Katie's Story: How 30 Days at Selah House Recovery Helped Her Find Herself AgainKatie's Story: How 30 Days at Selah House Recovery Helped Her Find Herself Again
She Surrenders - The Podcast
Katie shares how a slow-growing dependence on alcohol led her to 30 days at Selah House Recovery, where faith, structure and community helped her rebuild her life. She reflects on releasing shame, committing to daily surrender and facing her daughter’s heart transplant with clarity and hope.
30:26•20 Sept 2026
Katie’s 30 Days That Changed Everything: Faith, Rehab and Finding Herself Again
Episode Overview
- Addiction can grow slowly in women who appear to be “fine”, making honesty about identity loss a crucial first step.
- Inpatient treatment provided space to focus on God, learn practical tools and build new habits over 30 days.
- Letting go of church shame and self‑shame was key to Katie embracing forgiveness and walking more confidently in recovery.
- Daily time with God, especially in the morning, acts as a non‑negotiable anchor that supports ongoing sobriety.
- Community and accountability, including alumni groups, help women reach out before relapse rather than after.
“"Change is possible. It's simple surrender. And then you do it over and over... it's really one surrender at a time."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? Katie’s story brings that question to life with honesty, humour, and a lot of faith. This conversation follows Katie, the very first graduate of Selah House Recovery, as she talks about how alcohol quietly took over her life while everything looked “perfect” on the outside – West Michigan, 2.5 kids, church every Sunday.
She shares how she reached the point of saying, “I don’t know who I am anymore,” and why inpatient care became, in her words, “the best thing I ever did.” The chat has a relaxed, kitchen-table feel, with plenty of laughs about millennial mums and “30-day retreats,” but it doesn’t shy away from the hard parts. Katie speaks openly about church shame, self‑shame, and the fear of being a Christian woman who struggles with addiction.
A key turning point comes when she’s told, “Katie, you got to get rid of the church shame and the self shame,” and she starts to stand taller—literally and spiritually. You’ll hear how 30 days at Selah House gave her practical tools, a deepening walk with God, and a new morning routine she fiercely protects.
She talks about daily surrender, filling her life with Christ instead of alcohol, and the power of an alumni community that asks the hard question: “Where’s your time with God?” Katie also shares how sobriety prepared her for one of the biggest tests of her life: her daughter’s heart transplant and five months in hospital, all faced without numbing out.
For women of faith who feel stuck in cycles of quitting and restarting, this story offers real hope rooted in scripture, community, and “one surrender at a time.” If you’re wondering whether real change is possible for you too, what might your next act of surrender look like?
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