I Hope this Story Helps, Viv please read, Long, but worth it

 Hey everyone,
Last Monday Oct 26th, We buried my cousin Wesley Harvey 45 in Amarillo. You see when his wife went to wake him to go to work, he worked nights a Plains Dairy for 9yrs, He was dead. They say he probably had a COCAINE Heart, The same thing that killed another cousin of mine,( 51 yrs old) 5months ago. Wesley had been clean 10yrs. But cocaine jacks with the heart. It is what is killing a lot of people in their 30-50's.
 But the main reason I am writing is because 10yrs ago when wesley got out of jail, for everything from drugs, burglery, robbery, petty theft, probation violations, etc..... He was not allowed in anyones house, he had burned everyone. No one trusted him anymore. But I am also attaching a story that Wesley did last Dec for Amarillo Globe news and won first place. Because when we had Wesleys FUNERAL  last week it was STANDING room only. That is how much he changed and turned his life around, He left a wife and 5yr old son that he worshipped, He had other kids he was just begining to rebuild relationships with.  
PLEASE< PLEASE  pass this on to anyone who does not think they can change, I sent it to DS in Jail last January. Viv do not let yours give up.

Thanks Ya'll for listening and if Wesleys article does anyone else any good, then his legacy is still alive;
Love Ya
Sherry



Man regains hope, overcomes addictions through program 
 
Life Challenge gives 'a new and real foundation' 
 
By Cheryl Berzanskis 
[email protected] 
Publication Date: 12/25/08

Hope.

Optimism and faith in four little letters.

Wesley Harvey, 45, knows about hope. He's got it. He hasn't always had it, and he only obtained it after rejecting a life of drugs, alcohol and prison.

When the Amarillo Globe-News asked people to tell their stories of faith, hope and charity for an end-of-the-year story about inspiration, Harvey's essay was among the first to arrive. He typed "Hope" across the top.

"Today I have been drug-free eight and a half years. The things I learned at Life Challenge have given me a new and real foundation to build on. Bob and Bea Dunstan pour out their lives helping people that the rest of the world has given up on. The first thing I was taught is that there is hope for the addict and drunk, and it isn't a twenty-eight day recovery program," Harvey wrote.

Harvey had a difficult childhood in Amarillo, discovered drugs, alcohol and "running up and down Polk Street back in the day when that was the deal." He stayed drunk and high most of his life and nearly went over the edge in 1990 when his brother was killed in a car wreck. Harvey counts two failed marriages, felony convictions and the inability to hold a job in the detritus of his life.

When in 2000 he expected to spend the rest of his life in prison on a variety of charges, Harvey got that one last chance at Amarillo's Life Challenge - a 14-month nonprofit faith-based addiction program for men.

The Dunstans' tough love, work ethic, insistence on giving back to the community and daily focus on Bible study and prayer acted to instill hope in Harvey.

When he arrived Sept. 1, 2000, at Life Challenge on Hope Road, Harvey said he was scared because he had to memorize Bible verses and complete workbooks, all with a mind distorted from drug use. But he tried, and within a few days he memorized two pages of Bible verses. The Dunstans did not tolerate lying, manipulating and finger pointing. Bob Dunstan reminded him "to thine own self be true," and Bea Dunstan was a no-nonsense teacher.

"It's love, though. You don't lay down your life like that unless you are led by God," Harvey said.

Bea and Bob Dunstan have operated Life Challenge for 27 years.

"We do it along with the guys, that's where the hope is," Bea Dunstan said.

Harvey saw it is both possible and expected to live a clean and Godly life, she continued.

"We just lived the life in front of him," she said. "We were teaching him as much by example as by the program."

Bob Dunstan called Harvey a "prime graduate."

Harvey has been clean and sober since graduating from Life Challenge and has held the same job at Plains Dairy for 7½ years, Dunstan said.

"He is certainly a jewel in our crown," he said.

Harvey hopes he can be a better father, employee, Christian and example in society.

"My lifestyle has affected so many people and I've often heard them say, 'If Wes Harvey can change, there must be a God,'" he said.

 
Click here to return to story: 
http://www.amarillo.com/stories/122508/new_12060714.shtml  
 
© The Amarillo Globe-News Online

 Sherry.....I am so sorry to hear about your dear cousin's death.   Thank you so very much for sharing this with me.   I will NEVER give up on my son.    I know that he will be successful....whether now is the time....only God knows that answer.   I do hope so though.   It is bad when parents have no idea what their kids are into.   I knew that he smoked pot but had no idea about the Oxy.    I do pray that he will stay clean and that he will appreciate all the sacrfiices that we are making to buy the Suboxone for him.    Thanks again for sharing and we are praying for John and you also.   Love ya !


Hugs and blessings ~~~ Vivian