Discovering Addiction

Discovering Addiction

I’ll never forget when I discovered my husband was addicted to alcohol.

I still remember all the feelings I had when I found my husband standing in our garage with a bottle of vodka in his hand. Is he an alcoholic? What does that mean? What now? Is this what our life is going to be like? How can this be? What did I do? Will I ever be happy again? Why is he doing this to our family? Why? How? I don’t understand.

Some of us have been on this journey for many years, while others are just beginning. In a decade, here is what I learned:

• Addiction doesn't discriminate. Addiction doesn’t care about anyone’s family history or upbringing; it doesn’t care about anyone’s economic status or genetic makeup. It will go after anyone AND everyone. Satan has come to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants our families to be broken. He wants addiction to destroy families.
• I am not alone. Of the millions upon millions of people addicted to drugs or alcohol, there is a mom, dad, sister, brother, wife, husband, son, daughter, grandparent, praying and pleading that addiction ends. We need each other, and we need our Finding Hope family and community. You are not alone.
• Recovery is a lifelong journey. Just because our loved ones find sobriety, our own recovery journey will never end. The tools we learn at Finding Hope are for life. It is very easy to relapse into our old behaviors (codependency, enabling, boundaries, lack of self-care, etc.) when we don’t actively pursue our own recovery. There will be bumps and detours on this journey, but the stronger our recovery is, the easier those detours will be.
• God will use our storms. God has a plan and purpose for each of us. He has a plan and purpose for our loved ones. He will use this storm for His glory and purpose. We must trust Him through it all and allow Him to be our compass through the storm. Give it to God and allow Him to do only what He can do.
• There is HOPE. We have to remember to place our hope in Jesus. He is our ultimate comforter and healer. He can give us strength when we feel like we have nothing left to give. His love for us and our loved ones is firm, secure, and unfailing. Through Finding Hope, I have witnessed HOPE return to moms, dads, grandmothers, grandfathers, wives, husbands, sisters, and brothers. They have placed their hope in Jesus, found peace and serenity, and are living happy lives. We must keep our hope anchored in Him.

If you are not filled with hope, joy, and peace, my prayer is that you would get there soon. Stay connected to your Finding Hope family, continue down your own road of recovery, ask God to use your storm, and place your HOPE in Him today.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13