We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Keel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

When I was in my active addiction, my mom allowed me to suffer consequences for my actions. She would not bail me out of jail and she would not give me money. I remember the last time I was arrested in Wilmington, NC, I called my mom at 3 am just to let her know where I was going to be for the next couple of months so that she did not worry. She never sent me money or bailed me out, but she always wrote me encouraging letters and continued to pray for me. Even though my mom had to show tough love, I never questioned her love for me. I knew she loved me and I knew deep inside that she was doing what she had to do.

When I was 15, I remember taking her car out for a joy ride and getting pulled over. My mom allowed me to receive a charge of ‘unauthorized use of motor vehicle’ and I went to Juvenile Detention for 17 days. I remember how miserable I was sitting in there. Since it was my first time getting locked up, it shook me to my core. However, my mom continued to visit me and write me and accept my phone calls. All in all, I would say that what she did well was that she allowed me to suffer my consequences, but never withheld her love for me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Sure. I have been working in the mental health field for a very long time because of my history of mental health crisis and drug abuse issues. I started using at age 12 and I was shooting heroin by the time I was 18 years old. I did not grow up in a Christian home, but when I was in jail (one of the several times I was incarcerated), I was ministered to by a jail ministry and I became a believer in Jesus Christ. It was like the veil was removed from my eyes and I saw Christ for who is truly is: Lord, Savior, and best Friend. I felt a love that I have never experienced before, but at the same time, one that I felt like I have always known. I found truth…or Truth found me. That event in 2007 forever changed the trajectory of my life.

I realized I used drugs and alcohol more so because of mental battles. I have had life-long battles of anxiety, panic, depression, and confusing/disoriented thinking patterns. Using psychedelics did not help the disoriented thinking or panic, but only made it worse. God had to get me sober first and then he began to heal these deeper issues of the heart, mind, and soul. Since I had such a radical experience of Christ, I knew I was called to forever testify to what he has done for me for the rest of my life.

I began working in the mental health field, but it was always the secular arena. I could not discuss Christ without getting my hand slapped for it, so it was always very uncomfortable for me because I held very strong convictions of pointing people to the truth. in 2018-2020, I was working for the state of TN for the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. A group of pastors from some predominant churches in Knoxville had been meeting with Mayor Jacobs about what the churches can do to help the addiction crisis that our community was facing. Mayor Jacobs introduced me to these pastors to help them plan and talk through what it looks like to build an addiction/recovery ministry.

After working with these pastors for 1.5 years, we decided as a group to open a Christ-centered intensive outpatient treatment center. I was then approached by all of them to apply to the the Director of this ministry. I applied, and here I am today! The Executive Director of Renew Clinic!

Renew Clinic has been open since May 2021 and our mission is to glorify God by supporting the holistic restoration of individuals affected by substance abuse. We offer coaching, family support and scholarships for people who cannot pay. Since we operate as a private pay or scholarship funded program, we have people from various socioeconomic statuses sitting in the same room, needing the same savior, struggling with the same issues. We also have volunteers from churches bring home cooked meals every group night to provide a family atmosphere for our participants. We truly believe the culture we are creating and the experience of renew clinic is one of the main things that sets us apart from other treatment centers. We are also Christ-centered and unapologetically so!

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I am realizing that my main job is to pour into my staff so that they can pour into our participants. I have a philosophy that if I manage in such a way that brings freedom and flourishing for my staff, they will in turn provide that for the people we serve. Since we are a ministry, we should not be operating as the world operates. We should have a staff that is accountable to one another and full of grace and love for each other. We must practice what we are preaching to our participants.

I do not micromanage. I trust that God has brought the right people to the table to accomplish his will for Renew Clinic. Everyone brings their own abilities and talents to the table and it is not helpful to try and force my staff into a way of ministering to others that is just my “style”, but how God has created them to be. It is so freeing to realize that this is a team effort and my job is protect this space that fosters connection and doesn’t drive disconnection or hypocrisy and fakery. The people we serve will sniff out pretty quickly if we are not practicing what we preach or if we are fake with each other.

Most of my staff is in recovery and a couple of them were very early in their recovery when they began working here. One of my employees asked me early on, “are you going to be drug screening me randomly?” I know at first glance, this seems like a responsible and noble question for someone in early recovery to want more accountability. However, I also heard behind that question that she doesn’t trust herself and that she sees herself as someone who needs to be “watched”.

So, I told her no. I told her that I was not going to treat her as someone who is guilty until proven innocent. If I suspect someone is using, I will drug screen them, but I will choose to trust my staff; which returns dignity back to them, which motivates them to honor that trust that has been freely given to them.

As my staff begins to see themselves as loved and as they experience grace as a gift, it will encourage them to return that to our participants and fosters a culture that produces relational freedom and connection.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I have to constantly unlearn and remind myself that this ministry is not about me. If it rises or falls, that is not going to define my identity. My identity is first and foremost as one who is loved by God. God gives me my identity because he made me. The opinions on others don’t. My success does not define my identity. My failures do not define my identity.

Most recently, we have been planning for our annual conference: Understanding Addiction : Set Free. This year we are trying to go big, as we secured a 500-seat auditorium at the Knoxville Convention Center and have taken a financial risk of inviting some pretty popular names to this event. The original desire to have these conferences was to offer a Christ-centered perspective on addiction/recovery.

Well, the registrations weren’t pulling in very quickly and it was stagnant at around 50 registrations. I began to obsess on this number. I had thoughts going through my head, “the Mayor is coming…I am going to look so stupid with 50 people sitting in a 500 seat auditorium…. I am so________” — just fill in the blank. I had a friend continue to call me about this conference because she was praying for this conference. She kept reminding me that this conference was not about me. She said, “if 500 people show up and God doesn’t show up, then it was all in vain anyway.” So I began to realize that a lot of my motivations (even in ministry) were selfish and self glorifying.

I realized I was also placing my value and identity into the minds and hands of fallible human beings and based on how many people did or did not show up at an event. God was gently asking me in my spirit, “is this about you? or Me?” I had to get honest with Him and pray and ask him to help change my heart. I had to surrender the outcome to God, because he is in control.

Even in ministry, we can begin to make it about us. But something we have to keep in mind, is that our ministries are not about us and if they rise or if they fall, that does not define us. It is a difficult road to walk to remain sober in our judgments of ourselves. We can get too proud if we are successful and we can have too much self-pity if we aren’t a star. Both are unhealthy. Ultimately, I had to learn to trust God with the outcome and place my life, value, and significance in His hands.

…Because only his opinion matters.

I am also happy to report that we are getting a lot of registrations coming in and I am so excited to see what the lord will do!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Renewknoxville.com
• Instagram: @Renew_Clinic_Knoxville
• Facebook: @RenewKnoxville
• Youtube: Renew Clinic Knoxville