Episode 655: Abandoned at 14, Saved by Faith: Sam West's Incredible Story of Forgiveness and RedemptionEpisode 655: Abandoned at 14, Saved by Faith: Sam West's Incredible Story of Forgiveness and Redemption
Busy Living Sober with Host Elizabeth Chance
Sam West shares how being abandoned at fourteen led to ranch life, faith, law enforcement and, eventually, forgiving and caring for his parents in their final years. The conversation touches on humility, love, alcohol as escape, and what it might mean to choose forgiveness over bitterness.
1:01:43•7 Jul 2026
From Roadside Abandonment to Radical Forgiveness: Sam West's Story
Episode Overview
- Severe childhood wounds do not have to define a person’s future, especially when new community and faith are embraced.
- Moving from being hostile to becoming humble is key to growth in relationships, marriage and spiritual life.
- Loving and forgiving those who hurt you, even parents, can lighten a lifelong burden and offer unexpected healing.
- Modern forms of abandonment, such as leaving children to devices and busyness, can be as damaging as physical absence.
- Alcohol and other escapes are addressed in scripture as false comforts, pointing instead toward genuine love and connection.
“There's nothing you've done in this world that would remove the love that God has for you.”
What drives someone to seek a life of faith after being left behind in the worst way imaginable? This conversation between host Elizabeth "Bizzy" Chance and Sam West centres on a story that sounds almost unreal: at 14, Sam’s parents drove him into the Texas countryside, set a suitcase by the fence, and drove away in their green Buick. From that terrifying moment came a new life that blends trauma, faith, and hard-earned forgiveness.
Sam talks about walking up the dirt road to a ranch house, where a family silently took him in, fed him, gave him a cabin, and gradually turned a city kid into a “rusty cowboy”.
He recalls learning to weld, ride, brand cattle and be homeschooled, all while slowly realising, "I had no idea God was working in my life, even in the worst time of my life, but he was." The episode tracks how Sam found Jesus at 17, stumbled through a chaotic young adulthood, and eventually entered law enforcement and built a family.
He shares his shift "from hostile to humble", describing how reading John 13:34–35 and meeting his current wife pushed him to stop living half for God and half for his own impulses. For anyone dealing with family wounds or addiction-shaped hurt, the most gripping part may be Sam’s decision, decades later, to bring his ageing parents into his home and care for them until they died.
He and Bizzy talk honestly about how "people carry around grudges like they're a piece of armour" and how heavy that armour becomes. Sam’s account of his father finally hugging him and saying "I love you" on the last day of his life is raw, simple, and deeply moving. You’ll also hear reflections on modern parenting, kids being "abandoned to devices", biblical references to alcohol as escape, and the ongoing struggle to feel "enough".
If forgiveness feels impossible or faith seems distant, this story might leave you wondering: what tiny act of love or courage could you choose today?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.