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| FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | ForsythNews.com
Man overcomes addiction for sake of wife, kids
have ever done for me,
and that was to say, ‘You
need to leave. You need to
go ahead and pack your
things and leave.™
“l was not present”
Rayburn’s addiction did
not tip to the boiling point
overnight.
He was 17 years old
when he drank and
smoked marijuana for the
first time. It gave him a
sense of freedom, he said.
He felt alive.
When that became an
everyday occurrence, he
transferred out of art
school in Atlanta to the
University of Georgia,
where he met his future
wife.
“1 blamed my poor
school work on not being
able to focus and started
taking medication for it
... ultimately. it was not
the answer. and [ started
abusing that. as well.” he
said. “That was the start
of a really long pill addic
tion for me.” :
His wife had to wake
up early each morning for
work. and he would have
friends over in the middle
of the night. She would
find him passed out or
still awake the next morn
ing.
They had their first
child. Madison. She is
about to be a freshman at
Lambert High School.
Then they had a second
daughter, Sydney. and a
son, Jeremy.
But Rayburn’s addic
tion did not subside.
“] was not ever violent.
I wasn't ever. But I was
not present,” he said. "I
needed someone to love
me the way [Kristen] did,
which was to say, ‘You
need to get this figured
out. You need to do it
elsewhere than here. We
can’t support you any
more.” Which was in the
By Kayla Robins
krobins@forsythnews.com
When Brandon
Rayburn celebrates
Father’s Day today with
his wife and three chil
dren, he may appreciate it
more than other families.
They've certainly been
through more than many
families.
“We had just gotten
married, and we were
about to have our first
child. It was a very excit
ing time in my life,” he
said, “but I was also just
stinking drunk the whole
time. Everybody knew
that I was just empty.”
Rayburn dealt with
addiction, mainly to alco
hol and prescription
drugs. for the first decade
of his relationship with
Kristen.
“They were readily
available, and 1 was able
to kind of hide it more. I
was in a marriage, and I
had kids, and it was a
constant struggle to try to
maintain an addiction. It
was noi something that
just happened. It took a
lot of work and a lot of
effort,” Rayburn said. "It
was at the point where I
had no choice but to
maintain the effort. that’s
where it got really dark. I
felt like I couldn:t
escape.”
When Rayburn found
out he was about to
become a father. he said
he could not handle it.
] freaked out and just
ended up leaving and
completely was out of my
mind. I decided I was just
going to jump right in and
quit my job and be an art
ist,” he said, “and it
almost wrecked us finan
cially. I couldn’t see it. I
couldn’t see the damage I
was doing. and Kristen
couldn’t take it anymore.
“And she finally did the
best thing that she could
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For the Forsyth County News
Brandon Rayburn with his wife, Kristen, and three kids, Jeremy, Sydney and Madison.
long-run a blessing in dis
guise.”
“Don’t cut
yourself off”
Not long after that,
Rayburn said his brother
told him about No Longer
Bound. a faith-based
recovery and regeneration
program that takes in men
suffering from addiction.
“It was almost as if it
was something I was
longing for. I knew I
couldn’t do it on my own.
It was proven I couldn’t
do it on my own. And this
was a place that allowed
me to not have to do it on
my own,” he said. *I
could say that this is big
ger than me. I need the
help not only of these
people but more impor
tantly God. It was when I
surrendered that it soft
ened my heart and
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answer is that you need to
have a relationship with
God and your family. And
a relationship with your
friends where you’re
accountable to them.
Don’t cut yourself off and
isolate yourself.”
He said his time at No
Longer Bound — he
entered as a 33-year-old
addict six years ago and
has held a job at the same
company for five years
before getting hired at the
ministry —taught him to
put his family above any
thing else. That it not just
literally saved him. It
saved his mind and spirit,
tooo.
“Our relationship is
wonderful now,” Kristen
Rayburn said. “It’s like it
never was in the 10 years
that he was in his addic
tion.”
He is quick to express
his gratitude for his wife
changed my mind and
allowed things to happen
in my life naturally that I
couldn’t make happen
myself.
“I gained a piece here,
and | gained not only a
piece. | gained my family
back here.”
His surrender to allow
ing people and God to
help him is something he
said he wants to impart as
a father upon his children.
“The bottom line and
the main message is that
you just don’t have to do
this alone. It’s not for you
to do alone. And when
you do. it’s not going to
generally turn out well,”
he said. “"You’re going to
have hardships in your
life. Madison, you're
going to have hardships.
Sydney. you're going to
have hardships in your
life. But there’s always
one answer. And that
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A RSYTH COUNTY |
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| Forsyth County Tea Party Monthly Meeting |
June 21, 2016 at 6:3opm, we will conduct our monthly i
4 meeting. The meeting will be held at the Forsyth County .
1 Senior Center located at 595 Dahlonega St, Cumming, GA |
1 30040; ,:
Our guest speaker for the evening will be Christopher :
| Holton who is the Vice President for Outreach with the b
! Centér for Security Policy. Mr. Holton will address various :
issues involving global Islamic insurgency and the rise of |
jihad in the United States. i
Mr. Holton has been involved in counterterrorism and S
{ countershariah initiatives. In 2005, he was a co-author of |
| War Footing, and co-authored two other books on national |
security. He has appeared on the O'Reilly Factor, the Glenn |,
eck Program, the Laura Ingraham program, Holton's work ¥
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and how she played the
part of mother, of father,
of breadwinner, of care
taker, while he was in the
program to allow himself
the ability to be with
them for the rest of their
lives.
“I could not be where I
am without the support of
my wife and my children,
and for them to under
stand at the deepest level
that 1 have to stay con
nected with my [No
Longer Bound] family,”
he said. “And it’s the
same here. It’s built into
our core values ... They
know [at No Longer
Bound] that whenever
there is an issue, whenev
er my family needs atten
tion, .there’s no question
to ask. It’s always: take
care of your family first.”