviors. 1:01:21 Sean Finnega I mean, it's incredible if we contrast where you were in your teens and your 20s and even your 30s to where you are now. 1:01:31 Sean Finnega Someone would say, how is it possible that you could be the same person? 1:01:37 Sean Finnega Right? 1:01:37 Sean Finnega Because you went from, just 1:01:43 Sean Finnega being stuck in this negative cycle of using these substances and chasing these men who did not treat you well, did not lead you to God, did not lead you in a committed relationship, like marriage, to being in a place where you are now, you recognize your identity as a child of God, as somebody who believes in the Son of God and that 1:02:12 Sean Finnega he died for your sins and he's coming back and all this. 1:02:15 Sean Finnega And now part of a family of God, but also having your own, it's just so, it's such a stark contrast between the two. 1:02:26 Sean Finnega But how it happened was, like you said earlier, you just took the next step. 1:02:33 Sean Finnega You did the next right thing and you remained open to change over time. 1:02:40 Sean Finnega You know what I mean? 1:02:40 Sean Finnega Because your story's not like, boom, one day you totally changed and everything was different. 1:02:47 Sean Finnega It was just like a lot of turns and then U-turns, then come back, try another way, right? 1:02:56 Sean Finnega And there's a lot of, I think, persistence, but a lot of openness to say, okay, well, let's try this. 1:03:03 Sean Finnega Let's see how this goes. 1:03:08 Sean Finnega What would you say to somebody who is where you were before? 1:03:12 Sean Finnega Like you work now with a lot of people who were or who are struggling with addiction. 1:03:20 Sean Finnega Like what do you say to them when they feel frustrated? 1:03:24 Sean Finnega Like I can't get out of this. 1:03:25 Sean Finnega I can't get this monkey off my back. 1:03:33 Jody Rodriguez You know, 1:03:35 Jody Rodriguez I really just try to stay in the present moment with them. 1:03:40 Jody Rodriguez You know, I've learned to just try to keep myself where my feet are right now. 1:03:47 Jody Rodriguez You know, we try to want to change everything in our life in just like a second, and that's just not possible. 1:03:55 Jody Rodriguez So I really tried to bring them back to like just right here, right now. 1:03:58 Jody Rodriguez And what can we do right here, right now? 1:04:03 Jody Rodriguez I always share with them what worked for me and getting them connected in the recovery community, getting connected to outpatient and building a support network. 1:04:18 Jody Rodriguez Learning to be able to pick up the phone when you're having a rough time, if you want to hurt yourself, if you want to use, if you have negative thoughts and picking up and calling someone and telling someone. 1:04:33 Jody Rodriguez And that really learning to pause and not act on a feeling or an emotion. 1:04:45 Jody Rodriguez You know, just because we want to do something right now doesn't mean that we have to. 1:04:51 Jody Rodriguez You know, like in early recovery, you know, I had thoughts of, you know, drinking. 1:04:56 Jody Rodriguez And what I was taught is like, just tell myself not today, tomorrow. 1:05:00 Jody Rodriguez And by tomorrow, 1:05:01 Jody Rodriguez the thought would be gone. 1:05:04 Jody Rodriguez So it's just about rewiring our brains differently. 1:05:09 Jody Rodriguez So just because I have, the uses of drugs and alcohol is just a symptom of the disease. 1:05:17 Jody Rodriguez I hate to call it a disease, but that's what it is. 1:05:21 Jody Rodriguez So it's our thinking. 1:05:23 Jody Rodriguez So I have to learn how to, I had to change my thinking, how I process things. 1:05:28 Jody Rodriguez And it's a daily thing. 1:05:29 Jody Rodriguez I mean, I'm still doing it. 1:05:31 Jody Rodriguez I have to learn, you know, how to talk positively to myself instead of negative. 1:05:41 Jody Rodriguez A lot of people are surrounded by people, places and things, and it's chaotic. 1:05:45 Jody Rodriguez So just like the only thing I knew how to do was like escape and use and, you know, if I... 1:05:53 Jody Rodriguez didn't get myself out of there. 1:05:55 Jody Rodriguez Well, if God didn't get me out of there, I probably would still be there. 1:05:59 Jody Rodriguez So I really just connect people to recovery programs. 1:06:03 Jody Rodriguez I try to be an encourager. 1:06:06 Jody Rodriguez I help them to I give hope to them. 1:06:11 Jody Rodriguez You know, I share a little bit about my my story and where I'm at now. 1:06:15 Jody Rodriguez And it gives people hope because I mean, 1:06:19 Jody Rodriguez I don't look like I used to. 1:06:22 Jody Rodriguez My story doesn't look like I used to or did what I did. 1:06:28 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 1:06:29 Jody Rodriguez And, you know, and the thing, too, is like I'm alive. 1:06:33 Jody Rodriguez You know, a lot of people are not alive. 1:06:35 Jody Rodriguez A lot of people didn't make it. 1:06:37 Jody Rodriguez And I got an amazing I mean, beyond an amazing gift. 1:06:44 Jody Rodriguez I really just encourage them and just share what worked for me and just kind of stay in contact with them. 1:06:51 Jody Rodriguez people need a hand to, go through, go through the stuff with them. 1:06:58 Jody Rodriguez Yeah. 1:06:59 Sean Finnega All right. 1:07:00 Sean Finnega Well, hey, thanks so much for talking with me today. 1:07:02 Sean Finnega I appreciate your time. 1:07:04 Jody Rodriguez Yes, thank you so much, John. 1:07:05 Jody Rodriguez I appreciate it. 1:07:10 Sean Finnega That brings this interview to a close. 1:07:12 Sean Finnega What did you think? 1:07:13 Sean Finnega Come on over to restitudio.org. 1:07:15 Sean Finnega That's like the word restitution with no N. 1:07:18 Sean Finnega restitudio.org. 1:07:19 Sean Finnega Find episode 668, How I Got Clean from Heroin and Found God with Jody Rodriguez and leave your comments, questions and feedback there. 1:07:28 Sean Finnega Now this rounds out a three-part series of life transformations with stories from Jeremy Martin, Mina Hacker and Jody Rodriguez. 1:07:39 Sean Finnega In each case, we see how God brought someone out of their difficulty, out of their suffering and into his light and into healing. 1:07:50 Sean Finnega And this God, I believe, is still at work today. 1:07:55 Sean Finnega These are modern stories. 1:07:56 Sean Finnega These are not ancient stories. 1:07:58 Sean Finnega And I believe that they can encourage you to reach out to somebody in need. 1:08:03 Sean Finnega Now, if this episode about drug use and 1:08:07 Sean Finnega these kind of toxic romantic relationships that Jody had really you think would be helpful for someone to hear, please share this episode with them so that others can hear of what can happen if you take the right steps to get free. 1:08:24 Sean Finnega And speaking for Jody, I'm sure that this is really her heart as well is to help people with her story. 1:08:31 Sean Finnega And I think that came through in the interview. 1:08:34 Sean Finnega And if you would like to meet Jody or Mina, may I encourage you to sign up for our Kingdom Fest. 1:08:41 Sean Finnega We're having a weekend event at our church here in Latham, New York called Kingdom Fest. 1:08:48 Sean Finnega We have it each year. 1:08:48 Sean Finnega It's our big end of the summer, beginning of the fall festival where we rent out a huge tent for where we can do food. 1:08:59 Sean Finnega in one of our parking lots and we really seek to pack out the house with people locally, but also who are visiting from afar. 1:09:09 Sean Finnega And in fact, Jeremy Martin came last year to Kingdom Fest and that's how I heard his story. 1:09:15 Sean Finnega I don't know that he has any plans to come back this year. 1:09:17 Sean Finnega So if he does, then you could meet the trifecta, all three. 1:09:21 Sean Finnega But if you are interested, the event runs Friday through Sunday, September 18th to the 20th. 1:09:28 Sean Finnega It starts in the evening Friday, runs all day Saturday, and then concludes Sunday with lunch. 1:09:34 Sean Finnega It's an event that includes preaching, really incredible worship music, and some opportunities for service. 1:09:43 Sean Finnega On Saturday, we do an afternoon service project. 1:09:45 Sean Finnega So if you are interested in coming to Kingdom Fest, meeting some of these folks, meeting me, then 1:09:51 Sean Finnega Why not sign up? 1:09:52 Sean Finnega Why not come over to the registration, which is up on LHIM.org. 1:09:58 Sean Finnega That stands for Living Hope International Ministries, LHIM.org. 1:10:03 Sean Finnega Come over there and you'll see on the homepage that under featured events, it says Love Never Fails. 1:10:08 Sean Finnega That's going to be the theme for the weekend. 1:10:11 Sean Finnega So I hope some of you will come and I look forward to meeting you at this event. 1:10:17 Sean Finnega Food is optional. 1:10:19 Sean Finnega There's a meal plan that you can get. 1:10:21 Sean Finnega Otherwise, the cost is incredibly low. 1:10:26 Sean Finnega I think it's 20 bucks for adults and children under 18 years old are free. 1:10:31 Sean Finnega And then if you want to get a meal plan, it's 45 bucks per person if you want the meal plan. 1:10:35 Sean Finnega But that's obviously, like I said, optional. 1:10:37 Sean Finnega So hope to see some of you there. 1:10:40 Sean Finnega Well, that's going to be it for this week. 1:10:42 Sean Finnega Coming up next week, we have an episode with Sam Tiedemann 1:10:47 Sean Finnega Should Christians use artificial intelligence? 1:10:50 Sean Finnega Or maybe I'll call it, how should Christians use AI? 1:10:54 Sean Finnega Because I think most of us are using it. 1:10:57 Sean Finnega The question is, it using us too? 1:10:59 Sean Finnega And if so, how? 1:11:01 Sean Finnega And is that good or bad? 1:11:03 Sean Finnega And as it turns out, Sam Tiedemann is a Google employee and somebody who has a lot of knowledge about artificial intelligence. 1:11:11 Sean Finnega So 1:11:12 Sean Finnega Stay tuned for that next week. 1:11:13 Sean Finnega If you'd like to support the show, you can do that at restitudio.org. 1:11:18 Sean Finnega Thanks everyone for tuning in and remember the truth has nothing to fear.