Journey to Eden: From the Pit to the Palace

By Connie Goncin

“Where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and Makes us Strong Again.”
Anne Frank
(Centennial Media (2018) Worth Street, 10th floor. New York NY
…Ann Frank: A light in History’s Darkest Hour.

Read Connie’s journey, a surrender to God, which led her to a new found freedom, a life without Addictions, Fears, Anxiety and Depression. God can do for you what you can’t do for yourself. Experience her walk through God’s Garden, a dwelling place where you can receive God’s guidance, love and wisdom, a real live encounter with the living God and his mercy. You will enjoy reading a real life, story that will hopefully encourage you, to go deeper with God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973676348

Connie Goncin

Connie Goncin is an author, single mother of three, and a lover of Jesus. She has overcome addictions, pain, oppression, and many obstacles of life. She now walks with God experiencing his mercy, peace, love, joy, and supernatural revelations daily. She received a Masters of Science Addiction Counseling. She believes that all things are possible with God.

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Copyright © 2019 Connie Goncin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7633-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7635-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7634-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019915700

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/12/2019

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 My Story

Chapter 2 Rightful Judge

Chapter 3 My Journey

Chapter 4 Revelations from the Garden

Chapter 5 Together in the Garden of Love

Chapter 6 Seeds of Eternity and the Kingdom Within

Chapter 7 The Narrow Gate

Chapter 8 Noah’s Day

Chapter 9 The Kingdom of God and the Promised Land

Chapter 10 New Light

Chapter 11 Rise and Shine

Chapter 12 Becoming a Slave to Christ

I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.

—Abraham Lincoln¹

I

dedicate this book to my beautiful daughters —

Sarah, Ivana, and Mila.

Introduction

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Again I will build you and you shall be built.

—Jeremiah 31:3

I am so excited to be writing this book—a dream come true! I dedicate it to Jesus, the redeemer of my soul, my beautiful daughters, those who desire to go deep with God, and those who don’t know the Lord yet.

You are about to experience my journey on the road from a destructive life to a life of peace and joy. I now live for the one who gives life abundantly.

About nine years ago after many years of suffering from addictions, I returned to the Lord and surrendered my life to him. When I was a little girl, I knew Jesus as what I describe as the Sunday school God. I grew up in a Baptist church and would attend Sunday school but never thought I could ever have a personal relationship with him as I do today. I found out that God had plans for my life and that he was always watching over me even when I didn’t know it. I ran away from him so many years, but he never left me.

When I was young, I was always excited about taking the bus by myself to Sunday school. One year, Christmas fell on a Sunday; no matter what—I was going to Sunday school. I was the only one on the bus that morning.

I didn’t attend church when I was a teenager; it didn’t interest me anymore. Once I got into drugs and alcohol, I wandered far away from God. I loved God, but I could never follow him wholeheartedly because of my addiction to drugs and alcohol. I remember saying, I’ll give up everything, God, but that. I didn’t have the power to do it. But I learned we are not supposed to do it on our own power; if we could, we would never need a Savior. He saved us and is always pursuing us, so we need to yield to his Holy Spirit and turn our wills over to him so he can go to work with us and deliver and heal us.

When I finally did surrender, I never in my wildest dreams thought he would have given me such a beautiful exchange—his life for my life. In John 4, we read that Jesus is the gift from the Father, and he truly is our gift, but to have a gift means we have to receive it. I chose to make him my own, and in return, he gave me peace and joy beyond description. I finally found a place where I belonged and decided to surrender to him and follow him.

I attended a revival with my friends Wendy, Tammy, and Juanita, who were always faithful to me in the early days of my recovery. The worship and prayer revival, called Fire in February, was held in Dearborn, Michigan. People prayed that the fire of God would show up and a revival would start—the revival that was prophesied for the last days. It was for those who wanted a fresh touch from God, healing, and prayer.

The evangelist prayed for people, and some were slain in the Spirit all over the church. Many, including me, cried out at the altar. It was a powerful and memorable night that left a mark on my life. I cried out about the hard life I had lived. My wrong choices had caused most of the difficulties I faced, and I wanted God to remove them. Little did I know that he would do it but that it would be a long journey.

I had a vision at the altar that seemed more real than words can explain. I saw a roller-coaster car pull up. Jesus was in it. I felt he wanted me to get in. I did so; I had lost so much because of my wrong choices that I had nothing left to lose. I decided to go for it—I got on that roller-coaster, and off we went. It was a wild journey that led to my freedom.

He said in his Word that he would never leave us or forsake us. He said in essence, Ride with me—not with anyone else or alone but with me. I’ll be your friend. I’ll be your Savior. It seems I had this encounter with him only yesterday.

In this book, I will bring to life all the encounters I have had with the Lord and the words of wisdom he spoke to me during our roller-coaster ride. I’ve wanted to write this book for a long time. I believe it was always my destiny to write, but during my years of addiction, I put it on a back burner since for me, getting high was always on the front burner. I never imagined I was good enough to write a book.

I hope as you read my book that you will feel what I felt during these encounters and be encouraged to seek him out for yourself. He has a vast universe of revelations, but he needs willing vessels to go with him on a journey of encounters, revelations, and stories he can share with people. He told me, I have as many revelations as there are grains of sand on a beach. We limit God and put him in a box, but he is so much bigger than that with so much wisdom. Jesus is wisdom and revelation; he can be everything for you just as he has been for me. Do you need a teacher, friend, husband, counselor, savior, and deliverer? He can be these things and so much more. He is the pearl of great price; all we have to do is surrender our lives to him and set our heart to love.

I was in a pit of despair for many years. I never thought I would ever get out of my life of addiction to drugs and alcohol. I tried to hide it from people, but my family and close friends always knew what was going on. When you are in the clutches of addiction, you believe you have it under control until it spins you out of control—total deception. It becomes your obsession, and it can destroy you and everyone around you indirectly if not directly.

I came to realize that a power greater than myself could restore me and give me a sound mind. I knew that once I fully surrendered the Lord, the God I knew as a little girl in Sunday school would help me. But surrendering myself to him was my most difficult job.

CHAPTER 1

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My Story

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rail fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it.

–(Matthew 7:24–27)

I n 2010, I was arrested for drunk driving for the third time. That arrest was different from other times because I had caused an accident. I started drinking after work. Then went to my weekly softball game and continued drinking, before and during my game. I played on an all woman’s league and there was always a lot of drinking. When the game ended, I continued drinking with a team member at a bar. While I was at the bar, I called my drug dealer. Drugs and alcohol went hand in hand in my world then.

I went to meet my dealer. I was so messed up that I twice sat through green lights and then drove through a red light and broadsided a