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A New Spirit
Shorewood man comes to terms with alcoholism, finds God
Published August 13, 2004 – The Hearld News,
Joliet ,
IL
By: Denise M. Baran-Unland
Caption: Josh MacGirvin of Shorewood led his first Bible
study group in April at Community Christian Church, which meets at
Each time Josh MacGirvin of Shorewood attended services at
Community Christian Church in
By November 2002, MacGirvin had made up his mind. He was going to quit drinking cold turkey, no excuses. He did not know he had made a dangerous decision. Three days later, MacGirvin felt so horrible that he believed death was imminent. His mother, Joyce MacGirvin of Shorewood, alarmed at her son's bizarre behavior, refused to let him out of her sight. "Little did I know I should have kept him in his room," Joyce said.
On that third day, while his mother saw the dentist, MacGirvin sat in the waiting room, eyes closed, waiting for death to occur. Then he felt another presence. Opening his eyes, MacGirvin gazed upon the innocent face of a little girl, about 2, who stood near him. In his confusion, MacGirvin thought it was the little girl his girlfriend aborted several years before, come to take him to heaven. "We have to go," MacGirvin told her, taking her by the hand and leading her out into the parking lot and into her family's van. Sitting there, MacGirvin told her, "OK, now we have to wait for someone to take us to heaven." Then, the little girl's mother suddenly flung open the van's door. A panicked MacGirvin quickly exited the van and began to run down the street. He felt a sudden, uncontrollable urge to jump out in front of an oncoming car, and that is the last thing he remembers.
In the meantime, Joyce, finished with her doctor's appointment and horrified to learn that her son was gone, called the police department and heard the words: "There's been an accident down the road. We think it's your son." "She (Joyce's dentist) was very kind. She cancelled her afternoon appointments and took me over to the hospital," Joyce said.
MacGirvin made it through the accident, and he completed his detoxification within the confines of Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet and began recovering from his alcoholism at Stepping Stones in Joliet. He highly praises Stepping Stones' program. He now leads a small group for young men through Community Christian Church at Trinity Christian School in Shorewood and is both humbled and excited by God's manifestation in his life. "My strength is now in Christ. I'm falling in love with Jesus more every day," said MacGirvin. "I'm at peace knowing that Christ is alive and I'm enjoying where I'm at, knowing that Christ is working through me."
Downward Spiral
MacGirvin once had grown up in a Christian home and even accepted Jesus as his savior when he was only 6 years old. But he suddenly had the spiritual rug pulled out from under his feet, when his parents, disagreeing with certain policies at their church, decided to leave their home church. They did not join another one. By junior high, MacGirvin discovered that alcohol was fun, and by mid-high school, he was drinking nearly every day. He began experimenting with marijuana, too. Grades that slid downhill did not concern MacGirvin, who relied on his athletic abilities to get by. "It (MacGirvin's drinking) was a hidden thing," said Joyce, who, at the time, had no idea her son was covering up dangerous behavior. "When you're busy, and they have friends who cover for them, it's so easy for them to get into things."
After high school graduation, MacGirvin had no means to make the big money he hoped to make. But he began using cocaine and his fascination with pornography increased. One day, while at work detailing a car, MacGirvin crumpled to the ground when a searing pain suddenly shot through his groin. Doctors were stumped to explain it, and MacGirvin tried a variety of therapies to mitigate it: opiates, muscle relaxants, acupuncture, chiropractic and napropathic. MacGirvin drank more in his desperate attempt to squelch the pain that now ruled his life. But as time passed and the pain did not abate, MacGirvin shrank at the thought of leaving home, for any reason. What if the pain got worse while he was gone? Anti-anxiety medications joined the cocktail of substances MacGirvin already was ingesting. Lucky for him, or so he thought, a drinking buddy of his needed a place to stay, so MacGirvin moved him into his family's home. MacGirvin's girlfriend, exasperated at MacGirvin's long-standing defeatist behavior, broke up with him. "Why is God doing this to me?" MacGirvin often wondered.
Power of Prayer
Then Joyce, through a friend's invitation, joined Community Christian Church and began attending small group meetings. Glad for the fellowship and support of the group and relief that she at long last found a home church, Joyce freely shared her concerns about her son. "They prayed for me and prayed for me and prayed for me," said MacGirvin. "So I decided to go to church." Eighteen months ago, with his anger toward God abating, MacGirvin decided to join a group of a dozen men from that church for weekly fellowship and Bible study. "They accepted me for who I was, and they loved me. I could see Christ in that group," said MacGirvin. "That was when the real healing began."
Ben Pahlow of Romeoville, leader of that small group, almost immediately saw leadership potential in MacGirvin. "Our group gets intimate pretty fast, and he was open and honest and vulnerable and willing to learn, and I found him to be prompt," said Pahlow. "And whenever there was an opportunity to have some training, he was there." MacGirvin led his first group of five men on April 10 in Community Christian Church's new Shorewood location with Pahlow in attendance. "I sat with the group for a couple of weeks, and I was able to leave there confidently knowing he was doing a good job," said Pahlow. "I am very proud of him."
