U-Turn Women's Ranch

Turning Souls Away from the Snares of Death

Story by Carmel Palmer
Photos by Tom Price

“I would forgive my father if …”

The sentence from that week’s Bible study leapt off the page for Josie Madrid. Immediately, she knew how she would fill in the blank: if he died. Dark memories of her father’s rage and alcoholism swarmed inside her head: the dread she felt as a child when he came home drunk from the bar he owned, watching him beat her mother and brothers, knowing she was next. The emotional damage from his destructive behavior had set off a chain reaction of self-destructive choices in Josie’s life: substance abuse, three major overdoses, a cumulative six years in prison, and ultimately broken relationships with her loved ones.

During her time at U-Turn for Christ Women’s Ranch in Perris, CA, Josie had learned that only through her relationship with Jesus Christ could she conquer her addictions as well as the emotional wounds causing them. Now in the U-Turn program’s second phase, Josie had opted to take the “Healed & Set Free” class, based on the book by Tammy Brown. “Until I took that class,” Josie acknowledged, “I didn’t realize I was still carrying so much bitterness toward my father. I knew I needed to be honest with the class about what I was feeling. As soon as I spoke it aloud, it felt like 1,000 pounds were lifted off me. Through that class, God freed me from my bitterness.”

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

The complete article is published in issue 70 of Calvary Chapel Magazine.