Leaning on God
By Ruth Schenk | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Wendy Carpenter was waiting on tables at Steak 'n Shake when someone said, “You’re Wendy! I know you!”
Wendy lit up like a light bulb with those five words.
Being known simply as Wendy, a member of Southeast’s Indiana Campus, means everything.
For the first time in 20 years, it’s not “Wendy, the black sheep,” not “Wendy, the addict” or “Wendy, the ex-con.” It’s simply, “Wendy.”
She doesn’t hide her past. But it’s behind her now.
A dangerous path
Wendy Carpenter had lost everything that mattered when she walked through the front doors of Southeast’s Indiana Campus in August 2010.
She asked for food, but knew she needed so much more. Addiction had destroyed everything good in her life, and she had no idea how to save herself.
Wendy traces addiction to an inner ache she could never fill after the death of her mother on Good Friday, 1990.
Life spiraled out of control as she turned to drugs to numb her pain.
Wendy walked away from her husband and two daughters. She was arrested in 1999 and sentenced to three years in a federal prison.
“In a sense, that saved my life,” Wendy said. “It was the beginning of seeking God, though I didn’t know how to follow Him.”
In prison, another inmate handed her a Bible and told her to read it. Wendy held that Bible up and let it fall open to whatever chapter and verse. The first verse Wendy saw
was already highlighted. It was Hebrews 12, a chapter about faith and discipline, which already had been highlighted by another reader.
Wendy believed God let her go to prison to discipline her and save her life. She continued to read a Bible, signed up for some Bible studies and earned a stack of graduation
certificates.
“They talk a lot about jailhouse faith,” Wendy said. “But I did try to take it out of prison with me.”
Her father and stepmother, Charlie and Linda Heck, helped Wendy get on her feet when she was released.
She held steady for a while, working at Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and paying her own bills. Life seemed better than ever when Wendy married her second husband,
Chris, in 2004.
But Wendy’s world spiraled downward once again after a doctor prescribed pain medication for a gall bladder infection, and she slipped back into addiction. This time, she
trolled the streets for meds and stole money that Chris set aside for rent and utilities.
“If I didn’t have the drugs, I felt like I had the flu,” Wendy said. “Before long, I needed $100 a day to get by.”
The couple teetered on divorce as the bank repossessed their car.
Losing their home was the last straw.
One afternoon after work, Chris noticed that Wendy was especially antsy, pacing back and forth in their townhouse. He knew something was terribly wrong. About 3:30 p.m.,
Wendy told him that they were being evicted in an hour. Chris left with his 9-year-old son to go to his mother’s house while Wendy moved into a motel with her two cats and
three dogs.
“That day, I lost my home, my husband, everything,” Wendy said.
In her job as an administrative assistant at the Indiana Campus, Camille Keller often talks with people who come to the church for help.
“So many come in with the saddest stories,” she said. “When Wendy came, I explained the resources that are available and prayed with her. When I went to hug her, it
seemed like she held on for dear life.”
Finding freedom
From then on, Wendy stopped at the campus often to pray with Keller. This time, she knew she could not overcome addiction without God’s help.
“It was the same old thing with me,” Wendy said. “I couldn’t do anything right. For a while, I prayed to die every day. Nobody wanted me.”
Often Wendy doubted that even God wanted her. When she stopped at the Indiana Campus to pray, Keller assured her that God did love her and has a plan for her life.
Wendy went off methadone, realizing that she was addicted to it as much as other drugs. It cost $13 a day, which was money she didn’t have to spend. Getting totally drug
free was a battle, but one that Wendy knew was vital to survival.
The more she was at the campus, the more people recognized Wendy. She began to feel that she belonged and that people cared.
On Oct. 10, 2010, Wendy joined the church and was baptized by her father, Southeast member Charlie Heck.
“I was glad to baptize Wendy,” he said. “I pray that it is the beginning of a new life for her.”
Chris began to see Wendy change, and the couple got back together last February. When things are tough, they sometimes stop at the Indiana Campus to ask someone to
pray with them.
Wendy is proud of her job as a waitress at Steak ‘n Shake, where she often waits on Bible study groups from the Indiana Campus. She and Chris are working together to pay
their bills and save a little to get on their feet once again.
On Mother’s Day a few weeks ago, Wendy received cards from her daughters, who now are in college. That was a major breakthrough for her.
“They’ve forgiven me,” Wendy said. “I just can’t forgive myself.”
Wendy has an answer for those who doubt that God exists or cares.
“God saved my life,” she said. “I know He’s there. I’m living proof.”
Wendy said that being part of the Indiana Campus means more to her than anyone knows.
“People here know my name,” she said. “I belong here.”