Thursday, December 15, 2011
We Didn't Know if He was Dead or Alive
Addicts often prefer isolation. If they do choose to be around people – most likely it’s people who also use.
Many, many of the people who come through our doors have abandoned their families because addiction is ruling their life.
That was the story of one of the men in our addiction recovery program who grew up in the South. At his graduation several months ago, his sister testified that for many years, the family didn’t know if he was dead or alive. Imagine the heartbreak of not knowing where your brother might be – is he safe? Is he sober? Is he on the streets? Who does he spend his day with?
Then one day, after he had been clean and sober for several months, he called his sister to tell her he was in a recovery program at Wheeler Mission in Indiana. When it was time for him to graduate from the program, he invited his family to come see first-hand what had happened to him. It was more than a reunion – it was a celebration of the lost brother who had now been found. He wept over the grief he had caused them, asking their forgiveness and confessing to them that while in his addiction, “I was destroying lives.”
The family has reconciled, and they continue to deepen their restored relationships. The young man has been clean and sober now for more than two years , is employed, active in his church, and living on his own.
I thank God for new life that is found in and through Christ!
Rick
Many, many of the people who come through our doors have abandoned their families because addiction is ruling their life.
That was the story of one of the men in our addiction recovery program who grew up in the South. At his graduation several months ago, his sister testified that for many years, the family didn’t know if he was dead or alive. Imagine the heartbreak of not knowing where your brother might be – is he safe? Is he sober? Is he on the streets? Who does he spend his day with?
Then one day, after he had been clean and sober for several months, he called his sister to tell her he was in a recovery program at Wheeler Mission in Indiana. When it was time for him to graduate from the program, he invited his family to come see first-hand what had happened to him. It was more than a reunion – it was a celebration of the lost brother who had now been found. He wept over the grief he had caused them, asking their forgiveness and confessing to them that while in his addiction, “I was destroying lives.”
The family has reconciled, and they continue to deepen their restored relationships. The young man has been clean and sober now for more than two years , is employed, active in his church, and living on his own.
I thank God for new life that is found in and through Christ!
Rick
Labels: families of addicts
