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In a chicken or the egg sort of dilemma, it’s hard to pinpoint whether it was Sandy Reese’s newfound lease on life that helped her get closer to God or whether it was God who inspired her to find a new lease on life.

Regardless of the answer, what is known is that Reese has completely turned around both her physical and her spiritual life and now she wants to share it with the world, she said. Reese has recently published a journal about the past two life-altering years of her life.

“So far I’ve sold about 500 copies and people keep telling me that they have shared their copy with others. It’s touching people’s lives,” the 44-year-old said. “It all started with me having a lot of health problems, but it ends with my physical and spiritual healing with God’s help.”

For the past 15 years, Reese, who lives in El Campo, has suffered from a myriad of physical ailments, including migraine headaches, arthritis and anxiety. Doctors could find no reason for her health problems, she said, often telling her it was all in her mind.

But it wasn’t until January 2005 that the advice of a masseur and an infomercial on natural cures helped her find the answers she was looking for. As she began to change her diet to organic food and began to use only organic products in both her home and her hair styling business, Reese said she felt the layers of chemicals and toxins in her body peel away day by day. She even started to see a doctor of naturopathy, Debbie Beavers of Brazoria.

“I was 41 and I hurt all over. But then I became aware of natural ways and natural cures and within two weeks of changing my lifestyle, I could tell a difference,” Beavers said. “During this time, Debbie guided me. She told me we had to heal my whole body completely.”

Although she felt better, Reese was still having trouble with anxiety problems. It was then she knew she had to heal the spiritual part of her, she said. Raised as a Catholic, Reese and her husband were actively a part of the church, but she was still holding onto a painful memory from her past. At the age of 25, Reese had discovered that the man who had raised her was not her biological father.

“I thought I was over it and I had dealt with it, but I hadn’t. Then one weekend I went to a spiritual retreat and it was there that God came to me,”she said. “I felt a strange sensation throughout my entire body and I knew he was healing me of both my physical and emotional ailments.”

It was quite a journey of healing, Reese said, and one that she chronicled in her journal as it was happening. With the encouragement of friends and family, Reese decided to self-publish the journal to help others on their path to healing.

“I’m not a writer. I never thought I’d ever do anything like this, but I wanted to share this journey with others,” she said. “I don’t know how I didn’t hear God for 41 years but now I can hear Him speaking every day and I just follow him. It’s amazing.”

Aprill Brandon is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com.

Sandy Reese will hold a book signing for her published journal “Walking Back Through My Journey” from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, at the Bible Book Store, 6703 N. Navarro St. in Victoria and from 2-4 p.m. the same day at Hastings, 5206 N. Navarro St. in Victoria.

For more information or a complete list of retailers that sell “Walking Back Through My Journey,” go to www.friendsonajourney.com.