I used to be a heavy drinker. On any given day, I was either recovering from a hangover or working to get one. Getting drunk enough to get out of my mind was an almost daily event. The only days I didn’t drink were the ones my body absolutely demanded I not so it could recover.

One night I fell asleep in yet another drunken stupor. Somewhere in the middle of the night, a ball of light came into my bedroom and hovered near the ceiling over my bed. The light was so bright there were no shadows. My husband was asleep beside me but he did not wake up. I knew it was God, and I could feel the love radiating from the light, and I was amazed because I was still quite inebriated. “How could He love me as drunk as I am?” He said something but I was afraid and did not try to talk. I’m not sure how long it stayed but it then disappeared and I went back to sleep.

The next morning I asked my husband if he saw a light during the night. He said, “What’s the matter? Did the aliens come for you?” Well, so much for that. I pushed it to the back of my brain and went about my life. Then someone brought me a book to read, and the author of the book mentioned the exact same light! I then realized it had not been a drunken hallucination and I began to really think about what God said that night. I don’t recall the exact words He said, whatever He said was very short and to the point.

What I got from His words was this: I have a lot for you to do, and you can’t do it if you’re drinking. Wow! I’d like to say I quit drinking immediately, but I didn’t. But what I did do was spend an hour every day with Him. I would get up every morning to read my Bible and pray. Sometimes I was so hungover I had to walk the floor to stay awake, but I made myself do it. After a night of drinking, I felt distance between myself and God but I kept pushing toward Him. Eleven months later, I stopped drinking. I went to church on a Sunday, got drunk on Monday, and stopped drinking on Tuesday. I think I asked myself after the Monday drunk, “Why did you do that?” And I had no answer.

Seven years later, my life in no way resembles what it was then. I still get up early to be with Him, and oh, the difference that one decision has made in my life and the lives of the many people I affect. The time I spend with Him doesn’t change Him or convince Him how holy and deserving I am, because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The time I spend with Him changes me because who you associate with is who you become.