BELLE — Change rarely happens overnight. For Mike Keeney, it took decades of struggle, addiction and reflection before he found the life he lives today.

Looking back, Keeney traces the beginning of that journey to his early teenage years, when rebellion first began to shape the course of his life.

“It all began at the age of 13 in rebellion to my father,” Keeney said. “We were either moving all the time or he was gone.”

Keeney said he was raised Southern Baptist and baptized at eight years old, but consistency at home and in faith was difficult to maintain.

As he grew older, he said, that foundation began to slip.

“One weekend, my dad was home and wanted to go to church,” he said. “That was the only time we went. I said I wasn’t going — rebelling against him, not realizing I was rebelling against God.”

That moment, he said, marked the beginning of a path that would follow him for decades.

“I started drinking,” he said.

By the age of 16, Keeney said he was already deeply involved in a lifestyle centered around partying, though on the surface he appeared to be keeping things together.

“I could party with the best of them while still functioning in school and sports,” he said.

For years he considered himself what many refer to as a “functioning addict,” able to maintain responsibilities while living a double life.

“For 36 years I’d work, go home and party — alcohol, pot, or mind-altering drugs,” he said.

Eventually, methamphetamine became his drug of choice, deepening the hold addiction had on his life.

“Thirty-six years after starting, I found meth. That was my drug of choice for 20 years,” he said.

The lifestyle took its toll on every part of his life.

“That lifestyle cost me wives, finances, heartache, no peace,” Keeney said. “I was always trying to prove myself or control others, and I was angry at the world. I never thought I had a problem. This was my normal.”

Keeney said that for decades, his life was consumed by addiction and deeper personal struggles.

“I lived in the world for 46 years — sex, drugs and rock and roll controlled my life. The last 20 years of the 46 was controlled by meth. I am now going on ten years clean and sober due to God, Jesus Christ and Celebrate Recovery where I learned deeper darker emotional issues, co-dependency, anger and control issues that lead me to alcohol, drugs and sexual dependency. But now I survive and struggle to help others.”

The turning point came during a moment he said he will never forget.

One night, during a heated argument with his wife, his daughter Abigail entered the room. She had recently returned from a Christian-based program for teenagers.

“She grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me dead in the eyes and said, ‘Dad, I didn’t know I needed it till I went,’” Keeney recalled.

The words caught him off guard.

When he asked what she meant, she explained that she had spent years living in the world before realizing she needed something different.

Those words, he said, stayed with him.

“The reason everything changed,” he said, “was that moment.”

For the first time, Keeney said, he began to see the situation clearly — not just his own life, but what was at stake for his family.

Not long afterward, he reached a decision.

“I don’t remember walking away being hard,” he said. “I just came to a point where I was done.”

He said thinking about his daughter’s future made the choice unavoidable.

“My daughter’s future was more important than anything,” he said. “The thought of losing her after all the hard work she’d done to become the person she is broke me.”

Rather than continuing down the same path, Keeney chose to take a different step.

The following Friday, he attended Celebrate Recovery (CR) for the first time.

“I started CR the next Friday and haven’t stopped,” he said.

Since then, Keeney said his life has been centered on faith and rebuilding.

“God and faith is everything to me now,” he said.

He now serves as a worship leader at First Christian Church in Belle, is active in his church community and has found new outlets for creativity and purpose.

“I’ve written 60 gospel songs,” he said. “I’m a deacon at my church.”

In addition to music, Keeney said he has also begun writing, including work on a children’s book.

His lifestyle has changed in other ways as well, reflecting a complete shift in priorities.

“I no longer watch TV or listen to secular music,” he said. “All glory to God.”

While his life today looks very different, Keeney said the journey is ongoing.

“Internal battles are different every day,” he said. “Old memories haunt me, make me question my worth and make me doubt I’m doing enough.”

He said those struggles serve as a reminder of where he came from and the work it takes to continue moving forward.

Keeney also acknowledged that others may still remember him for his past.

“When people from my past see me now, I’m not sure what they see,” he said. “One man asked me to mentor him. I would like to say they see me as someone they trust and like to be around, but I don’t really know what they see.”

For some in the community, however, the change has been clear.

Elaine Baumgartner, a local resident who has known Keeney for years, said she has seen his transformation firsthand.

“Mike has been a huge impact on my life over the years. His daughter was my step-daughter’s best friend but he wasn’t someone I talked to on a regular basis until he stepped through the doors of Celebrate Recovery one Friday night and my life hasn’t been the same since,” Baumgartner said. “He shared his story which was of a life hard lived but, Friday after Friday, Sunday after Sunday, I watched this rough & rugged man turn into a man on fire for Jesus and he has become a man that I love and respect.”

Baumgartner said he is a reliable, creative and inspirational presence in her life.

“I know if I ever need him, he’s right there. His music has changed from the rock he used to play to Christian, that he now not only sings but writes. This gives me inspiration to do more writing like my heart desires,” Baumgartner said.

She said that his love and caring for his fellow man is proof that anyone can change for the better.

“When I miss church, he asks where I am and if we are okay. It means more to me than he will ever know or understand. He pushes people to let go of their past and follow Jesus as we are called to do,” Baumgartner said. “I love Mike and cannot wait to see what more God does through him, after all he had changed in his life. He lives, or tries his best, to live like Jesus did. He’s a great man to teach you about Jesus and help you turn your life around, too.”

Despite everything he went through, Keeney said he does not regret the path that brought him to where he is today.

“If I could go back to my younger version, honestly, I would tell him don’t change a thing,” he said. “Because I know I wouldn’t be where I am or who I am now.”

His message, he said, is one he hopes others can take to heart.

“Some people have to be broken to be made new,” Keeney said. “Thank you, Jesus.”