Photo courtesy of Vestavia Hills Methodist Church.
Emily Burton
Emily Burton, a graduate of the Lovelady Center and director of food ministries at Vestavia Hills Methodist Church, will be the keynote speaker at the 35th Annual Dogwood Prayer Breakfast on April 21.
After a car accident in December 2010, Emily Burton was prescribed painkillers and found that the medicine numbed not only the physical pain but also the emotional depression she was experiencing following multiple miscarriages.
She began taking more pain medicine until she was using at least 20 pills a day. When it became difficult to find more pills, a friend gave her heroin, and there was no turning back after that, she said.
“It was crazy how fast it happened,” said Burton, who will be the keynote speaker for the 35th annual Dogwood Prayer Breakfast in Vestavia Hills on April 21. “I lost everything I had worked so hard for in my life in what felt like overnight.”
During the next 10 years, Burton was in and out of jail and rehab with no stable home. Her addiction eventually resulted in her going to prison and losing custody of both of her sons.
“That was my wake-up call,” Burton said. “I prayed to God and surrendered my life to him. I told him whatever it takes, wherever you lead me, I’ll go.”
She stayed true to that promise and was paroled early from prison. Once she was released, she moved into the Lovelady Center and said it felt like home as soon as she walked in the door. After graduating from the program a year later, she decided to stay and continue working there at the thrift store.
“I knew God would tell me when it was time to leave,” Burton said.
That’s when she received a call from her aunt and uncle about a job opening at Vestavia Hills Methodist Church. Burton thought no one would hire her considering her record, but she prayed about it and was offered a job as the dietitian and director of food ministries.
“If someone would have told me five years ago that I would be working at a church in my field again, I wouldn’t have believed them,” Burton said. “My story is so much about God, mercy, his grace and how powerful he is. That’s why I feel like it’s so important to tell people my story. I hope it authors a little bit of hope for those who hear it. If I reach one person, it’s all worth it.”
Burton said she’s excited to share that testimony during the upcoming Dogwood Prayer Breakfast.
“God has done so much in my life, and my testimony is evidence of how powerful he is,” Burton said. “I feel like there are so many people who are hurting and going through things like I did, and I want them to know about God’s grace.”
The prayer breakfast will be at Vestavia Hills Methodist Church. The breakfast buffet opens at 6:45 a.m., and the program begins at 7:30 a.m. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at business.vestaviahills.org. Vestavia Hills Methodist Church is at 2061 Kentucky Ave.
