Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald celebrated their wedding in November, surrounded by all their loved ones. And one of the men who played an important role in their big day is now opening up about his battle with addiction.
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Speaking in a YouTube video titled “Ben Seewald’s Groomsman Shares His Life-Changing Testimony!”, Seewald’s good friend and groomsman, Ryan Schofield, opened up about his past struggle with addiction.
“I got into drugs and alcohol for at least seven years or so, in and out of jail,” Schofield tells Seewald in the clip. “I started off with marijuana and drinking and things like that, but as time went on, I got involved with methamphetamine.”
Detailing one of the reasons why he began using drugs as a teenager, he says, “I wanted to escape a lot of problems that I had, and anger and issues that were going on. I was depressed and selfish and self-seeking.
“I really was only worried about myself,” he adds. “I really got on methamphetamines and stayed on methamphetamines for almost six years, from age about 15 to 19. I was on methamphetamines almost every day.”
His battle with addiction landed him in jail, and after he had become a free man again, Schofield decided he would switch to alcohol “because it was legal.”
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But he did not just enjoy a glass of wine with dinner every now and then. He admits he “became a raging alcoholic and a big-time partier.”
When he met his now-wife Ally, she was just 16 years old, and pregnant with another man’s baby. She was also dealing with her own issues.
“I was super rebellious and selfish and angry. A very angry teenager,” Ally told Seewald. “Grasping at anything to fill a void: Sex, relationships, drugs, parties, popularity, just anything to fill that void.”
The couple began dating but were not very faithful to each other until two years later, when Ally got pregnant with Ryan’s baby. They admitted they were not ready to become parents and seriously considered having an abortion (which is something the Duggar family strongly opposes), but in the end they decided to keep the child, who has now grown into a beautiful 6-year-old little girl.
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“God and his grace intervened and didn’t let me go through with it,” Ally explains. “He changed my heart. I remember just deciding that no matter what happened in Ryan’s life, I would be a mom to this baby.”
And it’s not just her heart that Ally credits God for; she also says he saved their lives.
“Drugs and alcohol were easy to quit,” she says. “God gave me freedom over that.”
Watch the clip below.
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