Matt and Toni are happily married and doing well now, but before they ever met, each of them as individuals became trapped in the devil's playground where their lives nearly ended before they ever even met. This first episode begins with Matt's story.
Matt had a decent home life as a child, even with his dad being in a wheelchair and his mom working two jobs to try and pay the bills. But when his dad died the family began to fall apart, and when Red Phosphorous Meth entered the picture, everything began to disintegrate all around him, and he couldn't see any farther than getting the next hit. The Devil hooked him from the very first "hit" and Matt had no idea of the tailspin his life was about to take.
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Matt (00:00):
I remember one part of it.
(00:01):
And that's what made everybodylike, you gotta go to sleep.
Someone accused me of stealingtheir drugs and I put a shotgun
to his chin.
And when I went to pull thetrigger my mom's boyfriend
slapped the gun away and I blewa hole to the roof of the, uh,
house.
Phil Shuler (00:16):
HellO, and welcome to Renew, Restore, Rejoice, the
Safe House Ministries podcast,where we share stories of the
power of God to change livesthrough Safe House Ministries.
Safe House Ministries is basedout of Columbus, Georgia, and we
are a ministry that exists tolove and serve people who have
been affected by addiction,homelessness, and incarceration.
I'm your host, Phil Shuler, theDirector of Development for Safe
(00:39):
House Ministries here inColumbus, Georgia.
Safe House serves over 1, 100people each month as they
transition back into ourcommunity.
Safe House provides an abundanceof services including 213 beds
for homeless individuals andfamilies, case management for
obtaining job skills and longterm employment.
Over 300 hot meals every day,free clothing, and so much more.
(00:59):
One of the most incredibleservices that Safe House
provides is our free 9 12 monthintensive outpatient substance
abuse program, which is statelicensed, CARF accredited, and
has no wait list.
Almost 100 percent ofindividuals staying in our
shelters who follow our threephase program become fully
employed within a few months.
And 68 percent of individualswho stay at least one night with
(01:20):
us End up finding work andmoving into their own home.
Thank you for being with ustoday and listening to our
podcast.
We hope you enjoy this week'sepisode.
Phil (01:29):
Good morning.
Today on the podcast, I haveTony Hand and Matt hand, and I'm
excited to have both of them.
They are a husband and wife, ifyou didn't guess that already.
And each of them has just aunique and amazing story
individually, but the story ofhow God brought them together is
(01:50):
also really neat.
And so I'm excited to have youguys here.
Tony.
Matt, thank you for being herethis morning.
Thank
Toni (01:55):
you.
Thank you for having us.
Phil (01:56):
So just to kick off each one of you, you think about, if
there was one word that wouldbest describe you, Matt, we'll
start with you.
What do you think that wordwould be?
Me.
Yeah.
Annoying.
Annoying.
Ah, he is, but in a good way.
In a good way, yeah.
All right.
He didn't let things go.
He makes, he makes sure you dealwith things.
He
Toni (02:15):
keeps me on my toes just as much as the kids do, for
sure.
All
Phil (02:19):
right.
How about you, Tony?
What would be the word thatmight best describe you?
I.
Toni (02:23):
Determined, determined.
I don't give up.
If there's something that I'veset my mind to, then we are
going to accomplish it one wayor the other.
Phil (02:32):
It's, there's a lot of value in that quality.
Toni (02:34):
Yeah.
Phil (02:34):
That's good.
Yeah.
Sometimes
Toni (02:36):
that can be annoying too, though.
Phil (02:37):
No doubt.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Well, I'm glad to have you guyshere today.
Thank you.
I'm excited about hearing y'allstories and, just pulling out
all the lessons that the Lordhas taught you guys, things that
we can share to our listenersthat they can learn from as
well.
Matt let's kick off with yourstory.
Maybe just start us at thebeginning.
(02:58):
Where did you grow up and whatwas home life like for you as a
kid?
Matt (03:03):
I grew up here in Columbus, Georgia, and, uh, it
was a struggle growing up.
Uh, my dad was disabled for likethe first eight years of my
life.
He was in a wheelchair, and mymom, she worked two jobs.
And, uh, my dad, he was justbeing in a wheelchair.
It was hard for us to have likea better income because he was
disabled.
(03:23):
But he did try to like, rebuildcar motors do stuff around the
house.
But, we grew up in a house wherewe wasn't rich, but we had
everything that we needed.
Yeah.
Where was it again?
Here in Columbus.
Here in Columbus.
Okay.
Just actually right down theroad, probably about two miles
from here.
Toni (03:40):
Yeah.
He's a lifer.
Yeah.
And
Matt (03:42):
so, we grew up here.
My, like I said, my mom workedtwo jobs.
My dad, he was disabled, but hetaught us like how to cook, how
to work on cars make sure we gotup every morning for school.
Like he didn't play aboutschool.
Like you was serious about that.
Yeah.
And, um, how
Phil (03:58):
many siblings did you
Matt (03:58):
have?
I have two brothers and a sisterthat live here in the United
States.
And then from my dad's previousmarriage, before my mom, I have
a brother and sister that livesin Oslo, Norway.
Phil (04:10):
Okay.
And were those guys in, werethose siblings in the house
growing up with you guys?
No.
Okay.
Matt (04:13):
One of my brothers and my sister and like, I think it was
about 12, I was about 12 yearsold, and my oldest brother from
my mom's, before my, her and mydad got together, he came and
lived with us.
And so everything was growingup.
It was all right.
Like I said, we struggled likeany low class family as the
(04:35):
society would consider us.
Phil (04:36):
Yeah.
Low income category.
Right.
Matt (04:38):
And it was only due to the fact that my dad was disabled.
Yeah.
Uh, my mom, she worked two jobsand provided for us all, but
Toni (04:48):
they were happy.
Matt (04:49):
Yeah.
Phil (04:50):
Yeah.
none (04:50):
That's
Phil (04:50):
okay.
Good.
So did things begin to change orlike, what did it look like as
you went into your teenageyears?
Matt (04:56):
Um, it did actually change.
Uh, my dad, he finally got outtahis wheelchair and, um, he was
able to start doing moremechanic work like he was at
home.
Dad, you know, my mom she gotpromotions at work over the
years.
She worked for Winn-Dixie for 22years.
Wow.
And so she got promotions.
We ended up moving from where welived at.
(05:18):
We moved up to North Columbus.
Things started getting a littleeasier.
Me and my brother, we were nineand 10 years old and we were
cutting grass.
We had like 60 yards a monththat we cut.
And so we would do that to helpout with like buying our school
clothes or stuff that we wanted.
Plus we would also split it withmy mom and them to help them out
too.
(05:39):
My dad was real sick though.
Like he had emphysema, COPD.
and so he got real sick and overthe years things just progressed
worse with him and we ended upmoving from Columbus to Phoenix
City and, uh, over time my dadgot worse.
And really just, we all stucktogether though as a family.
Pretty close.
Everybody's pretty close, right?
(06:00):
Yeah.
I ended up with a, my first wifeand we had my son Anthony.
Phil (06:07):
So this like when you were a teenager, like you guys got
together when you were young?
Yeah, I was
Matt (06:10):
18.
Phil (06:11):
Were you in the world of drugs at all at that point?
No.
Or had you been in trouble withthe law at all?
Matt (06:16):
Uh, I went to jail one time for being at the wrong
place.
At the wrong time with someone?
Yeah.
We worked somewhere and he wentinto the little cashier office.
Uh, we were doing a night joband he went into the office and
stole some money outta theregister.
And because I was there, we bothgot charged.
Okay.
Like, I wasn't even in that sideof the building.
(06:37):
I was getting the stuff that Ineeded for the job.
Yeah.
And so I went to jail, stayed injail for like four hours or
something like that.
Okay.
But, um,
Phil (06:47):
this was around 18 you said?
Yeah.
And, and you had started datingthat young lady at that time,
around that time,
Matt (06:53):
right?
I was working two full-time jobsand a part-time job.
Wow.
I worked pig wiggly stocking.
Yeah.
Like ear middle night to earlymorning.
And then I would get off there.
That was my part-time job.
I would get off there and then Iwould go and clean swimming
pools from like 8:00 AM untilfive.
And then I get off there, rushhome, take a shower, and go to
(07:15):
Pizza Hut, work from six to 12,one o'clock at night.
none (07:19):
Wow.
Matt (07:20):
So, and it was just a lot because my dad's medicine was so
expensive.
Plus I had things that I wantedto do, car, and everything was
okay, like as far as doing that.
And then we had our son inJanuary of 2003.
And then in April of 2003, mydad passed away.
Phil (07:41):
Wow.
And how old were you at thatpoint?
Matt (07:43):
Uh, 19.
Phil (07:44):
Wow.
So you, no, 19.
You were married at by that 19already?
No.
Okay.
Just together with that girl,you had your first son and your
dad passed away.
Yes, sir.
That's a lot.
Matt (07:55):
And then, um, after my dad passed away, we did end up
getting married and we moved toTroy, Alabama.
Phil (08:01):
Was your mom, were you still pretty close to your mom
through that?
Matt (08:05):
Yeah.
Phil (08:05):
Okay.
Like
Matt (08:06):
we were all close and then everybody,
Phil (08:10):
you had moved out by that point?
Matt (08:11):
Well, no, actually, um, me, the girl I was with and my
son, we lived at the house withmy mom and my dad.
Okay.
Like I said, we were all prettyclose in family, but I knew my
mom couldn't do it by herself.
none (08:24):
Yeah.
Matt (08:24):
So I stayed and helped my mom with the bills and
everything.
And then after my dad passedaway, we all just kind of went
our separate ways.
Okay.
He was like the backbone of thefamily.
He was the glue.
Yeah.
It held everything together.
So, um, we moved to Troy,Alabama, stayed down there for a
while ended up coming back,found out she was pregnant again
(08:46):
with our second son, and, um,moved back up here and things
just went south.
We separated.
Phil (08:54):
not drugs or anything at that point?
No.
Just you guys just couldn't getalong anymore and just kind of
Matt (08:59):
Right.
And she was pregnant with oursecond son and, um, I ended up,
uh, my mom, she had got a newboyfriend and um, I ended up
going to stay out where theywere.
So you were
Phil (09:09):
back on your own, just living with your mom and she had
the kids or what was right?
Yeah.
Okay.
Matt (09:15):
When I moved in with my mom, there was some people out
there that always partying,doing different stuff.
I'm still working two jobs.
Like they were
Toni (09:22):
already using at this point.
At your
Phil (09:24):
mom's house, right.
That, so her and her newboyfriend, there was drugs they
were using.
Yes, sir.
And you were just living thereworking two jobs.
Right.
Matt (09:32):
I didn't know what they were doing because I worked my
daytime job at doing the swimpools again.
And then at night I worked backat pizza.
Yeah.
Phil (09:41):
So you were gone a lot.
Right.
Most of the time I was gone allday.
Were there drugs at all in yourmom's life as you were growing
up or this was a more No, thiswas, she just had done that.
And by the time you came back,she was in the midst of that.
Matt (09:52):
And I think like what really happened is when my dad
passed away and everybody justwent their own separate way,
knowing how to cope and dealwith a death.
We just didn't know how.
Yeah.
You know, growing up, I'd neverbeen to a funeral.
Toni (10:07):
Yeah.
Especially like a death of thatmagnitude.
Like, his dad was so significantin their family.
Phil (10:13):
Yeah.
And
Toni (10:13):
nobody knew how to deal with losing him.
Phil (10:16):
Wow.
Toni (10:16):
And
Phil (10:17):
was there any faith in your childhood?
Like, did you guys go to churchat all or was that a part of
your childhood at all?
Matt (10:24):
We did go to church growing up.
Just being a young kid reallydidn't understand Yeah.
What everything was.
I just know that we went tochurch and we always heard about
God and Jesus and the thingsthat he could do for us and
everything, but I never took itin.
none (10:41):
Yeah.
Matt (10:42):
still to this day, I, I do have some, uh, struggles.
Struggles with my faith.
none (10:47):
Okay.
Matt (10:48):
I've always had a issue with it.
It's hard to put my faith intosomething that I can't
physically see or hear.
Phil (10:53):
Yeah.
I mean, it is hard.
Yeah.
Matt (10:57):
But looking back throughout my whole life, I know
if it wasn't for him, I wouldn'tbe here.
Phil (11:01):
Yeah.
Matt (11:02):
But, uh,
Phil (11:03):
so you're in a bad situation.
You're living with your mom, herand her boyfriend are doing
drugs.
Well, there was a
Matt (11:08):
bunch of people I didn't even know my mom was doing
drugs.
Phil (11:11):
So there was other people living at the house or just She
was connected to a,
Matt (11:15):
it was like a party spot?
It was party house all the time.
Was it a trap
Phil (11:17):
house essentially?
No, and it was, it was just aparty house.
Drugs everywhere.
Yeah.
We lived
Matt (11:21):
on the back waters, like out there grilling and Oh,
throwing horseshoe on the boat.
Jet skis, like whatever.
Phil (11:29):
Somebody had money,
Matt (11:30):
uh, I mean from somewhere people up the river and stuff.
Like we had a boat.
But my mom's boyfriend had aboat and then people from other
river, like we had the onlyconcrete dock and boat ramp in
our front yard.
So everybody comes there andthat's how we met up with a lot
of the people.
But like I said, with me workingtwo jobs, I never knew what was
(11:51):
going on at home.
I just know I'd come home crazyand everybody's partying, like
drinking out on the dock,listening to music.
It is 11 o'clock at night.
Wow.
And I had a really bad day atwork and um, I come home and a
friend of mine that was there,he was like, why don't you come
out here and party with us?
I'm like, bro, I'm tired.
I'm ready to go to bed.
Had a bad day, just lemme be.
(12:13):
And he was like, come on man.
I got some girls out here.
And I'm like, he was like, butbefore we go out there, he was
like, look, this will help youout he opened the roll top desk
that we had and, uh.
You know the plastic CD cases?
none (12:25):
Yeah.
Matt (12:25):
He had a bunch of lines cut out on it.
I never knew, I never beenaround no drugs.
Seen people smoke weed and stuffgrowing up.
none (12:32):
Yeah.
Matt (12:32):
But like never been around, nothing hardcore I was
like, I asked him, I said, whatis that?
And he told me, he said, its Andhe is like, all you do is snort
line and you'll be good to go.
And um, I was like, I don't knowhow to do that.
Like, I'm, I'm truly dumb todrugs.
'Cause my dad kept us away fromall that growing up.
none (12:49):
Yeah.
Matt (12:50):
Uh, we didn't get to go run the streets.
We didn't get to go play.
He was working too much.
Phil (12:54):
He couldn't get in trouble.
Matt (12:55):
Well, I'm talking about like growing up.
Yeah.
Even as kept you teenager, hekept you
Phil (13:00):
away from that,
Matt (13:00):
right?
Yeah.
Like he never had a sleep overuntil he was like 16 years old,
old.
I never spent the night offuntil I was like 16.
Man, I like
Phil (13:07):
your dad.
And, um,
Matt (13:09):
like we could have friends come to the house, but we could
never go to their house or golike we could go other.
Yeah.
Your dad
Phil (13:16):
wanted to protect you, it sounds like.
He understood the things thatoften happen when you go other
places.
And
Matt (13:21):
truthfully, I'm, if I'm truthful, I used to think that
my dad was just wrong.
But now that I've had kids of myown.
Stuff.
And the way the world is turningout now, I could it is just, I
understand.
none (13:34):
Yeah.
Matt (13:35):
But
Phil (13:35):
so I like your dad, man.
I, uh, I'm a strange bird likethat.
I've never, I don't let my kidssleep over at other places.
And man, he was real
Matt (13:42):
strict.
Like I got in a lot of troublegrowing up in elementary school
and stuff.
Toni (13:48):
Matthew's a troublemaker.
Matt (13:50):
I was, I was, I really was.
Like, my dad spent more time atschool in fourth grade than I
did.
Wow.
But I understand why now, why hewas so strict on us and try to
protect us from the lifestyle.
Like my co realizing as I wasgetting older, my cousins was
always in and outta trouble, um,on cocaine and stuff.
Like meth wasn't a thing backwhen I was growing up.
(14:13):
Not around here.
It was all cocaine or weed.
Phil (14:16):
Yeah.
And your, I guess your dad wasprobably very aware of the, your
cousins and everything that wasgoing on.
He would
Matt (14:22):
like, we couldn't even go over to their house without him.
Wow.
And if we did go over there, wemostly sit in the car, but Wow.
So I never So you,
Phil (14:32):
you were at that party.
Yeah.
And that was your first exposureto Drove
Matt (14:36):
Was.
And so he was like, I'll showyou how.
So he snorted a little bit of aline and me not knowing any
better, like the CD case hadlines cut all the way across it,
big lines.
And I didn't know that you wasonly supposed to snort a little
bit of it at a time.
So I snorted a whole line.
That was a lot.
It was almost a half a eightball.
Is that Yeah,
Phil (14:55):
it's a lot in the, in the world of drugs.
Is that like a Yeah.
Really big amount.
Especially for your first time.
Matt (15:00):
Yes.
Like for back then, because itwas red phosphorous meth, which
is cooked with a bunch ofdifferent chemicals, so it's a
lot stronger.
But, uh, I didn't know.
I did the whole thing.
I stayed up for seven days, man.
Phil (15:12):
Wow.
Matt (15:12):
And
Phil (15:13):
wow.
So that, that was it.
That just, I lost my
Matt (15:16):
job.
Both my jobs.
I lost
Phil (15:18):
you.
You dove headfirst into thedarkness in that one moment.
Matt (15:21):
Right.
And in a split second.
Like this time.
The thing about it is though,that one time did it.
I was hooked.
Phil (15:26):
That's so crazy.
But, and it's.
Just to think about the way thatour enemy works.
Like you had no idea.
You're, you're just likeinnocent of that world.
Yeah.
And you don't have theunderstanding and the knowledge
and you, and
Matt (15:40):
like I experienced with weed before, you know, or like,
uh, Adderall pills in highschool.
none (15:46):
Yeah.
Matt (15:47):
But just the Adderall in high school, I, a friend of mine
told me like, if you're tired,you can take one of these
because Wow.
Even in high school I worked.
Yeah.
And so being tired on the daysthat I did go to school anyways.
So seven
Phil (16:02):
y
Matt (16:02):
seven
Phil (16:03):
days straight.
Yes sir.
Just the lack of sleep.
Even let alone the toxicity ofthe drugs.
The, I mean,
Toni (16:09):
you start hallucinating hearing start hall, start
Matt (16:11):
hallucinating seeing stuff that ain't there.
And do you remember
Phil (16:14):
that seven days or?
Matt (16:16):
No,
Phil (16:17):
it's kind of,
Matt (16:17):
I remember one part of it.
And that's what made everybodylike, you gotta go to sleep.
Someone accused me of stealingtheir drugs and I put a shotgun
to his chin.
And when I went to pull thetrigger my mom's boyfriend
slapped the gun away and I blewa hole to the roof of the, uh,
house.
What, this was during that sevenday period?
Yes, it was the seventh day.
(16:38):
Wow.
And finally they were like, yougotta go to sleep.
Uh.
Toni (16:42):
He was losing it at that point.
Matt (16:44):
Right.
Toni (16:44):
And this was his first experience.
I didn't know how to handle it.
Wow.
Know, he was very, that thingthat's so
Matt (16:49):
intense at that time.
One thing I had never done isstole anything from anyone that
was close to me, and the guythat accused me of stealing his
dope.
Like he was real close to ourlittle family.
Yeah.
You know?
And, um, so finally the guy thatgave me the dope the first time
he, uh, took me in the, he tookme to my room and he was like,
(17:10):
bro, you gotta go to sleep.
And I'm like, I'm good.
Just let me be.
So you weren't tired at all?
No, but not realizing that mybody was running down from being
up for so long.
Yeah.
But I kept doing dope throughoutthe seven days.
I know that.
Wow.
You know,
Phil (17:25):
I assume during that time you probably lost both your jobs
not showing up for work.
Matt (17:29):
I did.
I lost both jobs.
I didn't see my, my son at allduring that whole week.
And then I slept for three days.
They locked me, they actuallylocked me in the bedroom.
They put a padlock on theoutside of my door and locked me
in my room.
And every day they would come inand feed me, make sure I had
food and stuff.
And I would come out and take ashower.
But after I got to sleep and Iwould wake up, I would, I'm
(17:53):
ready to go back to sleep.
none (17:54):
Wow.
Matt (17:55):
But after the three days of me sleeping, I got up and did
it all over again and just keptgoing.
You just hit the
Phil (17:59):
meth hard again.
Matt (18:00):
I was in addiction for 14 years.
Phil (18:02):
So it that by that point there was such a compulsion in
you that you just
Matt (18:07):
really, I think what it was that started out my
addiction was the fun that wehad.
none (18:13):
Yeah.
Matt (18:14):
We used to go out on, on the John boat, go gator hunting
down the river, just partying,grilling out, and everybody
Toni (18:21):
was doing it.
Matt (18:22):
Yeah.
And it wasn't just like five orsix of us.
There was always 30 or 40 peoplethere always.
Wow.
And just living the way the dopewas for me.
When I got, when I went toprison in 2017, dope for me was
different than what it was whenI started in 2004.
Phil (18:40):
Okay.
It was all about the fun in thebeginning.
Matt (18:43):
Everything was fun.
Everybody had good times.
We would go out, shoot, pool, godrinking at the bar, like we had
fun, and not realizing thatwe're tearing our mind and our
body up with this stuff
Toni (18:57):
and they were losing everything in the process.
Phil (18:59):
So as you, you had lost your jobs.
You were having fun when the,when you started running into.
Don't have money for bills, foranything, for food, for like,
Matt (19:09):
well, one of the guys that partied with us owned a lawn
care service.
So we go out and work during theday and then nighttime party all
night
Phil (19:18):
and go out the next.
So he would pay you guys to justkeep paying the bills, the light
bill and keep going the houseand Yeah,
Matt (19:23):
like we worked a full-time job.
Did y'all all
Phil (19:25):
that many people like live there?
No,
Matt (19:27):
no, no.
Like it was all up and down theriver.
Friends from throughout town,stuff like, we all just hung out
there.
Wow.
I think that was only probablytwo or three days that I've seen
of the six or eight months ofliving out there where it was
just calm and quiet.
Phil (19:45):
So that was six eighth month stretch.
Yeah.
So what, what happened afterthat then?
Matt (19:50):
Kept getting high, just bouncing around.
Um,
Phil (19:53):
were you part of your kids' lives during that time?
Matt (19:56):
Somewhat.
I was trying to be, but theywouldn't let me because they
knew.
Knew the lifestyle not I starteddoing.
Yeah.
Which back then I used to blamethem when really I should have
blamed myself.
And so I understand why theyprotected my kids from seeing me
and I had started being in andoutta jail.
And two, so
Phil (20:16):
you, well, what kind of charges landed you in jail?
Matt (20:18):
Uh, my first charge ever was manufacturing.
Phil (20:20):
Of meth.
Meth.
Yeah.
that's a pretty serious charge,I guess, right?
Matt (20:23):
It is real serious.
Yeah.
Um, I had a 12 year sentence.
Phil (20:26):
You were in your early
Matt (20:27):
twenties?
I went to jail in 2006 formanufacturing, but before that
I've been to jail, like forpossession of marijuana.
my wife at the time put me onchild support and I wasn't
paying it.
They're not letting me see mykids.
I'm not paying, it was mymindset.
Yeah.
Not realizing that I was hurtingmy kids more than anything.
So I was in and outta jail acouple times, still doing dope.
(20:49):
and then I got busted.
Me and another girl got bustedwith a meth lab and I ended up
getting a 12 year sentence splitdue 18 months in the county,
which I ended up doing two yearson that.
Phil (21:03):
In the county jail?
Matt (21:04):
Yes, sir.
And I got out and I was tryingto do good.
Me and my kid's mom got backtogether and not knowing that
when I got out, she was on dope.
Phil (21:13):
So you go right back into an environment where it's, where
were you still using while youwere in jail?
No,
Matt (21:19):
I was clean for Was that
Phil (21:20):
because you just made the decision to stay away from it,
or was it really difficult toget access to?
Matt (21:26):
Uh, a little bit of both.
Okay.
Like.
Probably if they could've got itin there, I probably would've
did it.
And then I got out and she wasdoing drugs too, like we were
staying together and she waslaying in the bed right next to
me and smoke a bowl.
And it just got to the point towhere
Phil (21:41):
is that meth?
Matt (21:42):
Yeah.
It got to the point to where I'mlike, lemme get at it.
Phil (21:45):
Wow.
So you got right back into it?
Matt (21:47):
Yeah, I think I was out for about maybe two and a half,
three weeks, and then I gotright back on it.
And from there it was just adownhill spiral man.
I ended up homeless, like Islept in the woods under a
camper shell that goes on thetruck.
Yeah.
I slept in the woods for twomonths under that.
Phil (22:04):
Wow.
Storage units he lived in.
So did she kick you out or wasit No, I left Because you were
just, you knew you were a mess.
To find out
Matt (22:10):
where she had me staying was her boyfriend's house.
He was outta town working.
Phil (22:15):
Wow.
Yeah.
And so he was gonna be comingback, so you just got out before
he came back.
Matt (22:19):
And the bad part about it is I knew the guy, like we used
to work together but when wewere together, he didn't have
the house.
He had a completely differentplace, like neither here nor
there, so I ended up leavingjust bouncing from place to
place.
Getting with this girl, thatgirl doing whatever, just kept
doing dope.
In and outta jail,
Phil (22:36):
living the party life.
Don't care about responsibility.
No cares in the world.
Yeah.
Really.
The drugs just,
Matt (22:42):
yeah.
And then, um,
Phil (22:44):
did you have to check in with like a probation
Toni (22:46):
officer during that time?
I never did.
He was always on the run.
Phil (22:49):
Okay.
So there was probably a warrantout for your arrest.
You're just trying to alwaysdodge and that's one
Matt (22:54):
reason why I bounced from place to place is I never stayed
in one place for more than twoweeks.
Okay.
Toni (22:58):
Yeah.
Like there's probably not abondsman around here that hasn't
bonded him out and tell you theywill never do it again.
Yeah.
Phil (23:06):
Wow.
'cause they would try to findyou and they just could, you
just kept bouncing so much theycouldn't find you.
Yeah.
Toni (23:11):
Right.
Matthew used to tell them like,you better lay up your Nikes,
put shoes.
Phil (23:15):
Wow.
Did you ever, was anybody everclose to catching you?
Like, uh, oh yeah.
But you just snuck out, got awayfrom'em
Matt (23:22):
Man, one bondsman was coming in the front door and I
was going out the back.
Phil (23:25):
What is that scenario like?
do they have guns?
do you never, do people shootback at them or just like, I
around never stuck around tofind out.
Matt (23:34):
I, they was always an escape route.
Wherever I was at, I could getout.
Yeah.
And I used to stay, uh, with afriend of mine.
And, uh, they, him and his wife,they had a big property and
stuff and they had a falloutshelter.
Like a bomb shelter.
none (23:48):
Yeah.
Matt (23:49):
And, uh, the bondsman and police and everybody came out
there, one line, I'm in the bombshelter, watching'em on camera
walk right over the top of me.
And they couldn't find me
Phil (23:58):
because they didn't know where the entrance was.
Right.
Matt (24:00):
It was covered with grass.
If you didn't know where it was,you would never find it.
Wow.
And so I'm hiding and then whenthey leave, I leave from there.
I won't go back for a while.
And, uh, wow.
Just on the, always on the rundoing stupid stuff.
And, um,
Phil (24:17):
Were you manufacturing at that time or just using
Matt (24:19):
No, just using
Phil (24:20):
sell.
Like how'd you make money?
Did you just bum off of otherpeople?
Matt (24:23):
Sell dope.
Phil (24:24):
Okay.
Matt (24:25):
I would, I would hit a lick, which is
Toni (24:28):
a robbery.
Yeah.
Matt (24:29):
Like, we'll go steal copper or something, cash it in
that scrape yard, get money andwe'll go buy a big quantity of
dope and then just turn aroundand sell it.
That way we can make money andstill get high.
none (24:40):
Okay.
Matt (24:40):
So we did that for a while in and outta jail again.
Possession of meth.
Phil (24:46):
During that time, you said you were homeless, like living
under a camper for a couple ofmonths too.
Matt (24:50):
Yeah.
Like, it was just always drugs.
Phil (24:53):
Were you ever like afraid or worried or were you just
like, yeah.
Didn't care.
You're just kind of stayed sohigh, you just, nothing
mattered.
Toni (25:00):
Yeah.
Didn't, I didn't care aboutlife.
He didn't care.
He knew at that point, like hecouldn't see his kids, and so
Phil (25:07):
nothing mattered.
Toni (25:08):
Yeah.
Nothing mattered.
Yeah.
Whether he lived or died or, Ididn't see my
Matt (25:11):
kids for 12 years.
none (25:12):
Wow.
Toni (25:12):
And um,
Phil (25:13):
wow.
So you just using the drugs tocope with not knowing how to
deal with life essentially.
I guess his
Toni (25:20):
mental, at that point, like he couldn't see like, Hey,
if I get clean and I get my lifetogether, I can have my kids
back in my life.
There was no logic
Matt (25:30):
in your thinking, right?
I knew I couldn't get cleanthough.
Not with the lifestyle I wasliving.
The friends that I had, therewas no getting clean.
It was hopeless.
It was.
And I've always told myself, ifI ever went to prison due to my
habit, I would be done.
Being in and outta a county jailis nothing, you know, do two
months, five months, whatever.
(25:52):
It's
Phil (25:52):
not, it's not too dangerous.
Sometimes people say prisonwasn't that bad.
Sometimes they say it was anightmare.
Matt (25:58):
I mean, it depends on where you're at.
Yeah.
And what you make it really.
But county
Toni (26:01):
jail, I think once you've been there so many times, it's
like, Hey, I know everybody.
Yeah.
It is like a,
Matt (26:07):
truthfully, it is like a family reunion when you walk in
there.
Not with like blood family, butlike your street family.
Yeah.
All your buddies.
They're like, Hey, I'm backguys.
Toni (26:17):
Right.
So it's like, okay, I am goingback to county.
Big deal.
Wow.
Matt (26:21):
And so it was just crazy.
And um, I got with this one girlright before I got arrested.
We've been together for a coupleyears and we were doing dope
and, uh, selling dope and stuff.
And I went to jail.
I did like five months in jailand got out.
And, um, when I got out we were,uh, stealing credit cards,
(26:41):
washing checks, uh Wow.
Doing all kind of stuff.
So
Phil (26:45):
you had been connected in that world that you knew how to
do some higher level criminalstuff,
Matt (26:51):
right?
Yeah, I did a lot of whitecollar stuff.
It was almost$500,000 worth ofwhite collar stuff.
Wow.
And, uh, we were still in creditcards stealing mail outta
mailboxes, still getting high.
And it got to the point where, Idon't know, to me that addiction
of the adrenaline wasoverpowering the dope because
(27:11):
the dope was no good.
No more
Phil (27:13):
how do you mean the adrenaline?
Matt (27:14):
Like the adrenaline.
It was so easy.
The adrenaline, just thecriminal activities and the
Phil (27:18):
like, you can live the high life steal, make a lot of
money, and it make a lot of
Matt (27:22):
money.
Still get high, had a place tolive, like had a vehicle.
Still wasn't working,
Phil (27:28):
because you were making so much money just criminally.
He must be a smart fella.
Like that sounds like somehigher level kind of stuff.
Toni (27:34):
He's super smart.
He is super,
Matt (27:35):
super smart.
You could teach me how to dosomething one way and I'll find
out 10 other ways to do itbetter.
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
And that's what happened.
Someone taught me how to docredit card fraud and I took it
Toni (27:46):
10
Matt (27:47):
step
Toni (27:47):
higher.
Wow.
And yeah, when Matthew sets hismind to something, there is
like, no stopping him.
Matt (27:54):
But, um, we got together, we were still in like we were
still in mail outta mailboxes toget the credit cards and checks
and money orders, stuff likethat.
Yeah.
We could wash the checks, washthe money orders and refill'em
out to us.
But I had IDs, a bunch ofdifferent IDs with my picture
book with different folks'information.
So I fill it out to somebodyelse, go in somewhere and cash
(28:16):
it.
It's not on my real name.
none (28:18):
Yeah.
Matt (28:18):
And uh, we ended up the federal, uh, the postmaster
started doing a federalinvestigation on us.
'cause we were still in Mill.
And, uh, they kicked our door ina few times looking for us, but
we didn't stay there.
We at hotels or, yeah, we had anapartment out on south side of
Columbus, like just goingdifferent places.
Never got caught up.
(28:38):
And then, um.
I had someone that was living inmy house, and truthfully, still
to this day, I believe the guyset me up.
Wow.
He knew exactly where we weregoing and how, what vehicle you
were in, what vehicle I was in,and what route we go to get
there.
He knew everything.
Wow.
And the police was waiting onme.
He must
Phil (28:57):
have made a deal.
I guess he, he had some chargespending and he probably,
Matt (29:01):
and so, um, we, we were going and we had her kids with
us.
They were two 5-year-old twinsat the time.
And I made a stupid decisionthat when the police pulled me
over, once they got to the backof the car, it was gonna take
off.
And I did, like when
Phil (29:13):
they walked up to the car, you just hit the gas.
Right.
Matt (29:15):
Right.
And I did.
And man, I ain't even gonna lieto you.
Never had no issue with his car.
I drove this car, I gave it helland, and never had no issue with
this.
One time I turned a corner sharpand the battery fell over into
the motor.
What?
Shut the whole car off.
Wow.
Shut the whole car off.
Vulnerabilities.
Police got me they got me good.
Toni (29:36):
Hindsight's 2020.
But in that moment, that was thebeginning of God saving him.
And that is the end of part oneof Matt and Tony's story.
You will hear next week just howGod began to step in and change
everything for Matt's life.
And if we have time next week,we'll also start getting into
(29:57):
Tony's story, which is totallydifferent and just as amazing as
Mats.
So thank you for being with usthis week and we look forward to
being with you again next week.
God bless you.
Phil Shuler (30:10):
We look forward to being with you again next week
as we share another testimonyabout the power and the goodness
of God to change lives throughSafe House Ministries.
if you are someone listening tothis podcast that loves to hear
these stories of the greatthings that God is doing in
changing people's lives for thebetter, and if you would like to
be a part of that work, pleasereach out to us You can reach us
(30:33):
at 2101 Hamilton Road, Columbus,Georgia, 31,904.
You can call us at seven oh sixthree two two.
3 7, 7 3, or you can email us atinfo@safehouse-ministries.com.
Microphone (Samson Q2U Mi (30:48):
Thank you so much for being with us
this week for the renew restoreand rejoice podcast of safe
house ministries, we pray thatGod will bless you this week.
And we look forward to havingyou back with us again next week
for a new episode.
I remember one part of it.
(00:01):
And that's what made everybodylike, you gotta go to sleep.
Someone accused me of stealingtheir drugs and I put a shotgun
to his chin.
And when I went to pull thetrigger my mom's boyfriend
slapped the gun away and I blewa hole to the roof of the, uh,
house.
Phil Shuler (00:16):
HellO, and welcome to Renew, Restore, Rejoice, the
Safe House Ministries podcast,where we share stories of the
power of God to change livesthrough Safe House Ministries.
Safe House Ministries is basedout of Columbus, Georgia, and we
are a ministry that exists tolove and serve people who have
been affected by addiction,homelessness, and incarceration.
I'm your host, Phil Shuler, theDirector of Development for Safe
(00:39):
House Ministries here inColumbus, Georgia.
Safe House serves over 1, 100people each month as they
transition back into ourcommunity.
Safe House provides an abundanceof services including 213 beds
for homeless individuals andfamilies, case management for
obtaining job skills and longterm employment.
Over 300 hot meals every day,free clothing, and so much more.
(00:59):
One of the most incredibleservices that Safe House
provides is our free 9 12 monthintensive outpatient substance
abuse program, which is statelicensed, CARF accredited, and
has no wait list.
Almost 100 percent ofindividuals staying in our
shelters who follow our threephase program become fully
employed within a few months.
And 68 percent of individualswho stay at least one night with
(01:20):
us End up finding work andmoving into their own home.
Thank you for being with ustoday and listening to our
podcast.
We hope you enjoy this week'sepisode.
Phil (01:29):
Good morning.
Today on the podcast, I haveTony Hand and Matt hand, and I'm
excited to have both of them.
They are a husband and wife, ifyou didn't guess that already.
And each of them has just aunique and amazing story
individually, but the story ofhow God brought them together is
(01:50):
also really neat.
And so I'm excited to have youguys here.
Tony.
Matt, thank you for being herethis morning.
Thank
Toni (01:55):
you.
Thank you for having us.
Phil (01:56):
So just to kick off each one of you, you think about, if
there was one word that wouldbest describe you, Matt, we'll
start with you.
What do you think that wordwould be?
Me.
Yeah.
Annoying.
Annoying.
Ah, he is, but in a good way.
In a good way, yeah.
All right.
He didn't let things go.
He makes, he makes sure you dealwith things.
He
Toni (02:15):
keeps me on my toes just as much as the kids do, for
sure.
All
Phil (02:19):
right.
How about you, Tony?
What would be the word thatmight best describe you?
I.
Toni (02:23):
Determined, determined.
I don't give up.
If there's something that I'veset my mind to, then we are
going to accomplish it one wayor the other.
Phil (02:32):
It's, there's a lot of value in that quality.
Toni (02:34):
Yeah.
Phil (02:34):
That's good.
Yeah.
Sometimes
Toni (02:36):
that can be annoying too, though.
Phil (02:37):
No doubt.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Well, I'm glad to have you guyshere today.
Thank you.
I'm excited about hearing y'allstories and, just pulling out
all the lessons that the Lordhas taught you guys, things that
we can share to our listenersthat they can learn from as
well.
Matt let's kick off with yourstory.
Maybe just start us at thebeginning.
(02:58):
Where did you grow up and whatwas home life like for you as a
kid?
Matt (03:03):
I grew up here in Columbus, Georgia, and, uh, it
was a struggle growing up.
Uh, my dad was disabled for likethe first eight years of my
life.
He was in a wheelchair, and mymom, she worked two jobs.
And, uh, my dad, he was justbeing in a wheelchair.
It was hard for us to have likea better income because he was
disabled.
(03:23):
But he did try to like, rebuildcar motors do stuff around the
house.
But, we grew up in a house wherewe wasn't rich, but we had
everything that we needed.
Yeah.
Where was it again?
Here in Columbus.
Here in Columbus.
Okay.
Just actually right down theroad, probably about two miles
from here.
Toni (03:40):
Yeah.
He's a lifer.
Yeah.
And
Matt (03:42):
so, we grew up here.
My, like I said, my mom workedtwo jobs.
My dad, he was disabled, but hetaught us like how to cook, how
to work on cars make sure we gotup every morning for school.
Like he didn't play aboutschool.
Like you was serious about that.
Yeah.
And, um, how
Phil (03:58):
many siblings did you
Matt (03:58):
have?
I have two brothers and a sisterthat live here in the United
States.
And then from my dad's previousmarriage, before my mom, I have
a brother and sister that livesin Oslo, Norway.
Phil (04:10):
Okay.
And were those guys in, werethose siblings in the house
growing up with you guys?
No.
Okay.
Matt (04:13):
One of my brothers and my sister and like, I think it was
about 12, I was about 12 yearsold, and my oldest brother from
my mom's, before my, her and mydad got together, he came and
lived with us.
And so everything was growingup.
It was all right.
Like I said, we struggled likeany low class family as the
(04:35):
society would consider us.
Phil (04:36):
Yeah.
Low income category.
Right.
Matt (04:38):
And it was only due to the fact that my dad was disabled.
Yeah.
Uh, my mom, she worked two jobsand provided for us all, but
Toni (04:48):
they were happy.
Matt (04:49):
Yeah.
Phil (04:50):
Yeah.
none (04:50):
That's
Phil (04:50):
okay.
Good.
So did things begin to change orlike, what did it look like as
you went into your teenageyears?
Matt (04:56):
Um, it did actually change.
Uh, my dad, he finally got outtahis wheelchair and, um, he was
able to start doing moremechanic work like he was at
home.
Dad, you know, my mom she gotpromotions at work over the
years.
She worked for Winn-Dixie for 22years.
Wow.
And so she got promotions.
We ended up moving from where welived at.
(05:18):
We moved up to North Columbus.
Things started getting a littleeasier.
Me and my brother, we were nineand 10 years old and we were
cutting grass.
We had like 60 yards a monththat we cut.
And so we would do that to helpout with like buying our school
clothes or stuff that we wanted.
Plus we would also split it withmy mom and them to help them out
too.
(05:39):
My dad was real sick though.
Like he had emphysema, COPD.
and so he got real sick and overthe years things just progressed
worse with him and we ended upmoving from Columbus to Phoenix
City and, uh, over time my dadgot worse.
And really just, we all stucktogether though as a family.
Pretty close.
Everybody's pretty close, right?
(06:00):
Yeah.
I ended up with a, my first wifeand we had my son Anthony.
Phil (06:07):
So this like when you were a teenager, like you guys got
together when you were young?
Yeah, I was
Matt (06:10):
18.
Phil (06:11):
Were you in the world of drugs at all at that point?
No.
Or had you been in trouble withthe law at all?
Matt (06:16):
Uh, I went to jail one time for being at the wrong
place.
At the wrong time with someone?
Yeah.
We worked somewhere and he wentinto the little cashier office.
Uh, we were doing a night joband he went into the office and
stole some money outta theregister.
And because I was there, we bothgot charged.
Okay.
Like, I wasn't even in that sideof the building.
(06:37):
I was getting the stuff that Ineeded for the job.
Yeah.
And so I went to jail, stayed injail for like four hours or
something like that.
Okay.
But, um,
Phil (06:47):
this was around 18 you said?
Yeah.
And, and you had started datingthat young lady at that time,
around that time,
Matt (06:53):
right?
I was working two full-time jobsand a part-time job.
Wow.
I worked pig wiggly stocking.
Yeah.
Like ear middle night to earlymorning.
And then I would get off there.
That was my part-time job.
I would get off there and then Iwould go and clean swimming
pools from like 8:00 AM untilfive.
And then I get off there, rushhome, take a shower, and go to
(07:15):
Pizza Hut, work from six to 12,one o'clock at night.
none (07:19):
Wow.
Matt (07:20):
So, and it was just a lot because my dad's medicine was so
expensive.
Plus I had things that I wantedto do, car, and everything was
okay, like as far as doing that.
And then we had our son inJanuary of 2003.
And then in April of 2003, mydad passed away.
Phil (07:41):
Wow.
And how old were you at thatpoint?
Matt (07:43):
Uh, 19.
Phil (07:44):
Wow.
So you, no, 19.
You were married at by that 19already?
No.
Okay.
Just together with that girl,you had your first son and your
dad passed away.
Yes, sir.
That's a lot.
Matt (07:55):
And then, um, after my dad passed away, we did end up
getting married and we moved toTroy, Alabama.
Phil (08:01):
Was your mom, were you still pretty close to your mom
through that?
Matt (08:05):
Yeah.
Phil (08:05):
Okay.
Like
Matt (08:06):
we were all close and then everybody,
Phil (08:10):
you had moved out by that point?
Matt (08:11):
Well, no, actually, um, me, the girl I was with and my
son, we lived at the house withmy mom and my dad.
Okay.
Like I said, we were all prettyclose in family, but I knew my
mom couldn't do it by herself.
none (08:24):
Yeah.
Matt (08:24):
So I stayed and helped my mom with the bills and
everything.
And then after my dad passedaway, we all just kind of went
our separate ways.
Okay.
He was like the backbone of thefamily.
He was the glue.
Yeah.
It held everything together.
So, um, we moved to Troy,Alabama, stayed down there for a
while ended up coming back,found out she was pregnant again
(08:46):
with our second son, and, um,moved back up here and things
just went south.
We separated.
Phil (08:54):
not drugs or anything at that point?
No.
Just you guys just couldn't getalong anymore and just kind of
Matt (08:59):
Right.
And she was pregnant with oursecond son and, um, I ended up,
uh, my mom, she had got a newboyfriend and um, I ended up
going to stay out where theywere.
So you were
Phil (09:09):
back on your own, just living with your mom and she had
the kids or what was right?
Yeah.
Okay.
Matt (09:15):
When I moved in with my mom, there was some people out
there that always partying,doing different stuff.
I'm still working two jobs.
Like they were
Toni (09:22):
already using at this point.
At your
Phil (09:24):
mom's house, right.
That, so her and her newboyfriend, there was drugs they
were using.
Yes, sir.
And you were just living thereworking two jobs.
Right.
Matt (09:32):
I didn't know what they were doing because I worked my
daytime job at doing the swimpools again.
And then at night I worked backat pizza.
Yeah.
Phil (09:41):
So you were gone a lot.
Right.
Most of the time I was gone allday.
Were there drugs at all in yourmom's life as you were growing
up or this was a more No, thiswas, she just had done that.
And by the time you came back,she was in the midst of that.
Matt (09:52):
And I think like what really happened is when my dad
passed away and everybody justwent their own separate way,
knowing how to cope and dealwith a death.
We just didn't know how.
Yeah.
You know, growing up, I'd neverbeen to a funeral.
Toni (10:07):
Yeah.
Especially like a death of thatmagnitude.
Like, his dad was so significantin their family.
Phil (10:13):
Yeah.
And
Toni (10:13):
nobody knew how to deal with losing him.
Phil (10:16):
Wow.
Toni (10:16):
And
Phil (10:17):
was there any faith in your childhood?
Like, did you guys go to churchat all or was that a part of
your childhood at all?
Matt (10:24):
We did go to church growing up.
Just being a young kid reallydidn't understand Yeah.
What everything was.
I just know that we went tochurch and we always heard about
God and Jesus and the thingsthat he could do for us and
everything, but I never took itin.
none (10:41):
Yeah.
Matt (10:42):
still to this day, I, I do have some, uh, struggles.
Struggles with my faith.
none (10:47):
Okay.
Matt (10:48):
I've always had a issue with it.
It's hard to put my faith intosomething that I can't
physically see or hear.
Phil (10:53):
Yeah.
I mean, it is hard.
Yeah.
Matt (10:57):
But looking back throughout my whole life, I know
if it wasn't for him, I wouldn'tbe here.
Phil (11:01):
Yeah.
Matt (11:02):
But, uh,
Phil (11:03):
so you're in a bad situation.
You're living with your mom, herand her boyfriend are doing
drugs.
Well, there was a
Matt (11:08):
bunch of people I didn't even know my mom was doing
drugs.
Phil (11:11):
So there was other people living at the house or just She
was connected to a,
Matt (11:15):
it was like a party spot?
It was party house all the time.
Was it a trap
Phil (11:17):
house essentially?
No, and it was, it was just aparty house.
Drugs everywhere.
Yeah.
We lived
Matt (11:21):
on the back waters, like out there grilling and Oh,
throwing horseshoe on the boat.
Jet skis, like whatever.
Phil (11:29):
Somebody had money,
Matt (11:30):
uh, I mean from somewhere people up the river and stuff.
Like we had a boat.
But my mom's boyfriend had aboat and then people from other
river, like we had the onlyconcrete dock and boat ramp in
our front yard.
So everybody comes there andthat's how we met up with a lot
of the people.
But like I said, with me workingtwo jobs, I never knew what was
(11:51):
going on at home.
I just know I'd come home crazyand everybody's partying, like
drinking out on the dock,listening to music.
It is 11 o'clock at night.
Wow.
And I had a really bad day atwork and um, I come home and a
friend of mine that was there,he was like, why don't you come
out here and party with us?
I'm like, bro, I'm tired.
I'm ready to go to bed.
Had a bad day, just lemme be.
(12:13):
And he was like, come on man.
I got some girls out here.
And I'm like, he was like, butbefore we go out there, he was
like, look, this will help youout he opened the roll top desk
that we had and, uh.
You know the plastic CD cases?
none (12:25):
Yeah.
Matt (12:25):
He had a bunch of lines cut out on it.
I never knew, I never beenaround no drugs.
Seen people smoke weed and stuffgrowing up.
none (12:32):
Yeah.
Matt (12:32):
But like never been around, nothing hardcore I was
like, I asked him, I said, whatis that?
And he told me, he said, its Andhe is like, all you do is snort
line and you'll be good to go.
And um, I was like, I don't knowhow to do that.
Like, I'm, I'm truly dumb todrugs.
'Cause my dad kept us away fromall that growing up.
none (12:49):
Yeah.
Matt (12:50):
Uh, we didn't get to go run the streets.
We didn't get to go play.
He was working too much.
Phil (12:54):
He couldn't get in trouble.
Matt (12:55):
Well, I'm talking about like growing up.
Yeah.
Even as kept you teenager, hekept you
Phil (13:00):
away from that,
Matt (13:00):
right?
Yeah.
Like he never had a sleep overuntil he was like 16 years old,
old.
I never spent the night offuntil I was like 16.
Man, I like
Phil (13:07):
your dad.
And, um,
Matt (13:09):
like we could have friends come to the house, but we could
never go to their house or golike we could go other.
Yeah.
Your dad
Phil (13:16):
wanted to protect you, it sounds like.
He understood the things thatoften happen when you go other
places.
And
Matt (13:21):
truthfully, I'm, if I'm truthful, I used to think that
my dad was just wrong.
But now that I've had kids of myown.
Stuff.
And the way the world is turningout now, I could it is just, I
understand.
none (13:34):
Yeah.
Matt (13:35):
But
Phil (13:35):
so I like your dad, man.
I, uh, I'm a strange bird likethat.
I've never, I don't let my kidssleep over at other places.
And man, he was real
Matt (13:42):
strict.
Like I got in a lot of troublegrowing up in elementary school
and stuff.
Toni (13:48):
Matthew's a troublemaker.
Matt (13:50):
I was, I was, I really was.
Like, my dad spent more time atschool in fourth grade than I
did.
Wow.
But I understand why now, why hewas so strict on us and try to
protect us from the lifestyle.
Like my co realizing as I wasgetting older, my cousins was
always in and outta trouble, um,on cocaine and stuff.
Like meth wasn't a thing backwhen I was growing up.
(14:13):
Not around here.
It was all cocaine or weed.
Phil (14:16):
Yeah.
And your, I guess your dad wasprobably very aware of the, your
cousins and everything that wasgoing on.
He would
Matt (14:22):
like, we couldn't even go over to their house without him.
Wow.
And if we did go over there, wemostly sit in the car, but Wow.
So I never So you,
Phil (14:32):
you were at that party.
Yeah.
And that was your first exposureto Drove
Matt (14:36):
Was.
And so he was like, I'll showyou how.
So he snorted a little bit of aline and me not knowing any
better, like the CD case hadlines cut all the way across it,
big lines.
And I didn't know that you wasonly supposed to snort a little
bit of it at a time.
So I snorted a whole line.
That was a lot.
It was almost a half a eightball.
Is that Yeah,
Phil (14:55):
it's a lot in the, in the world of drugs.
Is that like a Yeah.
Really big amount.
Especially for your first time.
Matt (15:00):
Yes.
Like for back then, because itwas red phosphorous meth, which
is cooked with a bunch ofdifferent chemicals, so it's a
lot stronger.
But, uh, I didn't know.
I did the whole thing.
I stayed up for seven days, man.
Phil (15:12):
Wow.
Matt (15:12):
And
Phil (15:13):
wow.
So that, that was it.
That just, I lost my
Matt (15:16):
job.
Both my jobs.
I lost
Phil (15:18):
you.
You dove headfirst into thedarkness in that one moment.
Matt (15:21):
Right.
And in a split second.
Like this time.
The thing about it is though,that one time did it.
I was hooked.
Phil (15:26):
That's so crazy.
But, and it's.
Just to think about the way thatour enemy works.
Like you had no idea.
You're, you're just likeinnocent of that world.
Yeah.
And you don't have theunderstanding and the knowledge
and you, and
Matt (15:40):
like I experienced with weed before, you know, or like,
uh, Adderall pills in highschool.
none (15:46):
Yeah.
Matt (15:47):
But just the Adderall in high school, I, a friend of mine
told me like, if you're tired,you can take one of these
because Wow.
Even in high school I worked.
Yeah.
And so being tired on the daysthat I did go to school anyways.
So seven
Phil (16:02):
y
Matt (16:02):
seven
Phil (16:03):
days straight.
Yes sir.
Just the lack of sleep.
Even let alone the toxicity ofthe drugs.
The, I mean,
Toni (16:09):
you start hallucinating hearing start hall, start
Matt (16:11):
hallucinating seeing stuff that ain't there.
And do you remember
Phil (16:14):
that seven days or?
Matt (16:16):
No,
Phil (16:17):
it's kind of,
Matt (16:17):
I remember one part of it.
And that's what made everybodylike, you gotta go to sleep.
Someone accused me of stealingtheir drugs and I put a shotgun
to his chin.
And when I went to pull thetrigger my mom's boyfriend
slapped the gun away and I blewa hole to the roof of the, uh,
house.
What, this was during that sevenday period?
Yes, it was the seventh day.
(16:38):
Wow.
And finally they were like, yougotta go to sleep.
Uh.
Toni (16:42):
He was losing it at that point.
Matt (16:44):
Right.
Toni (16:44):
And this was his first experience.
I didn't know how to handle it.
Wow.
Know, he was very, that thingthat's so
Matt (16:49):
intense at that time.
One thing I had never done isstole anything from anyone that
was close to me, and the guythat accused me of stealing his
dope.
Like he was real close to ourlittle family.
Yeah.
You know?
And, um, so finally the guy thatgave me the dope the first time
he, uh, took me in the, he tookme to my room and he was like,
(17:10):
bro, you gotta go to sleep.
And I'm like, I'm good.
Just let me be.
So you weren't tired at all?
No, but not realizing that mybody was running down from being
up for so long.
Yeah.
But I kept doing dope throughoutthe seven days.
I know that.
Wow.
You know,
Phil (17:25):
I assume during that time you probably lost both your jobs
not showing up for work.
Matt (17:29):
I did.
I lost both jobs.
I didn't see my, my son at allduring that whole week.
And then I slept for three days.
They locked me, they actuallylocked me in the bedroom.
They put a padlock on theoutside of my door and locked me
in my room.
And every day they would come inand feed me, make sure I had
food and stuff.
And I would come out and take ashower.
But after I got to sleep and Iwould wake up, I would, I'm
(17:53):
ready to go back to sleep.
none (17:54):
Wow.
Matt (17:55):
But after the three days of me sleeping, I got up and did
it all over again and just keptgoing.
You just hit the
Phil (17:59):
meth hard again.
Matt (18:00):
I was in addiction for 14 years.
Phil (18:02):
So it that by that point there was such a compulsion in
you that you just
Matt (18:07):
really, I think what it was that started out my
addiction was the fun that wehad.
none (18:13):
Yeah.
Matt (18:14):
We used to go out on, on the John boat, go gator hunting
down the river, just partying,grilling out, and everybody
Toni (18:21):
was doing it.
Matt (18:22):
Yeah.
And it wasn't just like five orsix of us.
There was always 30 or 40 peoplethere always.
Wow.
And just living the way the dopewas for me.
When I got, when I went toprison in 2017, dope for me was
different than what it was whenI started in 2004.
Phil (18:40):
Okay.
It was all about the fun in thebeginning.
Matt (18:43):
Everything was fun.
Everybody had good times.
We would go out, shoot, pool, godrinking at the bar, like we had
fun, and not realizing thatwe're tearing our mind and our
body up with this stuff
Toni (18:57):
and they were losing everything in the process.
Phil (18:59):
So as you, you had lost your jobs.
You were having fun when the,when you started running into.
Don't have money for bills, foranything, for food, for like,
Matt (19:09):
well, one of the guys that partied with us owned a lawn
care service.
So we go out and work during theday and then nighttime party all
night
Phil (19:18):
and go out the next.
So he would pay you guys to justkeep paying the bills, the light
bill and keep going the houseand Yeah,
Matt (19:23):
like we worked a full-time job.
Did y'all all
Phil (19:25):
that many people like live there?
No,
Matt (19:27):
no, no.
Like it was all up and down theriver.
Friends from throughout town,stuff like, we all just hung out
there.
Wow.
I think that was only probablytwo or three days that I've seen
of the six or eight months ofliving out there where it was
just calm and quiet.
Phil (19:45):
So that was six eighth month stretch.
Yeah.
So what, what happened afterthat then?
Matt (19:50):
Kept getting high, just bouncing around.
Um,
Phil (19:53):
were you part of your kids' lives during that time?
Matt (19:56):
Somewhat.
I was trying to be, but theywouldn't let me because they
knew.
Knew the lifestyle not I starteddoing.
Yeah.
Which back then I used to blamethem when really I should have
blamed myself.
And so I understand why theyprotected my kids from seeing me
and I had started being in andoutta jail.
And two, so
Phil (20:16):
you, well, what kind of charges landed you in jail?
Matt (20:18):
Uh, my first charge ever was manufacturing.
Phil (20:20):
Of meth.
Meth.
Yeah.
that's a pretty serious charge,I guess, right?
Matt (20:23):
It is real serious.
Yeah.
Um, I had a 12 year sentence.
Phil (20:26):
You were in your early
Matt (20:27):
twenties?
I went to jail in 2006 formanufacturing, but before that
I've been to jail, like forpossession of marijuana.
my wife at the time put me onchild support and I wasn't
paying it.
They're not letting me see mykids.
I'm not paying, it was mymindset.
Yeah.
Not realizing that I was hurtingmy kids more than anything.
So I was in and outta jail acouple times, still doing dope.
(20:49):
and then I got busted.
Me and another girl got bustedwith a meth lab and I ended up
getting a 12 year sentence splitdue 18 months in the county,
which I ended up doing two yearson that.
Phil (21:03):
In the county jail?
Matt (21:04):
Yes, sir.
And I got out and I was tryingto do good.
Me and my kid's mom got backtogether and not knowing that
when I got out, she was on dope.
Phil (21:13):
So you go right back into an environment where it's, where
were you still using while youwere in jail?
No,
Matt (21:19):
I was clean for Was that
Phil (21:20):
because you just made the decision to stay away from it,
or was it really difficult toget access to?
Matt (21:26):
Uh, a little bit of both.
Okay.
Like.
Probably if they could've got itin there, I probably would've
did it.
And then I got out and she wasdoing drugs too, like we were
staying together and she waslaying in the bed right next to
me and smoke a bowl.
And it just got to the point towhere
Phil (21:41):
is that meth?
Matt (21:42):
Yeah.
It got to the point to where I'mlike, lemme get at it.
Phil (21:45):
Wow.
So you got right back into it?
Matt (21:47):
Yeah, I think I was out for about maybe two and a half,
three weeks, and then I gotright back on it.
And from there it was just adownhill spiral man.
I ended up homeless, like Islept in the woods under a
camper shell that goes on thetruck.
Yeah.
I slept in the woods for twomonths under that.
Phil (22:04):
Wow.
Storage units he lived in.
So did she kick you out or wasit No, I left Because you were
just, you knew you were a mess.
To find out
Matt (22:10):
where she had me staying was her boyfriend's house.
He was outta town working.
Phil (22:15):
Wow.
Yeah.
And so he was gonna be comingback, so you just got out before
he came back.
Matt (22:19):
And the bad part about it is I knew the guy, like we used
to work together but when wewere together, he didn't have
the house.
He had a completely differentplace, like neither here nor
there, so I ended up leavingjust bouncing from place to
place.
Getting with this girl, thatgirl doing whatever, just kept
doing dope.
In and outta jail,
Phil (22:36):
living the party life.
Don't care about responsibility.
No cares in the world.
Yeah.
Really.
The drugs just,
Matt (22:42):
yeah.
And then, um,
Phil (22:44):
did you have to check in with like a probation
Toni (22:46):
officer during that time?
I never did.
He was always on the run.
Phil (22:49):
Okay.
So there was probably a warrantout for your arrest.
You're just trying to alwaysdodge and that's one
Matt (22:54):
reason why I bounced from place to place is I never stayed
in one place for more than twoweeks.
Okay.
Toni (22:58):
Yeah.
Like there's probably not abondsman around here that hasn't
bonded him out and tell you theywill never do it again.
Yeah.
Phil (23:06):
Wow.
'cause they would try to findyou and they just could, you
just kept bouncing so much theycouldn't find you.
Yeah.
Toni (23:11):
Right.
Matthew used to tell them like,you better lay up your Nikes,
put shoes.
Phil (23:15):
Wow.
Did you ever, was anybody everclose to catching you?
Like, uh, oh yeah.
But you just snuck out, got awayfrom'em
Matt (23:22):
Man, one bondsman was coming in the front door and I
was going out the back.
Phil (23:25):
What is that scenario like?
do they have guns?
do you never, do people shootback at them or just like, I
around never stuck around tofind out.
Matt (23:34):
I, they was always an escape route.
Wherever I was at, I could getout.
Yeah.
And I used to stay, uh, with afriend of mine.
And, uh, they, him and his wife,they had a big property and
stuff and they had a falloutshelter.
Like a bomb shelter.
none (23:48):
Yeah.
Matt (23:49):
And, uh, the bondsman and police and everybody came out
there, one line, I'm in the bombshelter, watching'em on camera
walk right over the top of me.
And they couldn't find me
Phil (23:58):
because they didn't know where the entrance was.
Right.
Matt (24:00):
It was covered with grass.
If you didn't know where it was,you would never find it.
Wow.
And so I'm hiding and then whenthey leave, I leave from there.
I won't go back for a while.
And, uh, wow.
Just on the, always on the rundoing stupid stuff.
And, um,
Phil (24:17):
Were you manufacturing at that time or just using
Matt (24:19):
No, just using
Phil (24:20):
sell.
Like how'd you make money?
Did you just bum off of otherpeople?
Matt (24:23):
Sell dope.
Phil (24:24):
Okay.
Matt (24:25):
I would, I would hit a lick, which is
Toni (24:28):
a robbery.
Yeah.
Matt (24:29):
Like, we'll go steal copper or something, cash it in
that scrape yard, get money andwe'll go buy a big quantity of
dope and then just turn aroundand sell it.
That way we can make money andstill get high.
none (24:40):
Okay.
Matt (24:40):
So we did that for a while in and outta jail again.
Possession of meth.
Phil (24:46):
During that time, you said you were homeless, like living
under a camper for a couple ofmonths too.
Matt (24:50):
Yeah.
Like, it was just always drugs.
Phil (24:53):
Were you ever like afraid or worried or were you just
like, yeah.
Didn't care.
You're just kind of stayed sohigh, you just, nothing
mattered.
Toni (25:00):
Yeah.
Didn't, I didn't care aboutlife.
He didn't care.
He knew at that point, like hecouldn't see his kids, and so
Phil (25:07):
nothing mattered.
Toni (25:08):
Yeah.
Nothing mattered.
Yeah.
Whether he lived or died or, Ididn't see my
Matt (25:11):
kids for 12 years.
none (25:12):
Wow.
Toni (25:12):
And um,
Phil (25:13):
wow.
So you just using the drugs tocope with not knowing how to
deal with life essentially.
I guess his
Toni (25:20):
mental, at that point, like he couldn't see like, Hey,
if I get clean and I get my lifetogether, I can have my kids
back in my life.
There was no logic
Matt (25:30):
in your thinking, right?
I knew I couldn't get cleanthough.
Not with the lifestyle I wasliving.
The friends that I had, therewas no getting clean.
It was hopeless.
It was.
And I've always told myself, ifI ever went to prison due to my
habit, I would be done.
Being in and outta a county jailis nothing, you know, do two
months, five months, whatever.
(25:52):
It's
Phil (25:52):
not, it's not too dangerous.
Sometimes people say prisonwasn't that bad.
Sometimes they say it was anightmare.
Matt (25:58):
I mean, it depends on where you're at.
Yeah.
And what you make it really.
But county
Toni (26:01):
jail, I think once you've been there so many times, it's
like, Hey, I know everybody.
Yeah.
It is like a,
Matt (26:07):
truthfully, it is like a family reunion when you walk in
there.
Not with like blood family, butlike your street family.
Yeah.
All your buddies.
They're like, Hey, I'm backguys.
Toni (26:17):
Right.
So it's like, okay, I am goingback to county.
Big deal.
Wow.
Matt (26:21):
And so it was just crazy.
And um, I got with this one girlright before I got arrested.
We've been together for a coupleyears and we were doing dope
and, uh, selling dope and stuff.
And I went to jail.
I did like five months in jailand got out.
And, um, when I got out we were,uh, stealing credit cards,
(26:41):
washing checks, uh Wow.
Doing all kind of stuff.
So
Phil (26:45):
you had been connected in that world that you knew how to
do some higher level criminalstuff,
Matt (26:51):
right?
Yeah, I did a lot of whitecollar stuff.
It was almost$500,000 worth ofwhite collar stuff.
Wow.
And, uh, we were still in creditcards stealing mail outta
mailboxes, still getting high.
And it got to the point where, Idon't know, to me that addiction
of the adrenaline wasoverpowering the dope because
(27:11):
the dope was no good.
No more
Phil (27:13):
how do you mean the adrenaline?
Matt (27:14):
Like the adrenaline.
It was so easy.
The adrenaline, just thecriminal activities and the
Phil (27:18):
like, you can live the high life steal, make a lot of
money, and it make a lot of
Matt (27:22):
money.
Still get high, had a place tolive, like had a vehicle.
Still wasn't working,
Phil (27:28):
because you were making so much money just criminally.
He must be a smart fella.
Like that sounds like somehigher level kind of stuff.
Toni (27:34):
He's super smart.
He is super,
Matt (27:35):
super smart.
You could teach me how to dosomething one way and I'll find
out 10 other ways to do itbetter.
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
And that's what happened.
Someone taught me how to docredit card fraud and I took it
Toni (27:46):
10
Matt (27:47):
step
Toni (27:47):
higher.
Wow.
And yeah, when Matthew sets hismind to something, there is
like, no stopping him.
Matt (27:54):
But, um, we got together, we were still in like we were
still in mail outta mailboxes toget the credit cards and checks
and money orders, stuff likethat.
Yeah.
We could wash the checks, washthe money orders and refill'em
out to us.
But I had IDs, a bunch ofdifferent IDs with my picture
book with different folks'information.
So I fill it out to somebodyelse, go in somewhere and cash
(28:16):
it.
It's not on my real name.
none (28:18):
Yeah.
Matt (28:18):
And uh, we ended up the federal, uh, the postmaster
started doing a federalinvestigation on us.
'cause we were still in Mill.
And, uh, they kicked our door ina few times looking for us, but
we didn't stay there.
We at hotels or, yeah, we had anapartment out on south side of
Columbus, like just goingdifferent places.
Never got caught up.
(28:38):
And then, um.
I had someone that was living inmy house, and truthfully, still
to this day, I believe the guyset me up.
Wow.
He knew exactly where we weregoing and how, what vehicle you
were in, what vehicle I was in,and what route we go to get
there.
He knew everything.
Wow.
And the police was waiting onme.
He must
Phil (28:57):
have made a deal.
I guess he, he had some chargespending and he probably,
Matt (29:01):
and so, um, we, we were going and we had her kids with
us.
They were two 5-year-old twinsat the time.
And I made a stupid decisionthat when the police pulled me
over, once they got to the backof the car, it was gonna take
off.
And I did, like when
Phil (29:13):
they walked up to the car, you just hit the gas.
Right.
Matt (29:15):
Right.
And I did.
And man, I ain't even gonna lieto you.
Never had no issue with his car.
I drove this car, I gave it helland, and never had no issue with
this.
One time I turned a corner sharpand the battery fell over into
the motor.
What?
Shut the whole car off.
Wow.
Shut the whole car off.
Vulnerabilities.
Police got me they got me good.
Toni (29:36):
Hindsight's 2020.
But in that moment, that was thebeginning of God saving him.
And that is the end of part oneof Matt and Tony's story.
You will hear next week just howGod began to step in and change
everything for Matt's life.
And if we have time next week,we'll also start getting into
(29:57):
Tony's story, which is totallydifferent and just as amazing as
Mats.
So thank you for being with usthis week and we look forward to
being with you again next week.
God bless you.
Phil Shuler (30:10):
We look forward to being with you again next week
as we share another testimonyabout the power and the goodness
of God to change lives throughSafe House Ministries.
if you are someone listening tothis podcast that loves to hear
these stories of the greatthings that God is doing in
changing people's lives for thebetter, and if you would like to
be a part of that work, pleasereach out to us You can reach us
(30:33):
at 2101 Hamilton Road, Columbus,Georgia, 31,904.
You can call us at seven oh sixthree two two.
3 7, 7 3, or you can email us atinfo@safehouse-ministries.com.
Microphone (Samson Q2U Mi (30:48):
Thank you so much for being with us
this week for the renew restoreand rejoice podcast of safe
house ministries, we pray thatGod will bless you this week.
And we look forward to havingyou back with us again next week
for a new episode.
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.