Wednesday, August 9, 2017

What Saved Me from My Addiction? My Parents and Collegiate Recovery

by Timothy Rabolt

During my senior year in high school, addiction broke me down and isolated me from my friends, family, hobbies and everything else valuable in my life.

Fortunately, in April 2011 I found a new way to live, thanks to my supportive parents and by embracing the local recovery community.

I attribute the gift of starting my recovery journey almost entirely to my family. My parents were neither completely detached nor too overbearing. So often I hear about the extremes of helicopter parents or parents who weren’t present at all. The key in my path to recovery was having my parents be somewhere in the middle.

That “middle” is different for everybody, of course, and I’m eternally grateful my parents found what that middle was for me. My parents realized I needed structure, but to not be controlling of that structure. They knew I needed to have fun in recovery, but to have it be with the right people in the right places. They knew how important school was to me and my recovery, but that I would need some help to get through it. Nothing was black and white; they always helped find the gray area.

My parents separated while I was in eighth grade, and that same week I got kicked out of the small school in Wilmington, DE where I thought I would graduate. It was nothing drug- or alcohol-related, but rather a series of unfortunate events that culminated in the decision to have me leave the school.

That trauma was enough of a catalyst to lead me to drugs and alcohol, even though addiction didn’t take over until my sophomore and junior years of high school. Through every step of my life, I never once doubted that my family would be there to support me no matter what happened.

Read More of My Story

Parent Toll-Free Helpline: 1-855-DRUGFREE
drugfree.org

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The Addict's Mom is encouraging everyone to join with Facing Addiction to sign the letter requesting the President to declare a national emergency surrounding the ongoing opioid crisis:

https://www.facingaddiction.org/a-national-emergency-declaration

Visit The Addict's Mom at: http://addictsmom.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Will you pray for SoCal Harvest 2017 happening in:

2017 SoCal Harvest at Angel Stadium in Anaheim

Today's Prayer Topic:
Pastor Greg

Pray for the health and protection of Pastor Greg and his family.

320prayer.harvest.org ›

Monday, August 7, 2017

Made Perfect in Weakness

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."

—Philippians 3:10

Nick Vujicic was raised in a loving Christian home. But he was born without limbs, and the kids at school were very cruel to him. At times Nick despaired even of life. But then he discovered that God could use him for His glory, and now he travels around the world sharing his story. Nick’s life shows us how God can work through human weakness and suffering.

Part of knowing the Lord is in the fellowship of His suffering. The apostle Paul suffered. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 12 about an experience in which he was caught up to Heaven and saw things that he couldn’t describe. But he went on to say, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’” (verses 7–9).

God can work mightily through disability—sometimes even more effectively than through someone who has no disability. If you’ve faced calamity, if you’ve had a loved one die unexpectedly, if you struggle with a physical infirmity or challenge and can still rejoice and praise God, then that, my friend, is a powerful witness. And in some ways, it can be more powerful than the witness of someone who has no infirmity at all.