Nearly a decade ago, Deanna Robbins hit rock bottom.

She was arrested for manufacturing meth in 2004 after struggling with addiction since her teen years.

Robbins said her addiction started with drinking alcohol as a teenager and eventually grew to trying meth recreationally in the bar scene, then to manufacturing.

When Robbins was arrested in 2004, she didn’t go to prison.

“I had the opportunity to go into an experimental program,” she said. “Instead of a prison sentence, I got to go to a behavioral treatment facility.”

There, she learned the history behind her addictions, event tracing her addictions through her genealogical lineage.

“I found out that my great-grandfather drank liquid shaving cream for 10 cents,” she said.

Robbins described her emotions as being an addict.

“You don’t feel a part of anything,” she said. “You feel different; you just try to fill a hole, but turn to substances. It’s very deceptive. You don’t see the path they are leading you to. Drugs became my god.

“Meth made me feel powerful,” she said. “It gave me confidence and gave me the ability to ignore my reality.

“I lost my family,” she said. “I had no significant relationships, and I didn’t care.”

Since then, Robbins turned her life over to God and she and her husband moved from North Carolina to Alabama to be closer to her grandchild.

“But by acknowledging God, and going through this, my life is great,” she said. “We now have a home, own horses and have a great church family. Everyone knows our story and it doesn’t matter because we are loved.”

Now, Robbins is working to help others through sharing her testimony and offering a Bible-based, 12-step recovery program at Andalusia Bible Church on Tuesdays at 7 p.m.

“I’ve been sober and working on this 12-step program since 2004,” she said. “It completely changed my life. I’d been praying about it. It was one of those things, at first, that I wanted to put inside a box, but then I said maybe someone out there has questions and maybe I can make a difference.”

Robbins said the new program uses the same 12-step program that Alcoholics Anonymous uses, but incorporates Biblical principles.

“It’s for those who have decided that Jesus Christ is their higher power,” she said.

Robbins said along with using the 12 steps, she uses The Life Recovery Bible, which is designed for those seeking God’s view on recovery.

Robbins said the Covington County Adult Probations and Parole has approved the program.

“We just started, and I’ll be there every Tuesday,” she said. “I want to be obedient, and I’m excited. I do believe the Lord has prepared me for this.”