Good morning, everyone. It is good to see you here for another edition of the Faith Stories summer series 2025. Hope you've had some good discussion already at your tables. I'm going to introduce our speakers. Nolan and Sierra Casey have attended Faith Church for eight years, where Nolan has served here on the worship team and Sierra has volunteered in the Awana program.

They've been married seven years and have two children, Emmy who's four and Isaac who is two. And Nolan works as a research technician, and Sierra is a behavioral therapist. And the inspiration for the table icebreaker this morning was Sierra has a love of pandas. So if you want to, you can ask her more about that in the icebreaker time or sorry, the Q and A time. But for now, let me pray for them, and, then they will come up.

Heavenly father, thank you so much for, this morning that we're here together, to hear from Nolan and Sierra about, how you have been at work through through their story, through their lives over the years. Lord, I pray, that you would just give them peace and clarity as they speak, and, Lord, that you would open our minds to hear what you have to say through them this morning. And I thank you for their willingness to speak, and I thank you for this church. And I pray this in your name. Amen.

Alright. Come on up. Good morning. So, yep. My name's Nolan and Sierra.

We really like Faith Church because it's pretty basic. You know? God is God, and that's how that's how we grew up. We both grew up in very small towns. I would hear gunshots and be excited because it was deer season.

Again, it was that small. But, both of us grew up in small non non denominational churches. And when you're that small of a town, they send everybody off to a camp in a central location, and ours was in Salem, Indiana. So we met over the summer in 2009 after going to that camp for twelve years. And so growing up, I had a milk allergy.

Sierra has neurofibromatosis. So from the get go, we kinda knew our lives were gonna be different. You know, everyone has a hard life, but ours was just different hearts. So we leaned on god quite a bit throughout all that. You know, why are we different?

You know, what's the plan for this? I thought I was gonna be a doctor, but we're gonna learn that was not the case. Do you wanna add any? Also on top of that, I thought I was going to be a teacher and life had different plans. So we're gonna mention that later.

A little bit about me. So like Nolan said, I grew up in a small real small town, little bit bigger than his though, where my church only had about 50 attendees and no youth. So I was the youth, which really shaped who I was. They're like, okay, you could be in the nursery, teach Yeah. Or you could be with the elders of the church in pray and read the bible with them.

So it kind of really made my faith stronger from day one. Because I was like, I don't want to just teach. I want to be fed into as well. So that's kind of what happened. And so life was pretty great.

I mean, yeah, I was picked on bullied. Nothing that I can't handle. I usually am like I'm a pretty positive person or so I try to be. It was in high school, would have been February 2010. Typically, they only give them about eighteen months to live.

My mom then made it five years. And so just seeing her strength through that also really kind of just made me a stronger Christian and really made me be able to be to know my lights at the end of the dark tunnel. And so, while she was going through that, you know, we were both were saved in elementary school, but, I decided I was gonna be a physician. So from a young age, I was a cocky son of a gun. It is what it is.

I did everything by myself. If, you know, when it came to working out for track, teaching myself guitar, any studying, I didn't need anybody no how. And so, I mean, God was there. I went to church, but, you know, I knew I could teach myself the instrument. I didn't need God's blessing or, you know, skills given to me.

And so that followed us into our college career where, once again, ladies first, Sierra had her second bout of bad luck. So let's start off with, oh, I thought I was gonna be a teacher. With this, you had to have a take a test before getting into the program. And if you didn't have good enough SAT scores, then like, okay, this test will guarantee you in. So I think I took the test three times.

Each time I took the test, I was two points away starting to feel very discouraged. After praying and reading, like, before I took my last, the last attempt, I was like, Lord, my results back because it's one of those like automatic test results. Again, two points away. So I'm like, okay. So I did some praying, like, I know I need to do something with children.

I've took enough spiritual gifts, quizzes, my personality quizzes, like, you are a helper. You are a shepherd. Like, okay. What can I do with shepherding? So then I got my degree in sociology, which opened up more fields for me.

It's like, okay. It's a generic degree that once I find my true passion, my niche, I can then get my master's in that, which leads me to getting my master's in ABA. However, when I was it would have been We were juniors. Juniors in college. My mom was re diagnosed with her cancer.

20 It was just all of this bad luck. But because of that, I was you would think it would push me further from Christ. It actually pushed me closer to him because I was able to pray. And I was actually to be able to be real with God. Be like, what what's happening?

Why is this happening to me? And then this made me really think about the story of Job. And, throughout this, you're gonna figure out she's a way better Christian than I am because she went to Christ during her struggles. So but before that happened, I was at USI down in Evansville. She was at ISU in Terre Haute.

We end up somehow dating and over Skype, you know, calling each other till 1AM, every night, which seems insane to do now. So but during that time, once again, someone feeding into my ego, I had a scholarship that supposedly guaranteed me into IU med school. As a senior in high school, they gave me a scholarship that said, yep, you're gonna be a doctor. So, hey, that's awesome. I'm I'm on the right track.

So, I study, once again, you know, stuff's all on my own. I get my MCAT score, and it's a 31 out of 45. For those of you good at math, yes, that is a 67%. But that is a score that is good enough to get you into any medical school in the country. But while that was happening and we were dealing with Sierra's mom, we were driving from Evansville up to Indianapolis every weekend to be with her, assist with treatments, you know, whatever we could do.

But I didn't study. I just hung out, you know, talked with Joy, was there for Sierra and the family, and, go to apply to med school, and they say you're wait listed. Well, that's not right. No. I call them.

I have this scholarship. Why am I not going to med school? And they, to paraphrase, said, are you stupid? Why would we give a high school senior a ticket to med school? You you don't know anything.

Like, you aren't ready for that sort of thing. Well, crap. Okay. Time moves on. So I end up getting accepted, after my senior year.

But part of that is you had to send in your transcripts to make sure you weren't partying and being stupid your senior year. You maintained professionalism. But while we were going to visit Sierra's mom so much, I wasn't studying, and I got two c's. They did not like that. They called me up to Indy and said, we gotta talk.

Why'd your grades drop? You know, I'm gonna be a better physician for this. I watched a family suffer through cancer. I was there. And I didn't study, but, you know, it's what it is.

I said, nope. Not a good enough reason. They took me took me out of med school, kicked me out before I even started. So Sierra had moved down with me at that point after her mom passed. We were both in Evansville.

She was working two jobs. I had a super senior year. Then I went and did a med school reject masters. That's the whole premises. You didn't get into med school?

Cool. We'll get you a master in one year. You'll look really good on your transcripts. It'll be great. But at that time, my pride had started to catch up with me a little bit, and I realized that I couldn't do it myself.

But growing up in such a small town where you did it yourself, there was no question. You know? If even if it took you 10 times longer, you did it yourself. You didn't ask for help. And I couldn't shut my brain down, so I started drinking a little bit.

But I managed to get into Marion, so that was pretty cool. But during that time, Sierra, being a better Christian at the time, she actually ended up finding her, actual career path she's chosen to pursue her master's in. And for those who don't know what ABA is, I work with children on the autism spectrum, teaching whatever they might need to help them be the most successful individual in society or in their life that they can. So we think about the individual and how to make their life improve for themselves. And so I was like, oh, this is pretty cool.

Eight years into this now and I have my master's in it. And I'm all but a test away of being able to be a board certified behavior analyst. So that's pretty awesome there. And so I just found my groove and kept going with it. So, yeah, her story is fantastic.

But I get to med school. Now the pressure's really on because I'm what people conventionally go to med school right after they get their bachelor's. So I'm three years behind. I'm the old man, and, I feel the pressure. But I don't take advantage of any of the mental health services Marion so graciously provided.

I don't even try to study with friends. I'm still just that cocky son of a gun. Well, I end up flunking my first year, but, your Medicaid dollars, I'm sorry to say, did pay for part of my education. So they didn't wanna let that money go to waste, and they let me try again that second year. But I still refused to realize that I, you know, I'm a Christian, yes, but I wasn't being a Christian.

You know, it was all me, me, me, my power, my will, and, flunked out again. And so at that point, I still remember it was November 15. I got two liters of vodka and drank the whole thing in about four hours, and that set the tone for the next three or four years of my life. And, unfortunately, Sierra's, because we did get married between my first two years of medical school. You know, after all this stuff of being wait listed, accepted, rejected, having to work two jobs, you know, build up my resume, I still wasn't getting the picture that, you know, just because I was a decent guy, and I had these skills, and I was decently smart, it didn't mean that I still didn't need Jesus.

So, yeah. I flunked out of med school. And then for two or three months, I just sat on the couch wallowing in self pity, destroying my liver, but, had to get a job at some point. So I ended up working at Lowe's, you know, paid the bills, but I was still too cocky. I have a master's degree.

Why am I selling flooring at Lowe's? And, the real kicker came when I saw my master's professor in immunology, what I thought I was supposed to be, an immunologist because of my food allergy. And I was wearing my red vest. Hey, doctor Slebeck Berry. Yeah.

Med school didn't pan out. I know you wrote me a reference letter, but here I am. And, yeah, I'd be lying if I didn't go cry in the bathroom a little bit after seeing seeing her and having to say that. But then, you know, at this time, Sierra is seeing me go down this spiral, and she can kinda give a little bit of a blurb of what she was thinking at the time. I just know that I wanted the best for him, and and that's what a marriage vows and marriage commitments are is you're I promise to be with you through the thick and the thin.

And obviously, I know this was a very thin moment for us. So again, I relied heavily on Christ throughout this time and just praying for him and trying to be As he continues on with this, his story, it just kept getting harder and harder. The the next four years went on. But I always remembered that the vows I took to him and promised to be there with him and be that wife for him to help him through his struggles. And so, you know, as I'm sitting there wallowing in my depression, and, like, man, low stinks, she had the bright idea, you know, why don't you look at IU?

You know, because they have research departments. And I end up getting a job researching diabetes, which was great. You know? And I felt a little bit better because I was still contributing to medicine and science and gonna make people better even if it's a hundred years from now because I was working on mice, and from mice to humans is a big jump. So but while I thought I was better, I was still drinking at least a liter of vodka a night and then going to work the next day.

But then COVID hit. And so IU was gracious enough that they paid us to stay home. You know, I know it was a lot of people, had a lot of rough times then, but that was one blessing I did have. But for those of you that don't know, alcohol is the only drug that will kill you from withdrawal. Heroin, crack, meth, none of the scary stuff, if you stop it, will kill you.

Alcohol will. And, you know, I was aware of that fact. So now here I am with nothing to do all day except wallow in self pity because I still hadn't sought help for, you know, feelings of inadequacy and, you know, being the dumb one, I thought, with a master's while I'm around PhD students and PhDs. So I thought, you know what? You know, still dumb country boy, ideas.

I'll just make a spreadsheet and I'll stop drinking piece by piece, and then it'll, you know, it'll be fine. I was not that smart. Did not stick to the plan. We were having Zoom meetings, every Tuesday while COVID locked down so we could just see other people, you know, stay on top of science, discuss papers. And I had a seizure right there.

I was I still can't look at a volcano plot the same because that's what I last thing I remember seeing before I slammed my head on the table, ended up on the floor. So Sierra didn't realize how bad stuff was. She knew I had a problem, but not that bad. And then she got to deal with EMTs and Yeah. So I was the one who called 911 because his luckily, his people were still on the screen.

They're like, no, Sierra. Something's up. Something's wrong. Because I was downstairs cleaning or cooking, doing something like that, and I heard the thuds. I was like, something's not right.

So then I called 911 where they then said, you should probably come in. Do you know how much an ambulance costs in America? So they basically made him, and I had to sign because I was the witness for an AMA. Because he, like, nope. I'm going into medical advice.

I don't wanna go on an ambulance. But I, well, I talked him into it. I'm like, you need to get checked out by doctors, not EMTs. Like, you actually need to go to somebody else. So he let me drive him to Saint Vincent's on 80 Sixth Street where they admitted him.

And so, throughout this, you know, God still must have a plan for me because, you know, one, after a seizure, regardless of the seizure, you're a little loopy. You might say or do some weird stuff. But after an alcohol seizure, you could go off the rails. You could end up acting psychotic. And so, luckily, I was calm enough to call my sister.

Hey. I had a seizure, then hung up. They got me into a bed in the ER, and that's when I decided to go nuts. So Sierra made it home safe, but they wouldn't let her in because of COVID. And then I was rattling off all sorts of stuff, like, don't take my guns.

You're all you're gonna lock me up. I'm not crazy. Just flailing around. So they had to put me in the psych ward. Didn't have my cell phone on me.

But, after all that, ended up going home and, oh, yeah, I'll never drink again. But never never looked for to Christ again, never sought any counseling or anything, and started drinking again. And this time it got worse because even though, you know, addiction is a weird thing, I like, mentally, I was well aware that, like, if I keep this up, my marriage is gonna die or I'm gonna die. But I didn't care because I needed that alcohol. And so, my boss at the time, Jason Spathe, you know, once again, God was looking out for me because I was a horrible employee.

He should have fired me after six months, but he kept me around. But started drinking again probably not two weeks after, after I got home from the hospital the first time. But on our anniversary, figure, 06/30/2020, figured out we were pregnant with Emmy. So that was fantastic. And, but then life kept going on.

You know, COVID left let up. We started going back to work. Thought I had it under control, but I didn't because I didn't realize it. But I was I was drinking more and more each day. And, but Sierra was being that wife, you know, she's just a doofus.

And so then jump forward to 02/24/2021. Our beautiful Emmy was born. And so I thought everything was great. We're gonna go home. I have a now I have a sober husband.

Everything looked beautiful and perfect, but, was met with a surprise about two days after Emmy was born. Because it is really hard to sneak alcohol into a hospital front of make, hide it from your pregnant wife. So, you know, once again, God's looking out for us. I was holding Emmy, handed her off to Sierra to feed her. Two minutes later, I'm on the floor seizing again.

I'm turning blue, can't breathe. I remember going in and out of consciousness, in the ER, you know, them holding me down because I'm flailing, freaking out. It's like, I need my wife. I'm scared. And, that's the one thing I'll never forget of that day is her looking at me and just the sheer disappointment.

Like, I could see in her eyes, like, did I make a mistake with this guy? Like, I was but I still didn't learn. But, yeah, unfortunately, I had to spend the next three days where I should have been holding my daughter and comforting my wife in on the same floor, but in a different room of the hospital, just getting text messages about my daughter and pictures of this three year old little or three three day old little angel. So, they, released us the same day. Luckily, my our recovery is lined up.

But, unfortunately, I had to let someone know about my problem, not just Sierra, because they wouldn't let me drive home because I was on benzodiazepines to keep me from having another seizure. So Renee Forr came and drove drove me home in Sierra. And, you know, it was a little kick in the teeth. It's like, oh, man. My secret's out.

Can't be mister cool guy anymore. But, again, drank again because I I just didn't know any different. Because by the time I realized, oh, I needed help, it was 11PM, and you can't go find a counselor at 11PM. But Meijer's open. And so this at this point, this is where Sierra really got really showed her true colors and how amazing of a woman she is because I mean, you can explain better if you knew, didn't know, you know, what it was like.

So again, it was kind of like one of those. I made a commitment to him, and I didn't wanna give up on him because I knew that is not what he needed and Christ doesn't give up on us. So I tried to slip in suggestions like, hey, let's try to get you some help. Let's try to do a But most importantly, I kept to my prayer. Like, just my prayer, for kept to my prayer.

Like, just my praying for him. So then I thought everything was cool. Good to go after that. I never saw him pick up a bottle. Never saw him do any of that stuff, but also I was a little bit preoccupied with a newborn at this time.

One thing that did kind of strike me as peculiar was we were going on a walk in July. Just I mean, I was at this time four months or so postpartum. I'm like, I need to get out. I need to get moving. I need to slowly get my drop that baby weight.

And Nolan started acting a little weird. I was like, okay. Let's just sit down. But also, I guess people in the area, also on the walking path, thought he was acting a little weird. So they called the ambulance.

And, they checked me out. No, your blood sugar's fine. You know, you're following our fingers good. And then the cop, you know, because when you call 911, everyone shows up. Cop comes up, says, I can smell it on your breath, man.

No, you can't. I had Chinese food. They used rice wine, so, nope, you don't smell anything. He did. He said, Look, man, you're out in trouble just trying to, you know, tell it to you straight.

You might want to talk to your wife. Bam. So, I AMAd again. But then I went to the hospital, Sierra drove. But then I managed to get out of there before they could take my blood, because my my blood would show that I've been drinking.

But then two weeks after that, I know a lot of women are probably familiar with the term hematuria, blood in your urine. I not to be crass, but this is honestly what it does to your body. Every time I went to urinate, it wasn't urine. It was blood because I was so dehydrated. My kidneys were so destroyed.

Went to urgent care because can't really hide that. And they said my potassium was point one units away from my heart just stopping. Like, I could be driving. I could be asleep. Just gives up the ghost.

I'm dead. But I had a seizure, but I had to be there with my own thoughts. And, you know, here I am sitting in the hospital, withdrawing because I can't exactly ask for a, you know, bottle of vodka in the ER. And, at 11PM on 07/19/2021, I had to tell the nurse, look. I lied.

I'm an alcoholic. I need the medicine to help me come down. And I had to call Sierra. And then, I had been in contact with my parents, like, Oh, hey, you know, I might be a little sick. You know, be praying for me.

And they came up to visit, the day I was discharged. And the psych the psychiatrist came in and said, Alright, Nolan. We need to talk. And, I shooed my parents out, you know, because I'm an adult. They don't need to be here in my medical business.

And then this psychiatrist is like, dude, you're insane. You gotta get help. And luckily, I don't know if it was the fact I didn't have a seizure this time or what, but my mind was clear enough that I did end up setting down the right path. But I did have to come clean to my parents because they're gonna know something's up. Like, why did you kick us out if it's not if it's just medical stuff?

And so it took. You know? I haven't drank since then. I did attend AA twice. Not saying it doesn't work, but I know it would it tore me up to have to tell that story, you know, like I told you all.

I didn't get to see my baby girl for three days, two days after she was born. That made me wanna drink more. So, you know, at at that point, I just realized I just need to surrender to god's plan because after that, I was fired by Jason. So but he's like, you know, I've given you plenty of chances, but, you know, that's it. You're done.

But, you know, in that time, it let me take stock of my life and realize, you know, I do need to read my bible more. Just being a professional Christian isn't enough. And, but in that time, in coming to that realization and just, you know, while Sierra was working and I was fired sitting at home, just sitting with God, you know, okay. These past eight years, I've really messed up. Ended up I got a job offer that paid twice as much.

I end up doing it's immunology work. I can treat your blood cancer. If you wanna know more, I can tell you later. But, you know, by sitting there and just admitting that I messed up and, you know, you're in charge. My life did a one eighty.

You know, this time, we'd had Isaac. We have a great house. And just realizing that it's not me that's in charge, and our life's 300% better. And so, you know, Sierra can give any quick closing statements, but, you know, that's where we're at. And, you know, most of you probably, the first four or five years you knew me, I was still probably half turned or hungover, because I would.

I would come in and I would drink all night Saturday and come play in the worship band on Sunday. So For a quick closing remark, I guess, I would just wanna say that everybody has their own personal battles that they go through. And it is amazing what I know it's sometimes it's hard to give up or seek God in times of need and hardship. But I honestly felt like these hardships have only brought us closer, not only as a couple, have a story to tell our children when they're older about we know things can be hard, but let's just sit together and pray. And that can make the world of difference.

Thank you for listening.