Wilson 1 Kelsey Wilson English Composition 1 Mr.

Harrell 4 November 2013 Glory To God He Set Her Free Reverend Doctor Vicki Hillman-Breckner is quite a tongue twister, isnt it? She is a wonderful woman with pure white hair, a bright smile, and is 67 years old. With such a big title to live up to, it took her about eight years of school and thirty three years of pastoral ministries to reach this outstanding title. She has ministered to prisons, over seven churches, to students in her previous college classes, and volunteered at many different sites. Pastor Vickis journey was not always a walk in the park as many seem to think, based on her confidence when she speaks of the Lord. When she was twenty-four years old she struggled with consuming alcohol and drugs. Ultimately, the drugs and alcohol she was consuming were prevalent for a time, but then her life drastically changed for the better through Jesus Christ, ending the majority of her struggles that have made her into the strong-willed woman she is today. Pastor Vicki retired recently over the summer, so I wasnt sure whether to call her by pastor or just by her name. After we got over that little bump, she started off by enthusiastically informing me that her parents were good, not exactly rich, people and worked their hardest every day to make their six children understand the importance of family. Pastor Vicki started to smile then stated, We had never got really any allowance, but our parents did teach us one thing and that was a good work ethic, which has been very instrumental to me in life. This showed to me as soon as she came into my life. My first impression as I met her was that she was a very

Wilson 2 confident, hardworking, and blue-collared type person. My father has rubbed off on me this same way. I can barely live with one sister. I cant even begin to imagine what it was like to live with five other siblings in a three bedroom, one bathroom house; nevertheless, this was Pastor Vickis reality. She quickly said that not once did another sibling get more attention than she did, so she never blamed her family for her course of action with drugs. Actually, she told me, In those days Kelsey, it was different, the kids didnt run the house. The parents ran the house and all things were centered towards family, it wasnt just about the kids. She started talking about how her family never really went to church, which caught me off guard. I guess I just assumed she had always been around church and religion because she is so religious. Pastor Vicki told me that the first church she can remember going to was a Lutheran church, but she went with her friends. Her parents were people who never really talked about religion, hardly ever went to church, but considered themselves christians. No one would believe it now, but she said, I believed in God and in Jesus, but I wasnt really sure how to start a personal relationship with Christ and those two aspects are not the same thing. After talking about religion and how she wasnt much affiliated with it made the idea of drugs in her life less radical. When Pastor Vicki first started using drugs, she was a twenty four year old single mom, living in an apartment with two young children; having recently gone through a divorce for reasons that were beyond her control. I got the impression that she was not very proud of having this marriage in the first place because she beat around the bush and got fidgety. After going through the divorce, she had to step it up a notch and get a job. While she was working, she was trying to go to school and keep up with her education, trying to be strong for her children.

Wilson 3 Pastor Vicki told me that at the time, she was working at a figure salon in Wadsworth. She went on saying, You wouldnt know it now, the pounds just seemed to keep adding on! After my first kid, I never really lost too much of the weight I gained from pregnancy until I started going to the gym. I wasnt too fat, but I was fat enough to where I was uncomfortable with myself. The gym helped me get back into a comfortable state and for me that was skinny. Around this time, a young girl about the same age as me, came into the salon one day and told me I looked tired. And I was, way past my limit probably. I told her I was very tired and had a lot going on right now. The girl then told me to take one of the drugs she was using and the information of the doctor she was getting them from. This girl said youll be feeling fine in no time. I never got her name either because this was the only time I saw her. The pill that I started to take was a pill that was used for people who were overweight. When I was young, I was thin and always had been other than the short period after my pregnancy. Even though I was not overweight enough for the pills, the doctor gave me the prescription anyway. The doctor that gave me the pills is now facing major charges. After the girl had shown up unexpectedly in the salon, Pastor Vicki started using the drugs. Pastor Vicki is a strong willed person and always had been, but when she needed help the most she never went and looked! Therefore, she kept it from her family because they would have helped her as much as possible and would have got her more help if needed. She said, I was usually staying away from the drugs when I knew I was going to be around my family. My family would never be able to tell what the symptoms were because drugs were not something that was an everyday aspect of our life. I hid them well and didnt run into much conflict with the

Wilson 4 drugs and my family life intertwining. I was beginning to wonder at this point how she decided to stop doing drugs because it didnt sound like she was having too much trouble with them. When I took the drugs, I got a little high, just like a buzz from alcohol. I was able to get a lot of work done with the help of these pills. I didnt really sleep because of this, didnt eat and like everything else, the drugs eventually stopped working. Your body becomes immune and you end up taking more and stronger doses. Its just how it goes, its a trap. I was one of the many victims that fell into this cycle. As most people very well know, drugs cause many health issues depending on the dosage and individual. I had my fair share of these also. Pastor Vicki said she couldnt hold a thought in her head. Sometimes when I was driving, I would black out and didnt know where I was or where I was going. I was very concerned about this. She told me that not too many people knew except perhaps the doctor she was obtaining the drugs from. This idea was ideal for her because she didnt want attention drawn to her, anyone to worry about her, or to get in trouble. She concluded with, If you know what to say in the world today, you can get just about anything you want. Even though Pastor Vicki was taking drugs, little did she know that in a short amount of time she would get exactly what her heart needed and secretly wanted. It was not in the form of a drug. The best part about hearing this story was when she found Jesus, which was what her heart needed. One day when I was walking around campus at Kent State University, I unexpectedly passed out because my body had enough of the pills I was continuously consuming. I probably took at least three a day after using them for almost two years, and the bottle read to only take one every other day. The next thing I knew, I was awake in the hospital.

Wilson 5 I always carried my Bible with me. Didnt understand it, but I always carried it with me. Somehow I knew that in my heart of hearts, that Jesus was the answer. As you know I never had a personal relationship with Christ. But when I woke up in that hospital, it was my first heart to heart connection with Christ. After that it was immediate when I asked Christ into my life, into my heart and he took away my sins. When I say immediate I mean the day of I talked to my Christian friend about Jesus and started attending church that upcoming Sunday. The drugs and alcohol went with it, just like that. After she had come to know Christ and snapped out of her unhealthy lifestyle, she went to school for about eight years. After those eight years she started her journey as a minister. Along the way to her amazing thirty three years she has done many amazing things for the name of Christ. This is when she ministered about Christ by pastoring in jails and other churches, opened two different food pantries, has served a big part in womens ministries, and has fostered many different children with her husband she met when she was twenty-nine. When I was at her retirement ceremony a couple months ago, I could definitely tell she has helped a lot of people in the past. One girl with blonde hair named Beth came up to Pastor Vicki and she started crying. Pastor Vicki and Beth started together on the road towards Christ and now that Pastor Vicki was done ministering it upset Beth like many others including myself. Pastor Vicki chose to retire after thirty-three years of outstanding ministry works. Coincidentally, Jesus was thirty-three years old when He willingly went to the cross for our sins. Out of no where, Pastor Vicki started singing, Once like a bird in prison, I dwelt no freedom from my sorrow. I felt then Jesus come and listen to me and glory to God he set me free. He set me free, He set me free. He broke the bonds of prison for me, on Glory bound, my Jesus to see. These lyrics describe the most important part of her life. Pastor Vicki has truly been touched by

Wilson 6 the hand of God, never having been to any AA meetings for the alcohol or the drugs. Since Christ has come into her life, He has brought out nothing but the best in her. Something that brought her down mentally and physically to an all time low also helped her find the one thing she needed to complete her life. Even though she is retired and has been through such obstacles, she wont let that stop her from continuing to help people and teach life long lessons just like she has with me.

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Works Cited Breckner, Vicki. Personal Interview. 4 November 2013.