“Lili, please. You need to get help.”
Lili didn’t recognize the eyes staring back at her — burning a hole through her soul . . . She was shocked. She was pained. By the cutting glares. But nothing compared to the shame she felt, when Lili finally realized that the menacing stranger glowering at her . . . was her own reflection . . . It was a moment of clarity that, I’m sure, Lili will never forget. A moment when she could finally hear the truth in her mother’s pleas — “Lili, please. You need to get help. You need help to get free. Please, Lili. I don’t even know who you are anymore . . .”
As a little girl, I don’t believe that Lili ever wished for her addiction. I don’t think she ever hoped or dreamed that she would one day be an addict. But it happened — before she even realized it was happening. It began with a single pill intended to soothe the blinding pain of a migraine. However, that single pill sent Lili on a crash course of addiction that ripped apart her relationships and every shred of her self-respect. With nowhere else to go . . . with no other options . . . and with the weight of the shame and guilt of her addiction on the verge of destroying her life . . . Lili came to Santa Barbara Rescue Mission for help — desperately hoping for a miracle.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity to be at Santa Barbara Rescue Mission,” Lili says. “The Mission has given me so many life-changing experiences. I’ve been given a great miracle . . . another chance to live and a newfound faith in God. I believe because of this program.”
Today, the old Lili is gone. And the new, transformed Lili is clean for the first time in a long time. And she’s eager to begin her brand new life — with her broken relationships now mended. And her mom . . . she couldn’t be prouder.
