Local man finds healing through helping others

Surrounded by the sounds of a gurgling creek in Warrior, while undergoing rehabilitation for addiction and alcoholism, Steve Cofield surrendered his life to Christ. On his knees at the bank that day, he made a promise to give his life to serving the Lord – a promise he is living out through outreach in the Morgan County Jail.

Cofield is a member of Decatur Baptist and does praise and worship for Celebrate Recovery at the church and inside the jail. Cofield is no stranger to the struggle those in Celebrate Recovery face, having been through the same classes he now leads worship for each Saturday night.

Cofield’s battle with addiction began at a young age, the result of a difficult childhood. “I have been in and out of rehab. I have dabbled in drugs and been an alcoholic since I was probably 13 years old,” he explained. “I was using drugs and alcohol to suppress the feelings that I have of being abused as a child. I would always get sober and stay sober for a little while, but I would always relapse. It was this time around that something changed.”

Prior to being admitted to rehab, Cofield said he lost everything in a matter of weeks. After hiring the wrong people at his business, Cofield said he found himself in the grip of addiction again. “This time I was doing meth and drinking like a fish. I think it was in November 2016 I wound up losing my home. I lost my business. Actually, I got a DUI in October of that year, then I lost my house and I lost my business, and then my dad died on Christmas of that same year.

“In a five or six week span I was losing everything I had.”

Cofield said he faced another DUI arrest a couple of days before his father’s memorial service, and his wife left him while he was in jail. “I think it was like two weeks later after the memorial service, I woke up in a suicide unit in Birmingham,” Cofield said.

It was after this loss that Cofield made his creek-side promise of a life of service. “I reminded God of all the 911 calls I called on Him in my lifetime – every time I have gotten in trouble. That day I asked Him to reveal Himself to me. I asked Him to save me from this hell I had created. I asked Him to come in my life,” Cofield said.

Even with the commitment, things were not easy for Cofield. Shortly after being discharged from rehabilitation, he said he found himself behind the walls of the Morgan County Jail. “My bond was $285 in cash and a cosigner, and I stayed in jail for four months,” he said. “I will never forget seeing the Daily Bread pamphlet; it is just like the words just jumped off the page and hit me in the head. It was ‘Be still and know that I am God.’

“I started going to classes in the jail. I was going to AA meetings and to a Life’s Healing choice class. Then I started going to Celebrate Recovery inside. It was there that I got baptized in the jail.”

Cofield was eventually bonded out by Rendell Drummond, who operates a recovery facility in Hartselle and took Cofield there after he was released. “Rendell Drummond didn’t know me from anybody, and he came and posted my bond that day and cosigned my bond and took me out to Living Free. I stayed there about eight months,” Cofield said.

At Living Free, however, Cofield said things were still not easy. “Out at Living Free I was struggling. I wanted to grow; I wanted to spiritually grow, wanted to financially grow,” he said. “I wanted all these things, but I was just not getting anywhere. I was struggling … Rendell told me I had to decide to let go of my past and all the shame and regrets I was carrying around like a big bag of bricks, and until I let all of that go, I was never going to move forward.

“It was a week later that I relapsed. I threw my hands up; I was done. I went and got a half case of beer and some whiskey, and I got me a hotel room, and I drank every bit of it – and didn’t even get a buzz,” Cofield said. “God wasn’t going to let me get a buzz.”

Cofield had to leave Living Free after that, but he said Drummond recommended another program for him. “If Rendell didn’t love me, he would have just kicked me out, but he gave me John MacAbee’s phone number and told me I needed to call him,” Cofield said.

After speaking with MacAbee, Cofield went to the Abiding Place, a transitional program for men getting out of jail and prison. He began going to Decatur Baptist while there and taking part in Celebrate Recovery. “I started going there, and I was reunited with Namon Eldridge, who baptized me in the jail,” Cofield said. “I started going to Celebrate Recovery. I didn’t have a vehicle, but Namon Eldridge and his wife would come every Thursday night and pick me up and take to Celebrate Recovery in Decatur Baptist. From there is where it all started.”

Cofield said he began taking part in a discipleship program and joined the praise and worship team at the church. A year after getting out of jail, he began leading worship for Celebrate Recovery at the Morgan County Jail.

Going into the jail for Celebrate Recovery was an eye-opening experience for Cofield. “What really moved me was when I went into the jail, probably my second or third time, and I started seeing guys that I was in jail with, who were back. I was seeing men that were in halfway houses with me. It was then that I realized recovery is not for the weak,” Cofield explained. “Until you surrender everything – absolutely 100 percent surrender and make Jesus Christ Lord and Savior of your life and stay plugged in with good people – nothing in your life is going to change,” Cofield said.

Cofield said one of many of his accountability partners in overcoming addiction has been Celebrate Recovery. “Celebrate Recovery is not just for alcohol addicts. It’s for people with all types of struggles,” he said. “Eating disorders, dependency … A lot of women in Celebrate Recovery are dealt crappy hands with dysfunctional relationships with men that are alcoholics and abusive relationships.

“In the jail, we just take in positivity. We lift the name of Jesus through praise and worship, and every week we do part of a 12-week study – every week something different,” Cofield said.

Cofiled has now been clean and sober since October 2017 – the longest stretch of sobriety he said he has ever achieved. Cofield said his journey has been one of hills and valleys, and he owes his sobriety to a network of people who love and support him.

“When I was 4 years old, my mother tried to drown me and told me how much she hated me. At the age of 10, my dad’s best friend molested me for almost a year. I numbed those (memories),” Cofield said. “My parents, we just never really got along; there was no love in my family whatsoever. So I used drugs and alcohol to numb that my entire life. Today I have found freedom through the blood of Jesus Christ.”