The Road Back Home—Part 1
Our Journey: Faith, Brokenness, and Redemption
Every love story has its highs and lows, but ours is a story of two people who were broken. In this first part of our I Am Second story, Paul and I share how we each struggled with our own issues, how we strayed, and how Jesus never stopped chasing after us. The journey hasn’t been easy, but no matter how far we ran, we were never too far gone for God’s love to find us.
Paul’s Journey: Trying to Fill the Void
Paul’s story starts long before we met. Growing up, he was the “funny guy” in a loud, opinionated family. Being the funny kid became his identity. When you don’t feel like you measure up in other areas, you cling to the one thing that makes you feel valuable, and for Paul, that was his humor.
“I wasn’t an athlete, I wasn’t classically good-looking, and I wasn’t especially smart by the world’s standards. So, what could I offer the world? I could make people laugh. That became my thing—the funny, big guy.”
Paul began emulating comedians and actors he admired, like Chris Farley and John Belushi. But the common denominator between these talented people was their depression and addiction—both of which led to their early deaths. Paul was heading down a similar path, trying to fill the void with substances and performance, all while knowing deep down he wasn’t living as the man God had called him to be.
Amy’s Journey: Broken and Searching for Redemption
My story began in a small town in south Georgia, where I grew up in a Christian home with my two younger sisters. I wasn’t wild in high school. I danced, kept busy with theater, and was involved in church. I had a solid relationship with Jesus, but it was during college that things took a turn.
I started dating a guy, and eventually, we got married. What I didn’t expect was the darkness that would follow. Just a few months into the marriage, I started to notice the abuse. One day, it escalated to the point where he pointed a gun at me and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t shoot you—you’d be a waste of a good bullet.”
In that moment, my self-worth was shattered. I started to believe that I wasn’t worth anything, that I wasn’t loved. Everything I knew to be true about Jesus felt like it had disappeared. I turned to alcohol and the party scene to numb the pain. We were “the fun couple,” throwing big parties while I tried to mask what was really happening behind closed doors.
But one day, I couldn’t take it anymore. I left him. And in the middle of that brokenness, someone in the church told me, “God’s not ever going to want to use you again now that you’re divorced.” So, I drank even more.
The Double Life and a Call Back to Faith
I moved to Tallahassee and tried to piece my life back together. There was still a pull toward Jesus. I got involved in a youth group, even though I was living a double life—partying at home and serving at church. One day, the youth pastor called me out. He said, “Amy, how can you be having this impact at church and then go home and throw parties?”
At first, I was defensive: “You don’t know me. You don’t know my story.” But he was right. I was living a life that didn’t align with my faith. That was the moment I rededicated my life to Jesus. I quit drinking, threw myself into ministry, and started working at a rehab center for alcohol and drug addiction. For the first time in a long time, I felt the fire of the Holy Spirit.
From there, doors started to open. I began organizing events and working with bands like Chris Tomlin and the Passion Band. In 2019, I had the opportunity to help produce my first movie, and I fell in love with the film industry. But before that, something else happened—I met Paul.
“There was something different about Paul’s profile. He was upfront, funny, and didn’t seem like he was trying too hard. I thought, ‘This is someone I could actually spend time with.’”
Watch Part 1 of our Story on I Am Second
IN PART 2
In the next part of our story, we’ll dive into the early days of dating, the whirlwind of falling in love, and the challenges that came with navigating our brokenness together.