Lifeline coordinator recounts turning point in addiction recovery

‘IS THIS IT?’

Jaquelyn Cannon, 2017 graduate and now program coordinator at Lifeline, recounts her story during Gov. Andy Beshear’s visit.

Jaquelyn Cannon, 2017 Lifeline graduate from Murray and now program coordinator at the women’s campus, remembers a moment in that place many addicts call “rock bottom.” Homeless and addicted, she was living in her car and going into gas station bathrooms to wash her hair. “I remember at one point looking up in the (gas station) mirror and just thinking to myself, ‘Is this it? Is this what my life is going to be?’” That person, she says, is completely different from the smiling face you see now – a wife, a mom, a master’s degree graduate, a full-time Lifeline coordinator working toward certification as a certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor and, even, a public speaker in front of Kentucky’s governor (story about Gov. Andy Beshear’s visit to Lifeline on page 6). As she told the governor, Jaquelyn was “in a very dark and seemingly hopeless season of life” as a 10-year addict and a homeless college drop-out who had lost custody of her daughter, when her mother intervened. “I was at my mom’s house, and she put her hands on my shoulders and said, ‘Jaq, I love you, but I’m not going to love you to death,’ and she told me I needed to leave. When I walked out of her house, the police were there waiting for me, and I knew that she had called them. Looking back now, I see how that decision was nothing short of a mother’s love.” While she was in jail, Jaquelyn cried out to God in a moment of complete surrender. “I said ‘God, if you can save me, then save me; and if you can’t, then kill me because I don’t want to live this way anymore.’ ”

From that moment on, Jaquelyn said God started working in her life, leading her to Lifeline. “I know for certain that God worked through Lifeline to save my life. They gave me the tools to stay sober and the courage to stand on His promises.” After she graduated, she stayed connected to Lifeline by volunteering. “What Lifeline is doing is seriously life-changing, and I have always wanted to be a part of it,” she said. “Even after I graduated the program, they continued giving me opportunities and impacting my life in the best way possible.” Today, she celebrates five years of sobriety by thanking God for what she considers the many miracles He has performed in her life. “God has restored everything that I lost. I got custody of my daughter back, and I’ve had two more children that have never had to see their mom high. My family prays together, and I’m utilizing what I learned at Lifeline to be the person, mom, and employee that I’ve always wanted to be. “My happiness is not measured in a spoon, prescription, or bottle because it is true happiness that I have in Him. I have a purpose today – and that is to help other women find the same freedom that I have found. I believe that my life is a testament to God’s grace and the work that He is doing at Lifeline.”

“I know for certain that God worked through Lifeline to save my life.”