Addiction took me places I never imagined I’d go — but it also became the foundation for the purpose I live today. My recovery wasn’t just about putting down a substance. It was about rebuilding my identity, learning to forgive myself, and discovering that the same failures that nearly destroyed me would one day become my greatest testimony.

Today, I serve as a Family Nurse Practitioner specializing in addiction medicine, caring for individuals and families fighting the same battles I once fought. Every patient reminds me that recovery isn’t reserved for a select few. It’s possible for anyone willing to take the next right step.

My mission goes far beyond writing prescriptions. Through my clinical work, my memoir Heroine: Decide & Conquer, and openly sharing my journey, I work to replace shame with hope and stigma with compassion. I want people to understand that addiction is not the end of their story. Healing is real. Purpose can rise from pain. And your past does not disqualify your future.

If sharing my story helps even one person choose life, ask for help, or believe they are worthy of recovery, then every difficult chapter has been redeemed.

This episode of Faith in Your Recovery features Scott Penticuf, a man candidly sharing his decades-long battle with alcoholism, the losses he endured, and the hope he’s found through faith and support at the Christian Center. Scott’s story begins with a difficult childhood in a broken family, where alcohol entered his life at age 10 and became a destructive force. Over the years, his addiction caused tangible losses, including fractured family relationships, multiple homes, and time spent incarcerated. Despite repeated setbacks, Scott’s commitment to sobriety intensified after his most recent release from prison, and his faith in God and the support structure of the Christian Center have empowered him to rebuild his life piece by piece. His journey highlights the power of accountability, perseverance, and spiritual reliance in overcoming addiction. He expresses a heartfelt desire to reconnect with his adult children and to serve others through simple acts like volunteering and, uniquely, driving a Sunday School bus for kids. His story conveys a message of hope—that it is never too late to seek recovery and renewal through faith and community.

Highlights

🙌 Early exposure to alcohol at age 10 initiated decades of struggle with addiction.

🏠 Alcoholism resulted in shattered dreams, lost homes, broken family ties, and repeated incarceration.

🙏 Faith and the Christian Center’s support provided an essential turning point toward lasting sobriety.

💬 Honest self-accountability and willingness to share his story demonstrate personal growth and healing.

❤️ Despite past wounds, Scott holds onto hope to restore relationships with his grown children. 🚍 Unique future aspiration: to drive a Sunday School bus, serving his faith community.

🌟 Emphasis on the message: It’s never too late to change and seek help with God’s guidance.

Additional Reflections

Scott’s story also sheds light on the systemic gaps that addicts often encounter—such as lack of meaningful support after jail releases—and the transformative role of communities and faith-based programs that fill those gaps. It challenges stigma around shelters and recovery centers by showing them as places of hope and personal renaissance, not just last resorts. Moreover, the discussion emphasizes the importance of perseverance despite setbacks, reinforcing that recovery is a continual "battle" but one with attainable victory. His advice to others, stressing “it’s never too late,” combined with practical encouragement to find the right support group or faith path, offers a realistic and compassionate roadmap for those struggling. His candid description of addiction’s mental and emotional tolls, coupled with the ultimate message of hope, makes this conversation a compelling testament to human resilience empowered by faith.

This episode is a heartfelt testament to transformation through struggle, faith, and community support, serving as both a beacon of hope for those battling addiction and a reminder of the enduring power of love, redemption, and purpose.

In today’s episode, I share my journey through trauma, addiction, obesity, and ultimately redemption through Jesus. If you or someone you love is battling addiction, this story will give you hope, strength, and a reminder that God still restores what feels broken. I was raised by ministers, but my life took a turn I never expected. In 1994, I was stabbed 13 times, and the trauma left me battling severe PTSD. For years, I drank to escape the pain, and my life spiraled until I reached nearly 400 pounds.

But God wasn’t finished with me. Becoming a dad changed everything. I fought my way back and eventually lost 175 pounds. Five years ago, I moved to a small town where God placed a pastor in my life who became my best friend — and ultimately led me back to Jesus. Two years ago, I met the love of my life at church — a strong, faith filled woman of God who has been sober for 16 years. Today, with me now 4 years sober, we’re creating a gentle children’s book series to help kids and families who love someone struggling with addiction.

My mission is simple: To bring hope, healing, and Jesus into the homes of families battling addiction — and to remind kids that they are loved, seen, and never alone.

👇 If this story encouraged you, please like, comment, and subscribe.

👇 Learn more about our children’s book series for families facing addiction.

I survived fourteen overdoses, a fentanyl addiction, and the darkest years of my life — and now I’m turning my pain into purpose. I grew up with addiction in my home, but I never imagined substance use disorder would become part of my own story. After years of untreated mental health struggles and the trauma of my 17 year old daughter nearly being murdered, I fell into a nearly six year fentanyl addiction. I used intravenously, overdosed around fourteen times, and was Narcaned more times than I can count. Eventually, the anger and exhaustion hit me so hard that I finally realized I wanted help — and I wanted to live.

Recovery took multiple detoxes, rehab stays, and legal consequences. But one obstacle followed me every time: finding someone to care for my dog while I was in treatment. I couldn’t focus on healing because I was terrified of losing her. That struggle became my mission. Today, I’m rebuilding my life and launching Pawsitive Recovery Pet Care Inc., a nonprofit that keeps people’s pets safe while they receive life saving treatment for substance use and mental health. No one should have to choose between getting help and protecting their fur baby. This is my testimony — my survival story — and the heart behind the nonprofit that grew out of my darkest moments.

Recovery is real. Hope is real. And your story isn’t over.

I should’ve died an addict… but Jesus met me in a jail cell and gave me a life I never thought I’d have. For more than 30 years, addiction owned every part of my life. Meth, heroin, and fentanyl dragged me into places I never thought I’d go — homelessness, jail cells, overdoses, and a level of loneliness that convinced me I was beyond saving. Every promise I made to quit was broken. I truly believed I would die an addict.

Everything changed on March 11, 2021, inside a holding cell at the Rankin County Jail. In my darkest moment, Jesus Christ met me and completely transformed my life. God didn’t help me manage addiction — He delivered me from it. Today, through Black Sheep Recovery Warfare, I share my story to remind people that no one is too far gone. If He could save me after three decades of addiction, He can save anyone willing to surrender.

I never thought my story was worth telling. My addiction didn’t start with anything dramatic — just dabbling, partying, trying to fit in, trying to escape feelings I didn’t understand. I thought I was alone; I was different. The only one like me. I had plenty of chances to walk away, but I kept numbing myself and building an identity in the drug world. Before I knew it, I was addicted — trapped in an underground life that pulled me further from reality. What I thought I wanted became the very thing destroying me.

I grew up bullied, never fitting in, so when the darkness accepted me, I embraced it. That’s when it got truly evil. I wasn’t the sweet kid my family raised anymore. I was hardened, angry, spiritually controlled by the life I chose. For almost 20 years, I lived in a battle of good versus evil, light versus darkness. These drugs don’t just take your time — they take your soul. But you can overcome it. And you don’t have to do it alone.

Find your people. Find your crew. Your breakthrough is out there.

I didn’t turn to addiction because I was weak — I turned to it because I was hurting and didn’t know how else to survive.

My addiction wasn’t just about substances. It was about trying to escape pain I never had the tools to understand. What started as a way to numb childhood trauma, instability, and emotional chaos slowly became survival mode. The relief didn’t last. Addiction took my peace, my relationships, my identity, and my ability to imagine a future. I lost trust in myself and lived in cycles of shame, regret, and isolation, constantly trying to outrun something living inside my own mind.

My recovery began when I finally faced the truth of the damage and became willing to try something different — even when I wasn’t sure it would work. Healing has been slow and intentional: learning accountability, confronting the trauma I used to avoid, choosing support over isolation, and leaning into faith when control wasn’t possible.

I’m not the same woman I was in active addiction. I’m still healing, still growing, and still learning — but today I’m building a life rooted in clarity, stability, purpose, and surrender instead of escape. In June 2025, I published my debut memoir The Girl Who Named the Fire: A Memoir of Fire, Survival, and Becoming, and my second book, A Hundred Dollar Bill and a Blue Pill: From Dope Sick to Hope Filled, is already on its way — both written to help others find hope, healing, and redemption.

Part 2

He went from fighting addiction in the courtroom to fighting for redemption in the church. Brett Knight is a criminal defense attorney turned recovery pastor who has seen addiction destroy lives from both sides of the system — and he’s made it his mission to help people find accountability, healing, and real second chances. As the Amazon #1 New Release author of From the Gavel to Grace, Brett brings a raw, unfiltered look at the collision of faith, recovery, and the criminal justice system.

For years, he’s walked with individuals and families through the chaos of addiction, the weight of legal consequences, and the hope of restoration. His perspective is rare — a man who understands the courtroom, the church, and the trenches of recovery.

In this conversation, Brett breaks down:

• What actually works in addiction recovery

• How families can support without enabling

• Why faith-based recovery changes outcomes

• The truth about criminal justice reform

• Why second chances matter more than ever

• The story behind From the Gavel to Grace

If you’re looking for a bold, faith-filled, truth-telling conversation about redemption, this episode delivers.

https://brettknight.com/

Part 1

He went from fighting addiction in the courtroom to fighting for redemption in the church. Brett Knight is a criminal defense attorney turned recovery pastor who has seen addiction destroy lives from both sides of the system — and he’s made it his mission to help people find accountability, healing, and real second chances. As the Amazon #1 New Release author of From the Gavel to Grace, Brett brings a raw, unfiltered look at the collision of faith, recovery, and the criminal justice system.

For years, he’s walked with individuals and families through the chaos of addiction, the weight of legal consequences, and the hope of restoration. His perspective is rare — a man who understands the courtroom, the church, and the trenches of recovery.

In this conversation, Brett breaks down:

• What actually works in addiction recovery

• How families can support without enabling

• Why faith-based recovery changes outcomes

• The truth about criminal justice reform

• Why second chances matter more than ever

• The story behind From the Gavel to Grace

If you’re looking for a bold, faith-filled, truth-telling conversation about redemption, this episode delivers.

https://brettknight.com/

From gang life, addiction, and 18 years in and out of prison, Brian LeCroy’s world was ruled by violence, drugs, and the identity he built inside the gang. After facing a possible 40‑year sentence, he broke down in solitary confinement—crying out to God for the first time in his life. In his darkest moment, he felt the weight of his choices, the pain he caused his family, and the hopelessness of a life he believed was beyond repair. But God met him there. Through constant prayer, a miraculous legal turnaround, and a supernatural shift in his heart, Brian began to feel something he had never known: conviction, peace, and the desire to change. After release, he traveled to the New Orleans Mission, where he encountered genuine joy, discipleship, and the transforming power of Jesus Christ. As he dove into Scripture, God opened his understanding—lifting shame, restoring his family, and giving him a new purpose. Today, Brian is a prison minister and street evangelist, sharing the hope that saved him. His story is living proof that no one is too far gone for God’s grace, mercy, and redemption.