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<\/source><\/picture>Country music star Walker Hayes is crediting his friendship with a pastor for helping him reform his life from an alcoholic atheist to a sober follower of Jesus Christ.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m eight years sober this October,\u201d Hayes revealed<\/a> in an interview on Fox News. \u201cI woke up one day when I was working at Costco. I was working at Costco from 4 to 11 and then writing and then playing shows. And man, it caught up to me. And honestly, I had been drinking since I was probably like 13.\u201d<\/p>\n His awakening came before all of his success. One weekend after feeling he was going to die, he quit cold turkey and never looked back.<\/p>\n \u201cI woke up one Saturday, and I just felt like I was going to die,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt like physically if I did one more day, something was wrong. And so I stopped, and then one day turned into two, and then two turned into a week. And then a week turned into a month. And then I did the whole high on sobriety thing and got into working out and stuff. Kind of traded a bad addiction for some good ones.\u201d<\/p>\n While still an alcoholic, Hayes revealed that he and his wife lost their seventh child, a daughter named Oakleigh Klover, who died shortly after her birth. Compounding the family’s difficulties, Hayes lost a recording contract and the family minivan used to transport their six children was repossessed.\u00a0<\/p>\n An encounter with a pastor would change the course of his life and eventually convert him from atheism to being a believer in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n Craig Allen Cooper, the founder of Glad You’re Here Ministries<\/a>, had committed himself to love on the country star and his family during their lowest point. Although skeptical at first, Hayes said he was shown the love of Christ by Cooper, who even gave the musician his own minivan.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI lost a kid, I have nothing going on musically, I\u2019m an alcoholic. I\u2019m great at pushing people away,\u201d Hayes recalled. \u201cSo here comes this guy named Craig, who was drawn nearer to me. And it was quite confusing. There were a lot of times when I was like, \u2018What\u2019s this dude\u2019s deal? Like, why does he love us so much? Like, why does he keep feeding us food? Why is he giving me a minivan? Why is he encouraging me? Why isn\u2019t he like everybody else?’\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Hayes added, \u201cIn the long run, I honestly found out he\u2019s just as broken as me, but he just knows Jesus. He needs Jesus. Every morning he wakes up, he needs Jesus, and Jesus is a light through him.\u201d<\/p>\n The awareness of Cooper\u2019s love began to turn Hayes\u2019 heart toward Cooper\u2019s God.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe answer is Christ,\u201d Hayes told Fox.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hayes wrote a song<\/a> about their friendship before he became a believer and recently the unlikely pair wrote a book together titled, Glad You\u2019re Here: Two Unlikely Friends Breaking Bread and Fences<\/em>.<\/p>\n In a previous interview about the book, the Grammy-winning singer opened up about how surprised he was to be writing a book about Jesus.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFaith has taken me by surprise. But it is overwhelming. How well it just fits [with] what I do,\u201d Hayes told<\/a> 25 News Now at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything [more] worth sharing than what Jesus has done with me and the redemption I\u2019ve experienced here on Earth and will continue to experience from knowing Him,\u201d he added in a separate interview<\/a> with Taste of Country. \u201cThat\u2019s it. That\u2019s why I wanna share my story.\u201d<\/p>\n To learn more about Hayes and his music, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: jeannie.law@christianpost.com<\/a> She’s also the author of the book, What Is Happening to Me? How to Defeat Your Unseen Enemy<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>Follow her on Twitter: @jlawcp<\/a>\u00a0Facebook: JeannieOMusic<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Join thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST<\/strong> newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nFree<\/span> Religious Freedom Updates<\/h2>\n