A few years ago, my best friend from high school started making some pretty awful decisions for her life. I was in college and she was not, so we weren't hanging out often, but we'd still talk on the phone etc. She started getting into drugs/alcohol/partying and running with that sort of crowd and I distanced myself for obvious reasons. Finally she started dating a guy I knew to be a horrible person... high school dropout, violent, drug obsessed (you get the picture)... and I told her we could not be friends anymore because the people she was letting into her life could get me in trouble and I wanted no part of that.

Last week, I got a text from a number I didn't recognize... it was her. We chatted a bit and I found out that she was still with the same guy, living together, unemployed and unhappy. She called me tonight and confessed that he hits her sometimes, and that he tells her that he never starts the fights but it's his "thing" to always end them. (What a d-bag!!) So he has no qualms about bringing violence to the table and believes it's his right to hit anyone he disagrees with. He also emotionally abuses her, telling her God doesn't love her and that she's a terrible Christian because she swears and is living with him and having sex before marriage. (Again... total D-bag!!) Anyway, it was obviously an emotional conversation and I can't help but feel like I need to help her. She says she knows that she needs to get out and her whole family has begged her to move back in with her mom... so it isn't like she has nowhere to go. And he doesn't drive, so it's not like he's likely to come after her. I tried to get her to promise me that she would move out by April, but she wouldn't... she started to get dismissive... "I know, I know..." and "Well, you know I'm just trying to figure it all out."

We used to be really close, but like I said, we parted ways and went down different paths. So I already realize that she may not be the same person I left years ago, but she said that she wanted to get back to God and how life was before she got with this guy. I am already emotionally involved and I'm afraid that I'm going to get myself in a heap of trouble trying to help her. I know she has to be the one to leave and start respecting herself. But as far as my involvement goes... where do I draw the line? I've offered to help her move out and to take her out to meet new people, and I was thinking about inviting her to church (although we live about an hour apart right now)... if anyone has helped a friend get out of a bad relationship, how do I make sure I don't push her too hard? What should I watch out for? Should I even be telling her to leave him, or should I just stay out of it?