Marked for Life

One night, up to no good, Cody starts Messaging people on Facebook. It's a risk, but it's a good thrill. Soon, his wife bursts into the room. His heart skips a beat. "What have you been doing in here, Cody??" she yells. "Who were you Messaging online?!" Cody, ashamed, blocks the computer screen, but realizes it's futile. His wife is laser focused. The other woman on Facebook must have notified her...

Cody's down-spiraling.   “There I was,” he says, “18 years old and a blaster in the coal mines.”    Jamie demands he stop sleeping around, or else, get married. He subjects Cody to a verse from First Corinthians:   “I say therefore to the unmarried and widows ," it reads, "It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to bur...

Andrew and Cody emerge from the snake room. Andrew's arm desperately needs attention.  With every step, he deteriorates. Cody knows rattlesnake bites are nothing to play with.  He also knows his friend is in for a long, hard ride. When Jamie walks downstairs to find Andrew suffering in the La-Z-Boy, he says, "Oh, Andrew. Are you scared, Son?" "Yes sir." "Well, then," the man says, "we should alrea...

A rattlesnake slithers in the woods, and by divine help, Jamie knows where to find it. He pulls it from some weeds. God says, "Take it inside the house, not the snake room." Jamie obeys. Here is the story of an emerging friendship between two prominent, Signs-following preachers: Cody Coots and his friend Andrew Hamblin.

Cody is haunted by his secret sins, so he runs to the altar to pray.  His father sees this and kneels by his side, taking his son's hand. Together they call upon The Lord for salvation. Cody knows he must change his ways. He must stop cussing. He must stop listening to country music. And, he must give up rock n' roll forever. He will even shave his "bad attitude" mohawk.  Most importantly, he must...

Cody Coots' childhood is in shambles, so he pursues a relationship with his father: the world-famous serpent handling preacher Jamie Coots.  Jamie starred in what Cody calls, "a national TV program that I won't mention out of legal concerns."  Together, they watch WWE every weekend. It's what they have in common. They pull for the great underdog, Chris Benoit, who's a man disrespected by the syste...

The Bible passage " The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man " from Deuteronomy means another life change for Cody. This child of the serpent-handling faith continues to suffer from the reverberations of a horrid abuse case... and now, this. A real-life monster, behind bars, means Cody can now tune into his father's shepherding style. Jamie Coots is the beloved preacher from Middl...

A trial is scheduled for Cody’s abuser. However, believers across the faith are concerned about Cody testifying. The reason? One day at church, long ago, when Cody was 8, something unbelievable happened.  It's something only Cody's church knows.   Now, if it comes out at trial, they all know Cody and Trina will be whisked away from their parents.

After a fatal rattlesnake bite at his apartment in Middlesboro, Kentucky, Cody and his family move to a new place on South 45th Street. This is a house that changes Cody forever, and not for the better. In this account, he refers to the house as The House of Horror . A special introductory episode, it features chapters 1 & 2.

Cody Coots is a fourth-generation "Signs Follower." His childhood was anything but normal.  At age 6, he started handling fake serpents with his sister Trina. They used leather belts for props. Such was life in East Kentucky. Cody's congregation of believers proclaimed themselves to be the truest followers of an "Old Time Religion." Cody tries his best to have a normal childhood: He rides his bike...