His Early Years
Chase was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. During his early years, he led a seemingly typical childhood, attending a local Episcopal church with his family. He was an active member of the church community, participating in various youth activities and services until he was about 10 years old.
However, Chase’s life took a dramatic turn when his parents divorced. This event had a profound impact on the young boy, leaving him emotionally destabilized and struggling to cope with the sudden change in his family dynamics.
As Chase entered his teenage years, he began to experiment with alcohol and drugs at the age of 13. Despite these challenges, Chase’s high school years appeared promising on the surface. He excelled in sports, maintained good grades, and had a large circle of friends. To many, it seemed that Chase had overcome the difficulties of his earlier years and was thriving.
However, beneath this facade of success, Chase’s experimentation with alcohol and drugs had evolved into a pattern of partying. This lifestyle began to take its toll, and at the age of 17, Chase received his first DUI (Driving Under the Influence) charge. This incident would prove to be the first of several such offenses.
College and Young Adult Life
After high school, Chase entered college, continuing the partying lifestyle he had developed in his teenage years. This behavior caught up with him during his junior year when he received his second DUI. Despite the seriousness of this offense, Chase faced only minor consequences, which may have reinforced his risky behavior.
Despite his struggles with alcohol, Chase managed to maintain his academic performance. After completing his undergraduate degree, he took the LSAT and performed well. Though several law schools turned him down, he secured admission to a law school in Florida. This achievement seemed to indicate that Chase was capable of balancing his personal issues with his professional aspirations.
After law school, Chase aimed to practice in Missouri. But before getting his license, he had to address his past legal trouble with the licensing board. Once he satisfied their concerns, he received his license.
With his law career underway, Chase’s personal life also seemed to be improving. He met and married his first wife, appearing to have found stability both professionally and personally. However, this period of apparent stability was short-lived. The marriage lasted only about a year before ending in divorce.
The ending of Chase’s marriage deeply affected him, compounding past issues like substance abuse and his parents’ divorce. This marked a low in his life; the stress from his personal failures left him shattered. At rock bottom, Chase faced his past and needed to confront his issues to begin recovery and rebuild his life.
The Beginning of a New Life
After hitting rock bottom, Chase’s life took an unexpected turn when he reconnected with a compassionate pastor who had previously officiated his mother’s and stepfather’s wedding. In a moment of desperation, Chase reached out to this pastor, and what was intended to be a brief meeting turned into a four-hour session of deep conversation and soul-searching.
Chase had always believed in God but felt unworthy due to his lifestyle choices. He asked himself, “How can I run away from something that’s not real?” The pastor gave him a book called “The Ragamuffin Gospel,” which resonated deeply with Chase, as he identified with the author’s experiences. This encounter sparked a renewed interest in spirituality for Chase.
Around the same time, an old friend invited Chase to attend his church. Soon after, Chase joined a small group led by another long-time friend, further immersing himself in a faith community. After about a year and a half of involvement, Chase decided to be baptized.
Energized by his newfound faith, Chase became more and more involved in church activities. He also joined Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), an intensive Bible study that appealed to his intellectual curiosity about Christianity. However, Chase admits that despite these positive changes, he was still engaging in partying behavior, mistakenly believing that his baptism had instantly matured him as a believer.
During this period, Chase married his second wife. Unfortunately, the couple soon faced financial difficulties, which triggered a downward spiral in Chase’s life. He reverted to daily drinking and drug use, causing his involvement in church activities to gradually stop altogether.
Adding to his troubles, Chase felt a sense of guilt over the dissolution of his mother’s and stepfather’s 27-year marriage, believing he had played a role in their separation.
While he made significant strides in his faith journey, he continued to struggle with old habits and new challenges, illustrating the ongoing nature of personal transformation and the difficulty of overcoming deeply ingrained behaviors.
A Fresh Start at Life
In this pivotal phase of Chase’s life, his struggles reached a critical point. His mother, recognizing the severity of his condition, took decisive action. Seeing that Chase was no longer able to function normally, was overwhelmed with shame, and had begun having suicidal thoughts, she took steps to ensure his safety by removing anything from his environment that could potentially harm him.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Chase’s mother convinced him to enroll in a recovery program. This decision marked a turning point in Chase’s life. He fully embraced the 12-step program, adhering to its original design with God at the center.
In a moment of profound surrender, Chase prayed to God, saying, “Save me from myself.” This prayer of surrender represented his readiness to fully relinquish control of his life to God, a stark contrast to his previous attempts at managing his own recovery.
The road to recovery came with significant material sacrifices. Chase had to sell his house and was left with few possessions. However, he found that these losses paled in comparison to the spiritual and emotional gains he experienced. Chase came to realize that his life, despite having less in material terms, was more fulfilling than it had ever been.
Chase’s perspective on life underwent a dramatic shift. He often says, “With God in my life, it’s all good…it’s a real life.” This statement reflects his newfound appreciation for a life centered on faith and recovery, rather than the pursuit of material success or fleeting pleasures.
The hardships Chase faced led him to develop a daily dependence on God, a practice that continues to sustain him. He now focuses on drawing closer to God and finding ways to serve others whenever possible. This outward focus represents a significant change from his previous self-centered lifestyle. His story illustrates the transformative power of faith, aided by the 12-step program, showing how even in the darkest moments, there is hope for recovery and a purpose-filled life.
