From Little League to Prison Gates | Paul Mathews' Battle with Addiction

Normal life to Chad Christofferson was anything but normal. His mom was addicted to Meth. He had 9 siblings. His uncle provided his mom meth and on and on and on. Jumped into his gang in his own front yard, his was a life of drugs and crime and violence. Sentenced to 6 yrs to life, his first years in prison were more of the same, gangs and violence. However, he left the drugs behind. He tells his story of finally leaving his gang and the problems that both created and solved. Then thanks to a fellow inmate, he starts working in prison and moves from one job to another gaining valuable work experience and for the first time feeling what it was like to work and feel good about the prospects of another day. Finally, he tells the experience of when his victims mother comes to see him in prison and the feeling in his heart when she said she forgave him. Chad tells an amazing story of transition and change and redemption.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) Chad Christoferson

(00:00:34) Sponsors: The Other Side Academy, Peaceful Prisons Project & My Story Matters

(00:01:21) Introduction

(00:02:39) Early Life

(00:07:01) Early Influences

(00:10:03) Family Drug Use

(00:12:09) Kicked Out of 12th Grade

(00:14:33) Homicide

(00:17:15) His Prison Experience

(00:31:51) Working Up

(00:43:37) The Victim’s Mother

(00:46:53) Change is Hard

(00:54:11) Employment

(00:59:58) Advice for Others

“Even one person forgiving me for something like that is huge, especially being his mother, ya know?... That’s another reason why I want to better myself and thrive in life and show people that it can be done… She needs to see me doing this...?”

James Deluna's parents split when he was two years old, and in spite of their divorce, he actually did very well for himself in school, in his social circles, and in life in general. That all changed when he was 14, his dad remarried his mom, and James was inexplicably kicked out of his parents' house. He started to question his religious belief system, turned away from and even began to hate God as time progressed. Listen as James describes the details of his chaotic life including 29 years in the system where drugs and alcohol became his new forms of worship. Then, one event changed everything for James, reigniting his spiritual beliefs and helping turn away from the drugs and alcohol that were weighing him down. His story is one of redemption and hope where even in the depths of addiction, recovery is possible.

The beginning 1:30
Time in Maryland and finding a wife 12:30
Married and struggling 19:10
Losing grandma 30:00
Going back to meth 35:00
Arrested for a meth lab 38:00
Advice to family with someone suffering with addiction 57:25

“One thing I’ve learned about life, nothing is by chance. It’s by design, and I needed to be extracted from life because I was destroying myself and I was destroying everyone around me. If I had been a cheesecake maker instead of a drug maker, my friends would have all been fat and had cheesecake around their mouth, but I wasn’t a cheesecake maker. I was somebody trying to speed up his time here upon the Earth because I didn’t want to be here. I felt that I had gone and done too much for God to want anything to do with me.” 39:15

Born to an addict mom, Savannah Bushman spent her early life living with her aunt and uncle and in spite of their care, she was molested by her cousin over several years. Returning to live with her mother for a short time, she couldn’t fathom how her mom could choose drugs over her own daughter, but even so, her mom had her try meth at age 14. Savannah was immediately addicted. In and out of juvenile detention and several foster homes, she found herself in kiddie prison first, and then at age 18 in the state prison and pregnant. Listen in as she tells her story of giving birth as an inmate and being separated from her newborn son. When released from prison, she did all she could to make ends meet and to stay sober for her child. Working several jobs and unable to pay the bills, she decided to start selling drugs again without using; a stint that didn't last long. Finding herself back in jail and pregnant once again, she tells how she turned to God, something she had never been taught nor had she ever done before, and how those feelings propelled her to get out, stay clean, and do incredibly hard things to make her life work for herself and for her kids. Now 12 years clean, listen to how she is living the American dream. Hers is a powerful story of coming from nothing and with God’s help, making a great life.

Where it all began 2:20
Dating 35 year old Utah’s most wanted man at 14 years old 10:00
Using again 23:00
Pregnant again and praying for 30 straight days 26:45
It’s often a PO who cares that makes a difference 30:40
The man who was there for her 37:30

“On my 13th birthday…she was off the hook and had people there, and I was like ‘Ya know mom, I never understood why you chose drugs over your kids.’ and she’s like ‘Well soon you’ll learn. Here–’ And I smoked meth for the first time with my mother.” 7:00