My name is Russell and my life journey has included addiction, trauma, and loss. At 14 years of age, I entered into a life of drugs and alcohol that lasted 24 years. What I thought was a fun, party lifestyle was actually a spiral into emptiness and darkness. My daughter and my son did not have a dad that was emotionally and sometimes physically present for many years. I carried guilt and shame as a result of that for many years as well.

 

I began my sobriety and started attending a Celebrate Recovery group in March of 2003 and asked Jesus Christ into my heart to be The Lord and Savior of my life a few weeks later on Easter Sunday. Two and a half years into my sobriety, I was the recipient of a violent home invasion where I was struck on my head with a tire iron, tied up and put on the floor with a pillowcase over my head. I thought that I was going to die that night, but God had other plans.

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I became a Chaplain In 2017, planted a Celebrate Recovery in 2023, graduated from a Mental Health Coaching course and was in the process of planting a church that was set to open on September 14th, 2024. Three weeks before the launch of the church, I experienced every parent's worst nightmare, the loss of a child. I lost my son Jeremy to suicide in August of 2024. It's a depth of pain that no one can relate to unless they have experienced it themselves. My wife and I still planted the church.

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I don't believe the emptiness from the loss of my son will ever heal but I have experienced something very real and very powerful through this; God’s peace entering into my pain.

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Through Philippians 4:7 Mental Wellness Coaching, I want to use my personal experiences as well as what God has been equipping me with through Chaplaincy over the past 9 years and the Mental Health Coaching Courses to relate to and  walk with others through their grief, trauma, addiction recovery, and emotional pain so they can experience this same peace.  You don't have to walk through your pain alone! If you're ready to take the next step, I would be honored to walk alongside you through this part of your journey.