Yeah

...

but who I would become when I gave my life to Him.

And so, you know, that day, I probably gave my, rededicated my life to Jesus without really knowing what that meant yet.

And then I would go on a journey where I lived in California.

Socrates lived in Florida, and he would call me every single day, pray for me over the phone, read scripture to me, teach me about the authority that I had in Jesus, that I did not have to surrender to the anxiety I was facing.

I did not have to be a victim to alcoholism, and he taught me how to take victory over the things that were terrorizing me.

Sorry.

Actually, why don't you guys just tell us a little bit about yourselves, introduce yourselves to the crowd, tell us a little bit about your testimonies and what led you

guys here.

Hi, guys, my name is Angela, and I'll try to make this really short.

Listen, I was down bad for most of my life, all right? Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus, because most of my life I struggled with mental health, anxiety, depression.

When I got into my 20s, I started having horrible panic attacks.

I was riddled with fear.

I was so consumed with anxiety and fear that I had no idea how I would ever get better.

It

Have you thought about stuff like that?

Yeah.

I mean, a lot, a lot.

I look back at my whole journey, like the few years before I got sober.

I got sober when I was 23 years old after battling a really gnarly alcohol addiction.

I was self-medicating with alcohol because of my severe panic attacks and anxiety.

Like, my mental health was so bad.

Yeah.

W- what was missing from that previous life?

Yeah.

I mean, yeah, we've definitely, um, gone the opposite direction of Girls Gone Wild because anything that the world pushes onto you, and I'm sure you know this, like, there's just so much messaging from the media, from Hollywood, from the world, that is completely lifeless, that's completely, um, opposite to what it's offering you.

Like, that world will be like, "This is liberating.

Do this, wear this, be like this because this is freedom, this is liberating, liberating." But the truth is, it's actually the thing that keeps you in bondage, it's actually the thing that hurts you.

Um, whereas Jesus sends a message that the world sees as, like, that's restricting, that's religious, that's legalistic, but really, He's like, "Actually, there's so much freedom in the safety that I offer when you live life the way that I call you to." And so for Ari and I, I mean, we both have, like, a journey with mental health, with anxiety, with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

I've been sober for five years after self-medicating with alcohol to help my anxiety.

Where do we start?