As White as Snow by Noel Davidson

If you have ever read anything by Noel Davidson you will know that he writes biographies so they are stories about real people. Debbie Forrest was a drug addict before she came to faith in Christ. Many people will immediately react and say 'well thank goodness I am not like her' but hang on a moment, whoever thought that taking the first painkillers for a medical condition could ever lead to life of dependency?

For Debbie it all started in childhood. Debbie confessed to the nuns at the school she attended as a child that she was being sexually abused and they condemned her for leading the man on. When that same abuser started to give her alcohol Debbie was hooked and soon began needing alcohol throughout her teenage years.

This story is harrowing to read as Debbie goes deeper into cannabis addiction until one day her daughter insisted she be taken to church. So began a new journey and brought Debbie to her knees before God.

Today Debbie is a counsellor for many who face similar situations to her own. It was through her appearance on Song's of Praise that led Noel to write her story and believe me there is nothing left out. It's the kind of book that once you start you cannot put down.

 

Reading this book again has really challenged me today. Debbie Forrest qualified as a nurse and worked in a local doctors surgery as a Practice Nurse then moved to work with a drugs company selling inhalers. To get through her weekends she would use cocaine. She decided to cut out the middle man and grow her own cannabis plants at home. One day she was caught but the judge let her off with a warning. Her life was over, no job, no home and yet she continued using drugs, moving into heroin and injecting directly into her veins.

Her daughter went to live with her father but came to stay with her on certain weekends. Anywhere the daughter asked to go she went. One Sunday morning she asked to be taken to church and so they went to the Anglican church down the road. At lunch her daughter asked to go to church again but not the church they had just been to - she wanted to attend the Tambourine Church on down the road. Before the pastor opened the bible or preached his sermon Debbie responded to the music and hymns sung. Unknown to her, her daughter and mother who were present that night also responded. But despite her commitment to Christ and a decision to read and memorise scripture Debbie couldn't break her drug habit.

Then her pastor mentioned Hope House in Wales run by teen challenge. It was her boyfriend who told Debbie of her own hypocrisy and that she needed to change. Debbie mentioned the name of Hope House and her boyfriend recognised the name as belonging to David Wilkerson's organisation from his book The Cross and the Switchblade. So began a journey for Debbie ...

What challenged me was how Debbie read her bible, wrote out large chunks of scripture and memorised it. Now I have to be honest and say that I don't do this and I know I should. What a challenge!