Imagine being out to dinner and the TV at the bar is showing a basketball game between two teams you have no affiliation to and, under normal circumstances, would care nothing about. But this game is different because there is a player on the court who holds your future in his hands, and he doesn’t even know it. In the closing seconds, you’re at the mercy of his performance. If he makes the shot, you win $20,000. If he misses, you slip $20,000 further in debt. All the while, you have to keep your emotions in check, because your friends at the table and your wife of four years don’t know what’s at stake. 

This sounds like something out of a movie, but it’s an actual event that happened to Jonathan Morris, a local business owner who began betting a few bucks on games with friends in high school, turned bookie in college and went on to rack up more than $160,000 in gambling debt before he turned 25. 

With little more than a week until the Super Bowl – the most bet on sporting event in the US – Jonathan shares with us the slippery slope of gambling, his journey back to health, and the people God placed in his life to help him along the way.

If you or someone you know struggles with gambling or other addictions, don’t go it alone. Jonathan credits Celebrate Recovery with helping him, and we encourage you to find a CR location near you.