BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

The following year his children brought home a stomach virus which swept through the whole family. After being sick at his stomach for hours, when the nausea stopped, Edgar tiptoed to the basement and drank a whole bottle of wine. Looking at the empty bottle in his hand he thought, This isn’t normal. A Time to Stop “In 2001 I quit drinking. My wife and I divorced in 2005, and I still didn’t drink for the next five years. While I was sober, I started dating Leigh, a wonderful woman who didn’t know I’d ever had a problem with alcohol. In 2007 we married. The year before, in 2006, my father called and told me that my mother had been diagnosed with leukemia. “I didn’t know how to cope with my mother’s illness. All I knew was that I needed a drink. I didn’t want to get back into drinking all the time. I just needed something to help me through the situation. I decided it would be OK to sip a wine spritzer. I ended up drinking the whole bottle of wine. “For an alcoholic, one drink is too many and 12 aren’t enough. I realized I could go years without a drink but when I took that first sip, it was over. Once again I found myself drinking to excess. Leigh knew I was drinking but she had no idea how much. She didn’t drink, but she never harped at me. Alcoholics believe that nothing about our situations are our fault. And we’re never wrong. So nagging wouldn’t have changed anything. “I consumed so many empty calories that I began packing on weight. My blood pressure was high. My cholesterol soared to 325. My triglycerides were high. My health was suffering.” Divine Appointments “George Pearsons knew one of my clients and somewhere around 2008, he hired me to design a custom suit for Jeremy. Afterward, I flew to Texas to do the fitting at KCM. While I was there, I met Kenneth Copeland in his aviation office. I started making suits for him, and knowing Kenneth made me get more serious about my faith. He taught me a lot of things.” The tinkling of fine crystal, the murmur of conversation and the scent of delicious food assailed Edgar’s senses as he sat in a restaurant having dinner with friends. The cocktail in his hand gave him the euphoric buzz he craved. The waiter placed a hot dish of food in front of him. Picking up his fork, Edgar noticed a tremor in his hand. In a moment of clarity he realized that his drinking was affecting his central nervous system. Motioning to the waiter he said, “Bring me another drink.” Edgar’s plan was to drink more to make the tremor stop. His plan didn’t work. The week of Thanksgiving 2009, Edgar flew to Los Angeles for a fitting with a client. By now he was drinking his breakfast. Returning to his hotel room that evening, he fell to his knees and cried out to God. “God, I need Your help! This stuff is killing me! If You get me off of it, I’ll never touch it again. I don’t know what You’re going to do, but I need to quit permanently.” Two days later on his flight home, Edgar drank 10 of the little two-ounce bottles of vodka, neat. Back home, he had drinks with dinner. Afterward he and a friend went to a bar. Later they left that bar and went to another. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *****ADVERTISEMENT***** Through our Partners we impact lives. Partner with us today! kcm.org/partner 1-800-600-7395 (U.S. only) +1-817-852-6000 ********************************* BVOV : 13

• Cover